simus classmate: Data management for SAP systems

For many industrial companies, digital networking will be the topic of the coming years. Initiatives such as Manufacturing X, the digital product passport (DPP) and sustainability reporting obligations, the administration shell for digital twins and other projects of the Industry 4.0 platform are geared towards common data standards. Most companies can neither meet these standards nor implement all change requirements at once. IT managers should create the flexibility in good time that allows them to make permanent adjustments.

Low quality level

Increasing digitization is ruthlessly exposing the lack of data quality in companies. Deficiencies such as a lack of systematics, duplicates, outdated inventories, a lack of conventions and insufficient scope are costing companies much of the efficiency they expect from digitization. Many thousands of master records in ERP systems are subject to a cycle of creeping deterioration. Every day, new incorrect entries, inconsistent terminology, different procedures, a lack of conventions and a lack of responsibilities feed an erosion process against which many IT managers are powerless.

Master Data Governance

A first step would often be an application process for new materials before a master data record is created in the ERP system. However, several specialist departments, from technology to marketing, are usually involved. Setting up such a multi-stage process with SAP's authorization concept requires man-years of investment. This is why many users rely on an external process using the simus classmate software modules. Here, automatic routines drive the material request process forward. A (flexible) authorization concept ensures security. Intelligent default settings reduce effort, ensure completeness and prevent incorrect entries. The process effortlessly overcomes location boundaries and takes into account variants for the different material types. A new data record is only automatically synchronized with the ERP system once it has been created completely and compliantly by all parties involved.

Transferring tasks to artificial intelligence

Based on this scheme, simus classmate offers many other routines that increase the benefits of using the software and the ERP system for the entire company. Material short texts can be automatically added to the structured and classified article master data. Material short texts and other information can be automatically translated into foreign languages according to existing rules and regulations. The software can also automatically suggest the correct customs tariff number for an appropriately prepared master data record. All of these routines can be flexibly adapted and customized so that human intelligence can intervene at any time. Anyone who needs to provide data for digital product passports or sustainability reporting in the future will find a flexible solution here. This is how IT managers prepare the company for compliance with official regulations.

Preparation for new ERP systems

Every new ERP system, including S/4HANA, places special demands on master data. The existing data must therefore be qualitatively cleansed, reorganized and supplemented in essential parts in advance of the migration. In simus systems, IT managers will find a competent and reliable partner for this. Industry experience, best practices and standard regulations make the first steps easier. The simus classmate software contains the right tools for master data optimization and data modelling.

Edit ERP data efficiently

At the start of the project, the relevant data is read from sources such as databases, tables or CAD, ERP and PDM systems. The software analyzes the data and records typical characteristics that could form the basis for a class definition. The data is then sorted according to configurable rules, enriched and stored in a results database.

The results are checked with the relevant specialist departments. Where these do not meet the requirements, the processing rules are changed - and thus all similar data records are corrected. In this way, the desired results can be achieved within a short time, even in the face of huge amounts of data. IT managers thus save up to 80 percent of the internal and external effort required for data processing.

Simple interaction with SAP systems

Detailed knowledge of the structure and functionality of SAP's ERP systems ensures smooth, automatable data exchange via customizable interfaces. Companies benefit from a high level of user-friendliness, flexibility and transparency without giving up the data sovereignty of the ERP system. simus classmate can be used on-premises or as-a-Service (SaaS). Those who use simus classmate in a cloud hosted in Germany save on investments, updates and service and can book the required functions in usage-based models.

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