Hot Topics Research Report · • The role SAP’s BPC tool plays • Case studies which highlight business benefits and best practices on the following technologies within the Finance

Where the Automotive Industry Ignites

September 11-13 2018

Hot Topics Research Report

Marriott at Renaissance Center, Detroit, MI

https://auto.bestpracticeconferences.com/

http://www.theeventfulgroup.com

Eventful Conferences recently completed an extensive customer-centric research project in support of the

upcoming Best Practices for Automotive conference, the premier event for organizations using SAP. Where

people unlock their biggest issues. Where questions get asked and answered. Where the automotive community

comes together and fuels new ideas – where the industry ignites.

The goal was to uncover the top business challenges and priorities for the industry as they relate to people,

process and technology, and global automotive trends. We interviewed over 50 organizations utilizing SAP

software and 70+ automotive professionals across all industry sub-segments including top IT leadership and

business process owners in supply chain, finance, procurement, manufacturing and business analytics. In

addition, SAP and key solution providers shared their insights to further develop the research.

To supplement our research, we conducted an anonymous survey to practitioners in the industry. This helped

gain a better understanding on which areas of focus are irrelevant, hidden motivators or critical factors. The

results enable a comprehensive view of what automotive professionals believe is important rather than what

they may think or say is important.

The following research report reflects our findings. This research will be the blue print for the upcoming

Best Practices for Automotive conference to be held from September 11-13, 2018 in Detroit, Michigan.

The conference content will strive to address the following topics through real-life customer case studies, hands-

on workshops, in-depth interactive sessions and SAP expert presentations.

02 auto.bestpracticeconferences.com

Produced by In Collaboration with


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Table of Contents

Customer Survey Results 04

Globalization 05• Standardization

Tech & Innovation 06• Business Case for HANA

• User Experience

Finance 07• SAP S/4HANA Finance

• BPC & Integrated Forecasting

Data & Reporting 09• Cyber Security

• Understanding Cloud Offerings

• IoT/Connected Components

Manufacturing 12• Connected Manufacturing/Industry 4.0

• Mobility

• Robotic Process Automation (RPA)

Supply Chain 14

Forces of Change 15

Aftermarket Sales & Service 15

Changing Workforce 16



Attribute Importance for Automotive

Stated vs. Derived Importance – Automotive


Thinking specifically about SAP’s Automotive Industry Solution, how satisfied are you with the performance of each of the following functionalities, options or issues??

REPORTING

MOBILITY OPTIONS

PRODUCT LIFE CYCLE COSTING

WAREHOUSE MANAGEMENT

FINANCE & ACCOUNTING

FLEXIBLE & PERSONALIZED UX FEATURES

SHOP FLOOR INTEGRATIONS

VARIETY OF CLOUD SOLUTIONS

MASTER DATA MANAGEMENT & GOVERNANCE

EASE OF CREATING GLOBAL STANDARDIZATIONS

EASE OF UPGRADE

CYBER SECURITY

n=29

n=29

TRANSPARENCY OF TOTAL LANDED COST

63%

52%

52%

44%

41%

39%

59%

52%

44%

44%

52%

41%

39%

?

Hidden MotivatorsHave a greater impact on appeal than users outwardly acknowledge. These can be viewed as potential points of differentiation.

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core

stated importanceattributes rated as important

Less importantUsers care less about these attributes.

Critical Factors Key areas to focus on; users say these are important, and they also correlate

highly with brand appeal.

Minimum ExpectationsUsers say these attributes are important, but

ultimately they do not have a big impact on overall appeal. They are a category expectation (a cost of

entry), but not necessarily key motivators.

Flexible & Personalized UX Features

Transparency of Total Landed CostWarehouse Management

Variety of Cloud Solutions

Ease of Creating Global Standardizations

Master Data Management & Governance

Reporting Cyber SecurityShop Floor Integrations

Mobility Options

Finance & AccountingProduct Life Cycle Costing

Ease of Upgrade

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When considering full-service ERP software suites or service providers, how important are each of the following software functionalities, options or issues when making that decision?


