Revolutionizing “New Product Introduction” in Master Data Governance (MDG) with SAP BTP

[rajendra_s]

In today’s fast-paced digital world, businesses constantly innovate to improve efficiency and reduce manual processes. One area ripe for transformation is the Introduction of New Products in companies using Master Data Governance (MDG). Traditionally, this process is manual, time-consuming, and error-prone, often involving email-based communications with suppliers to gather necessary details. These outdated methods lead to several pain points, including labor-intensive data entry, inefficient communication, data collection delays, disconnected systems, complex workflows, and challenges in maintaining compliance and data governance.

However, advancements in the SAP Business Technology Platform (BTP) offer a solution. ZitaTech, a leader in digital transformation, proposes an innovative solution using SAP BTP to address these challenges. By leveraging SAP Build Process Automation, ZitaTech enables businesses to streamline and digitalize the new product introduction process. This proposal within SAP BTP allows organizations to automate repetitive tasks, enhance data accuracy, and reduce the time to market for new products. With ZitaTech’s proposed solution and SAP Build Process Automation, companies can improve collaboration with suppliers, ensure better data governance, and ultimately drive greater efficiency and innovation in their new product introduction processes.

The Traditional Approach: Challenges and Limitations

New Production Introduction continues to be a challenge for companies and is ungoverned in several core areas. Planning & placement of products in all categories is inconsistent from the inception to launch, which in turn provides a mixed experience for most of the companies, and often prolongs the release of products into the environment. Following points are highlighted in the current process for most of the companies:

• A cross functional service which is critical to business- operations, is running without boundaries of defined workflow management
• Each function in isolation has defined processes to meet functional objectives but not overall process
• Tactical fix gap automation has not improved quality of data, instead has added more manual work to vendor & FTE teams
• Quality analysts concern that impact how we present product information on product which is often incomplete or incorrect
• Long delays in launches, which exceeds sometimes even 90 days also involving multiple teams, touchpoints and handoffs.

For example, introducing a new product, such as a laptop or mobile device, within a company’s MDG setup typically involves the following steps:

• Supplier Communication: Companies contact suppliers via email to obtain product/material details and specifications. Suppliers send the details via emails and have to be evaluated by companies manually to finalize the deal with a potential supplier.
• Data Entry: Received product/material data is manually entered into the MDG system to create the material record.
• Validation: The product/material data undergoes various validation checks to ensure accuracy and compliance with company standards.
• Approval: Finally, the product/material record is routed for approvals before becoming an active record in the system.

Pain Points:

• Manual Data Entry: Prone to human error, leading to inaccurate or incomplete data.
• Time-Consuming: Inefficient communication and manual data processing slow down the overall process.
• Lack of Transparency: Tracking the status of new product introductions can be challenging, often leading to delays.

A Digital Revolution: Introducing SAP BTP and SAP Build Process Automation into the Business Process

With SAP Build Process Automation, companies can revolutionize the way they introduce new products into their line of Business via SAP BTP and MDG. This innovative solution leverages the capabilities of SAP BTP to automate and streamline the entire process:

Key Features:

• Automated Data Collection: Suppliers can directly enter product details into a secure, centralized portal, eliminating the need for email communication.
• Seamless Integration: The portal integrates with the MDG system to automatically create and validate new material records.
• Real-time Tracking: Businesses can monitor the status of new product introductions in real-time, ensuring transparency and accountability.
• Customizable Workflows: The automation workflows are customizable to fit specific business requirements, ensuring flexibility and scalability.

Benefits:

• Reduced Errors: Automation minimizes manual data entry, significantly reducing the risk of errors.
• Increased Efficiency: Streamlined workflows accelerate the introduction of new products, allowing businesses to respond quickly to market demands.
• Enhanced Collaboration: Real-time tracking and automated notifications facilitate better collaboration between internal teams and suppliers.

Hence, the new solution enables an efficient, faster & more accurate way of introducing new products and lifecycle management by:

• Effective workflow tooling/Infrastructure with cross-stream automated data flows
• Streamlining & automation of processes to foster collaboration among stakeholders
• Improve transparency, governance and control
• Rest time visibility, tracking and reporting

Solution Architecture and Implementation

Figure1: SAP Build Process Automation workflow integration with the SAP MDG

Solution: Below is the high-level snapshot how the supplier approval form looks like to submit the specification of products in fully digitized process of new product introduction built on SAP Build Process Automation (BTP):

Figure2: Snapshot of Supplier Approval Form in SAP Build Process Automation (BTP)

Conclusion

The digitalization of the New Product Introduction process in MDG using SAP Build Process Automation represents a significant step forward in operational efficiency and accuracy. By embracing this solution, companies can reduce manual efforts, minimize errors, and accelerate their go-to-market strategies, ultimately leading to improved business outcomes. Embrace the future of new product introduction with SAP Build Process Automation and unlock new levels of efficiency and innovation.

Beyond our new solution, we also see numerous possibilities to build extension applications on SAP BTP to keep the core clean by leveraging the latest innovations.

For more information and to explore how this solution can benefit your organization, ZitaTechinc can be reached. We look forward to helping you transform your new product introduction processes with cutting-edge technology.

A Collaborative Effort

This innovative solution is the result of a collaborative effort between the ZitaTech dedicated team and SAP experts. We extend our gratitude to Mahesh Palavalli and Aryan Raj Sinha from SAP Labs India  (Platform Adoption & Architecture) for their invaluable contributions in bringing this solution to fruition. Their expertise and commitment have been instrumental in developing a seamless and effective solution for our customers

Engagement

The outcome described in this article was facilitated by an engagement between SAP Labs India and ZitaTech Inc which resulted in the creation of PoC.