SAP-Solution: Variantenkonfiguration

Following the E-3 Cover Story April 2018, analyst Frank Niemann (PAC, Munich), Ben Herrmann (variant expert, PhD student TU Vienna), David Sappl (GE Power) and Erich Schaarschmidt as well as Susanne Henkel (SAE) met for a roundtable discussion at the Haus der Bayerischen Wirtschaft in Munich. The moderator was E-3 Editor-in-Chief Peter Färbinger.

CAD data are the basic framework. The variant configuration is the individual offer to the customer. Added to this are good relationship management and pricing. Until an ERP system is a satisfactory quotation and sales system, it needs many adaptations. SAP partner SAE has solved this Gordian knot. Peter M. Färbinger, E-3 Magazine, spoke with the managing directors Susanne Henkel and Erich Schaarschmidt.

The speed of innovation in Configure Price Quote software has always been high. Numerous medium sized enterprises and large companies benefit from the constant innovations and further developments.

Michael Rawus, Head of Global IT at VAG-Armaturen, talks in an E-3 exclusive interview about the construction site in the SAP world, digitalization, IoT and how he secures his system operations via Application Management Services from cbs Corporate Business Solutions.

SAP continues to focus on the topic of variant configuration. This became clear at the 9th VC Congress. The event provided deep insights into the current challenges and solution scenarios around offer configuration, individual pricing and the latest technologies.

MSG has acquired Treorbis, a full-service consulting firm based in Hamburg, Germany, making it part of the internationally active MSG Group.

Together, e-commerce and SAP make the opportunities of digitization usable. Close integration of e-commerce, ERP, and CRM reveals correlations in customer behavior and enables systematic evaluation of mass data.

An E-3 cover story about variant configuration? Something for specialists or the entire SAP community? Digitalization is changing the entire economy. Industry 4.0 is considered one of the most important digital transformation processes. Variant configuration is a core competence and no one understands it as well as Treorbis.

Technology topics such as Hana, cloud and mobile are very popular. The providers promise simplification, acceleration, cost reduction, flexibility. Increased performance and individualization. But what needs to be done to fulfill these high hopes and make the investment pay off?