Globalization

Doing business globally means more complexity. Transactions in multiple languages,

currencies, data/time formats, local taxes, EDI standards, and cultural differences all factor in

to increasingly complex models of business. To drive growth and value for your organization,

your technology and process need to support these complexities. Therefore, automotive

professionals are interested in learning more about:

Standardization

Standardizing corporate communication and process helps to optimize and streamline an organization’s output.

Savvy organizations recognize that standardization does not mean having only one method, but rather reducing

the number of methods available and allowing for necessary variations. Automotive professionals interviewed are

looking for:

• SAP products to assist with global trade services

• Best practices for global compliances

• Implementing a large scale single global instance of SAP

• Single global instance versus multiple regional instances or a hybrid approach

• Best practices on how to achieve optimal levels of standardization in a highly variable world

• Case studies from companies who are achieving this balance

• The quantitative value of standardizing global networks

• Steps to determine which system is best for their organization: a sub-optimized system that is consistent or a system to accommodate every circumstance

• SAP Leonardo’s role in global standardization

• Processes for optimizing multiple instances of SAP with standardization

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Once implementation has been completed, it is imperative that users have access to trusted

resources so they can get the most out of their SAP experience. A holistic user experience

should to be developed to keep users engaged, trained and connected to IT. With so many UX

offerings available from SAP, it is important to understand the best solution for each business

scenario. Automotive professionals are interested in:

Tech & Innovation

• Overcoming the notion of “complex” with the new SAP technologies

• Solutions that exist to enhance UX through SAP Fiori

• Solutions that exist through 3rd party vendors

• Determining the right training to overcome usability complaints

• Understanding the diversity and mindset of end users

• Harnessing mobile solutions to improve processes

User Experience


More and more organizations are transitioning from ECC to HANA, but many others are still

struggling to fit the migration into their timeline or business plan. For these organizations, the

oft-repeated question is “What is the business case for HANA?” Customers are eager to see

an example of a best-in-class use case of HANA where significant business outcomes were

achieved. While professionals in IT and business alike benefit from HANA, there are still several

barriers in its implementation so automotive professionals are interested in learning:

• How to justify the cost to upper management/executives and set realistic expectations

• How to determine the roadmap from past upgrades

• The risks associated with not keeping up with upgrades

• A strategy for post-implementation, including user acceptance and training

• How to select the right partnership for implementation

• Best practices for handling large scale legacy systems

Business Case for SAP HANA

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OF SURVEYED AUTOMOTIVE PROFESSIONALS:

>20% ARE CURRENTLY USING HANA AT THEIR ORGANIZATIONS 57%

PLAN TO MIGRATE TO HANA IN 1-5 YEARS 67%

PLAN TO MOVE TO S4IN 1-5 YEARS

HANA HANA IN 1-5YRS

S4 IN 1-5YRS


Finance

In our anonymous survey to automotive

professionals, finance and accounting was

identified as extremely important and ranked

in a three-way tie for the third most critical

success factor in 2018.

40%

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Finance is experiencing a fundamental shift towards more strategic processes, analysis and

decision making. High demand, increasingly challenging regulatory requirements and growing

pressure on margins are all contributing to today’s complex financial landscape for automotive

organizations. Accurate, visible and transparent financial data is the backbone of any company.

Finding the right technology to manage this data is critical. SAP’s Finance and Accounting

module has been the long-standing core system for many automotive companies. Customers

are eager to hear how other organizations are leveraging their finance and accounting

capabilities through SAP to increase their ROI and prepare for changing business models.

Finance professionals in automotive are seeking more information on how to:

• Bring together managerial and financial accounting

• Support Vehicle-Based Accounting

• Speed up and optimize financial close processes

• Draw conclusions from data and use it to improve business decisions

• Leverage SAP technology to accommodate global financial accounts

• Create transparency with blockchain when dealing with multiple third-party suppliers




• How to formulate the business case for S/4HANA Finance with a clear ROI

• Benefits and pitfalls of using Central Finance as a stepping stone

• How to determine the best time for upgrading

• Best practices for identifying pre-requisites and preparing current systems

• The options for migrating: greenfield, system conversion or landscape transformation

• How to recognize hurdles with integration (including integration to the Cloud) and how to overcome them

• Insights into a staggered implementation to prevent complete disruption form the business

• How to leverage SAP’s suite of Integrated Business Planning (IBP) tools throughout the automotive value chain

• The role SAP’s BPC tool plays

• Case studies which highlight business benefits and best practices on the following technologies within the Finance content area:

- SAP FI/CO (Financial Accounting and Controlling)

- SAP Financial SCM (Supply Chain Management)

- SAP GRC (Governance, Risk and Compliance)

- SAP SPM (Spend Performance Management)

SAP S/4HANA FinanceMany organizations have already deployed and implemented S/4HANA Finance. Those who have not are looking to

early adopters to learn how it’s revolutionizing the way businesses operate, make decisions and ultimately transform

finance into a more strategic role. Companies not running S/4HANA Finance know that the deadline to implement is

fast approaching and they need to take steps to prepare for the transition. Automotive professionals are seeking

to learn:

BPC & Integrated ForecastingThe financial position of an organization must be accessible on demand. Accurate, timely reporting and business

intelligence capabilities enable a real-time view on finances, and in turn, help drive informed decisions. Finance

departments are transiting from transactional work to more strategic planning, budgeting, forecasting and analysis.

Therefore, finance professionals are seeking to understand the new functionality around data aggregation to

enable modeling and scenario planning to improve forecast accuracy, reduce cycle time and reduce risk. Finance

professionals in the automotive industry are focusing on:

Finance

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Data & Reporting


Automotive companies operate in a highly regulated data environment. As technology

continues to develop and expand in the industry, massive amounts of customer data are being

aggregated. Automotive companies are challenged to collect actionable insights from this

overflow of information. They are seeking an integrated platform that can help support smarter

business decisions for growth and profitability. Real-time data is also critical for visibility into

operations. Aggregated intelligence across an enterprise allows companies to view the big

picture, easily spot trends and patterns, understand usage patterns of products, analyze millions

of data points for predictive and prescriptive analytics, and more. Automotive professionals are

seeking insights to:

• Develop a single source of truth across enterprises business processes

• Handle regulations that come with data collection

• Provide an accessible view of the real-time information in the right format, to the right person, at the right time, enabling

users to make the best possible decision

• New data warehousing methods to drive data consolidation and availability

• Manage legacy data coming from different platforms/software

• Capitalize on HANA live and dealing with security as it pertains to single users visibility of the whole database

• Identify how the organization defines bad data and develop a strategy to fix it

• How data is stored and who has ownership of that data

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• Role-based security access to data and information

• How to address data and IP threats in a global shared services environment

• Best practices to protect against individual vehicle hacking

• Insights on maintaining security across multiple sites and geographies with mobility

• Blockchain as a possible solution to the security issue

Cyber Security With the rise in connected cars and IoT, it’s clear why cyber security remains a top issue for the industry. Automakers

and consumers alike worry about digital safety and data privacy. Keeping connected transportation, fleets and

individuals safe from hackers is a chief concern. However, as digital trends like mobility and the Cloud become

prevalent, more traditional security concerns such as protecting intellectual property and preventing financial fraud

are always top of mind. To combat cyber security, automotive professionals are seeking:

Data & Reporting

In our anonymous survey, automotive

professionals specified cyber security

as the most critical factor or a key area

to focus on in 2018.

40%

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• Designate an owner of the IoT data

• Share insights from data across the value chain

• Develop models for IoT strategies in the era of connected car

• Leverage Big Data to make business decisions that were previously unjustifiable

• Utilize predictive analytics on HANA and its capabilities

• Create reporting/analytical environments that aggerates data and makes it clear and accessible to all user levels, when and where they need it most

• Be more efficient in drawing meaningful and usable insights out of unstructured data

• Utilize blockchain as a trusted source which is currently limited to IoT

IoT/Connected Components The Internet of Things (IoT) is about connecting everything and everyone to data. This means better insights,

confidence in data and faster decisions. IoT is poised to change how the industry designs, plans, creates and services

products. With data being imported into SAP from multiple origins, whether automatically or manually, there is

more data - and more specific data - than ever before. As data volumes increase exponentially and demands from all

sides on the business grow, the importance of tapping into this wealth of statistics continues to grow. Automotive

professionals are interested in learning how to:

• Opportunities and limitations that exist in the Cloud

• Best practices for movement from on-premise to Cloud and its implications

• Things to consider when evaluating options

• How to determine what works best for each organization: Cloud, on-premise or hybrid

• Tips to integrate inside software into SAP and how it plays into Cloud offerings

• Guaranteeing security with Cloud offerings

• Understanding the scalability capabilities with Cloud

Understanding Cloud OfferingsThe Cloud is transforming the automotive business and offers the potential for significant business improvements.

It can help companies redefine and personalize customer relationships, transform and optimize operations, improve

governance and transparency, and expand business agility and capability. In addition, the Cloud can help to rapidly

launch products and mobility services, and build and optimize dynamic, collaborative value nets. In this evolving

environment, it is imperative that the industry embrace these new opportunities to innovate and collaborate. To

address this business shift, automotive professionals are seeking:

Data & Reporting

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Manufacturing

Manufacturing is evolving. Products used to be more standardized, demand signals more

consistent and predictable, and the underlying supply chains and systems were built

accordingly. Gone are the days when efficiency and quality were enough to drive market

leadership. As the world economy has become more interconnected and consumer tastes have

become increasingly fickle, demand has become more variable and as a result there are shorter

product cycles and an increased need to deliver to market quickly. The industry is also seeing

new disrupters capitalizing on these changes. Agility, customization and speedy response times

are all becoming table stakes for manufacturing leadership.


Connected Manufacturing/Industry 4.0 Connected manufacturing is the digital backbone for your business. Connecting your people, processes and supply

chains gives you end-to-end visibility and control. Shop floor automation delivers real-time insight, superior quality

and optimized utilization of resources. Using embedded, predictive and prescriptive analytics enables you to make

more informed decisions and adapt as demand shifts. Automotive organizations want to know what technology can

facilitate this integration and allow seamless transmission of data between manufacturing and other business units.

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• Implementing RPA in automotive

• Determining an ROI that can be expected

• Long term benefits

• Developing a competitive advantage by leveraging automation

• How it has improved processes from real world case studies

• Fiori’s role in creating a better user experience with RPA

• Improve manufacturing intelligence by providing data or production control from a smartphone or any browser enabled device

• Go beyond simple mobile devices and leverage scanning and tracking technologies like RFID

• Promote an untethered work environment where alerts and relevant system data are available instantly at a user’s fingertips

• Enhance UX across generational differences and skill sets

Mobility Mobility is assumed and expected in today’s digital-driven world, and it is no different for manufacturing. It

empowers user freedom and extends visibility and control. Technicians and quality control staff must make the most

of mobility advancements to more quickly address issues of quality and other disruptions to the production lines.

Automotive manufacturing professionals are seeking ways to:

Robotic Process Automation (RPA) RPA is all about automating repetitive activities to make them faster and less labor-intensive, while producing higher

quality data. RPA is trendy and appealing but there are some misunderstandings about what it is and why SAP

customers should be examining it more carefully. Automotive industry professionals are interested in learning more on:

Manufacturing

Although mobility is significant for

the industry, it was revealed as less

important than other areas of focus

in our customer survey.

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Supply Chain

Forces of Change

Automotive organizations must achieve tight alignment across all functions, especially within

supply chain. From creating accurate, demand-driven forecasts to enabling Just in Time/

Just in Sequence manufacturing processes through to on-time customer delivery, automotive

professionals are seeking solutions to reduce time, cost and legal exposure when conducting

business domestically and internationally. With SAP HANA, users are looking for guidance on

how to move to real-time integrated business planning and response management in order to

address some of the pressing requirements of the volatile high-tech supply chain. Automotive

organizations are looking to hear best practices and roadmaps on the following supply chain

technologies:

Digital services are disrupting today’s business models and creating new opportunities.

Over the last two decades, many industries have been dramatically transformed by a wave

of technological forces. Companies like Venmo and Airbnb have rewritten the rules of their

market. The automotive industry is no different. Organizations must look beyond their

traditional competition and understand who the disruptors are, what they do and how their

traditional market share is being eroded. To better equip the automotive industry for disruption,

professionals are seeking to understand:

• SAP SCM (Supply Chain Management)

• SAP Integrated Business Planning (IBP)

• Service Parts Planning

• Demand Sensing & Demand Planning

• SAP TM (Transportation Management)

• SAP EWM (Extended Warehouse Management)

• Transportation as a Service’s implications on the automotive value chain

• How to become more flexible and agile

• Best practices for driving transformational change and creating an innovative culture

• Ways to capitalize on growth in the changing landscape

• How to prepare for the uncertainty and anticipation of new market trends

• How to leverage partnerships in the ecosystem

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Aftermarket Service & Sales

Aftermarket represents the secondary market of the automotive industry, concerned with

manufacturing, remanufacturing, distribution, retailing and installation of all vehicle parts,

equipment and accessories after the sale of the automobile by the OEM to the consumer.

While the business processes are similar, the demand-planning within Aftermarket differs from

that of general assembly in the scale and consumption of product. Aftermarket planning and

consumption is largely driven by the suppliers themselves who decide on discounts, promotions,

etc. for the “value-line” products. Therefore, forecasting and planning for service parts

management is a key element and a significant challenge in creating the need to accommodate

an irregular demand for service parts during the years after model retirement. With the move

to semi-autonomous and driverless technology, battery evolution and electric motors pose

increased challenges for the Aftermarket sector. Therefore, professionals in the Aftermarket

automotive sector are seeking to learn:

• Who holds final responsibility for complementary parts used to replace originals

• How the process of cataloguing two identical parts with different origins can be reconciled

• How connectivity changed Aftermarket and the data it collects

• How 3D printing/scanning will impact the production of Aftermarket parts

• Who owns the storage for these parts

• How SAP technology like Hybris impacts Aftermarket and what benefits arise from it

• How Service Parts can be delivered and maintained at any time to any place

• If blockchain creates a transparent collaborative environment

• How to determine scalability for retailers with a new item within SAP systems (RIM)



Changing Workforce


The success of new processes and technologies very much depends on winning the hearts and

minds of the users. This crucial and often neglected aspect of implementation is difficult to

navigate. People require consistent and ongoing attention, training and engaging. Plus, with an

aging workforce, automotive companies are challenged to retain knowledge when subject matter

experts, experienced employees and technology super users retire. What best practices can be

employed so the industry stays current with digital and technology changes? It is imperative that

leaders have a long-term strategy to be able to adequately prepare for organizational changes.

To accomplish this, automotive leaders are seeking to:

• Provide new development/innovation opportunities

• Identify new technology advances

• Encourage information sharing across divisions in the business

• Attract talent for the ever-changing digital environment

• Understand the evolution of technology and the demands of doing more with less

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According to the U.S. Bureau of

Labor Statistics, 24.8% of the

American workforce will be 55

and older by the year 2024.

*United States Department of Labor www.bls.gov/careeroutlook/2017/article/older-workers.htm

80%

1970 1980 1990 2000 2010 2020

40%

60%

20%

0

U.S. Labor force shares by age, 1970 to 2014 and projected 2014-2024*

Labor force 16-24

Projected labor force 25-54 Labor force 55+

Projected labor force 16-24 Labor force 25-54

Projected Labor force 55+


www.bls.gov/careeroutlook/2017/article/older-workers.htm

© 2018 Eventful Conferences, an ASUG Company. All Rights Reserved.

auto.bestpracticeconferences.com

September 11-13, 2018Marriott at Renaissance Center, Detroit, MI

Where industries ignite

https://eventfulconferences.com/


http://auto.bestpracticeconferences.com/

Documents

Hot Topics Research Report · • The role SAP’s BPC tool plays • Case studies which highlight business benefits and best practices on the following technologies within the Finance