SAP for machinery and equipment manufacturers

See how SAP can help build a stable foundation for the further development of machinery and equipment manufacturing.

SAP for discrete manufacturing

Why SAP
Business challenges
Sales
Production
Supply Chain
Quality management
Finance
IT
HR
ERP Value Check
AI readiness

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Why SAP

Machinery and equipment manufacturing involves a high level of operational complexity. Each machine may have a different technical configuration, different critical components, a different assembly schedule, different quality requirements and different profitability.

In this environment, an ERP system should support not only data recording, but above all business decisions: from offer preparation, through production and procurement planning, to cost, quality, service and employee competency development control.

Hicron helps machinery manufacturers implement, develop and optimize SAP so that the system supports the entire execution process – from the technical configuration of the machine to product lifecycle management.

See where SAP can bring the greatest value in machinery and heavy equipment manufacturing.

Do these challenges sound familiar?

In machinery manufacturing companies, complexity emerges at the intersection of many areas: sales, engineering, production, procurement, quality, finance, IT and HR.

The most common challenges include:

technical machine configuration requiring many consultations between sales, engineering and production,
sales declaring delivery dates without full visibility of critical component availability,
dealer sales pipeline that is incomplete, delayed or inconsistent,
changes in configuration and production schedule affecting material requirements,
components such as engines, transmissions or hydraulics with long delivery times,
long production cycles covering many assembly stations,
difficulty monitoring WIP and the execution status of a specific machine,
quality issues that are difficult to link to a specific configuration, component or supplier,
finance seeing cost deviations and model profitability too late,
IT maintaining many systems, integrations, configurators and spreadsheets,
the organization risking the loss of technical knowledge when experienced employees leave.

SAP can help organize these processes in one data model and increase control over order execution, costs, quality and on-time delivery.

Want to know how?

Schedule your ERP Value Check

Sales: shorter quoting and greater offer credibility

In the sale of machinery and equipment, the offer should reflect the real ability to produce a specific configuration. Machines are adapted to the customer’s application: power, hydraulics, attachments, emission standards or regional options.

If configuration is manually verified with engineering and production, the quoting process becomes longer and the risk of errors increases.

Sales through a dealer network is an additional challenge. Lack of full visibility of the sales pipeline makes demand forecasting, production planning and procurement preparation more difficult.

Sales also needs realistic delivery dates. In practice, the date depends on the availability of long-lead-time components such as engines, hydraulics or transmissions. Without this knowledge, salespeople may declare dates that are not supported by the real production and procurement plan.

How Hicron helps

Hicron helps move technical machine configuration directly into the sales process. Thanks to SAP Variant Configuration, dependencies between components and variants can be defined so that the salesperson selects only configurations that can be produced.

The system can automatically build the machine structure based on the selected configuration, which shortens the quoting process, reduces errors and increases the technical credibility of the offer.

Hicron also supports central management of the dealer sales pipeline. Thanks to SAP Sales Management, the manufacturer can record sales opportunities, forecasts and planned sales by region and configuration. This makes production and procurement planning easier.

SAP also makes it possible to link machine configuration with production planning and component availability. As a result, sales can see a more realistic delivery date already at the offer stage.

Business value

faster offer preparation,
lower risk of configuration errors,
greater technical credibility of the offer,
better visibility of the dealer pipeline,
better demand forecasting,
more realistic delivery dates,
stronger linkage between sales, production and procurement.

Production: a more stable production plan and better WIP control

Machinery and equipment production is complex, long-cycle and dependent on the configuration of a specific machine. Individual models differ in assembly time, size, required resources and operation sequence. Incorrect order sequencing can overload workstations, create bottlenecks and destabilize the production takt.

Long assembly times and significant work in progress are an additional problem. If production spans many workstations and progress data is dispersed, it is difficult to monitor the execution of a specific machine and predict the completion date. Synchronization of long-lead-time components is also critical. A missing engine, transmission or hydraulic component can stop assembly and block a production workstation.

How Hicron helps

Hicron enables production sequencing based on actual operation times and machine configuration. Thanks to detailed planning in SAP PP/DS, production order sequence can be optimized while considering workstation load and dependencies between operations.

SAP enables production to be monitored at the level of a specific machine and its assembly stages. Production order tracking supports progress control, delay identification and better WIP management.

Hicron also helps link the production plan with the availability of critical components. Material planning takes machine configuration and assembly dates into account, enabling production to see shortage risks earlier and adjust the plan.

Business value

more stable order execution sequence,
better use of production workstations,
fewer bottlenecks,
greater visibility of production progress,
better control of work in progress,
earlier identification of material shortage risks,
greater predictability of dates.

Supply Chain: better synchronization of procurement, production and critical components

In machinery manufacturing, the production plan often changes under the influence of order configuration and order sequencing. Every schedule change affects material requirements and delivery dates.

Supply chain must respond to variable production needs while controlling long-lead-time components. Delays from suppliers of critical components can directly translate into production delays.

The balance between component availability and inventory levels is also a significant challenge. Securing materials increases inventory and freezes capital, but a lack of materials can stop production and delay order execution.

How Hicron helps

Hicron enables the production plan to be linked with material planning in one data model. Thanks to MRP in SAP S/4HANA, material requirements can be updated as the production schedule changes.

Supply chain can see the impact of production changes on supplier orders, which helps stabilize the delivery plan and reduce the cost of emergency actions.

SAP also makes it possible to analyze the impact of material shortages on the production schedule. The supply chain team can identify orders at risk due to missing components and take corrective action faster.

Hicron also supports inventory planning based on actual demand and planning scenarios. This makes it possible to better define inventory levels and safety stock.

Business value

better linkage between production and procurement,
updating material requirements as the plan changes,
greater visibility of supply risks,
better control of critical components,
reduced risk of downtime,
better balance between material availability and inventory levels,
greater control of working capital.

Quality management: batch traceability, nonconformities and testing

Machines and equipment consist of many components from different suppliers and are operated for many years, often in difficult conditions. Lack of full traceability makes it difficult to analyze quality problems, conduct service activities and determine which machines or components are at risk.

Quality problems can appear at various stages: at suppliers, in production, during final assembly or during operation. Without a central nonconformity handling process, it is difficult to analyze causes and eliminate recurring errors.

In addition, machines require functional, hydraulic and safety tests before shipment. If test results are recorded in separate documents, it is difficult to link them to a specific machine configuration.

How Hicron helps

Hicron enables components and machine configuration to be tracked throughout the product lifecycle. Thanks to serialization and batch management in SAP S/4HANA, components can be linked to a specific machine.

SAP Quality Management allows quality issues, their causes and corrective actions to be recorded centrally. The Quality team can track the effects of actions and eliminate recurring problems.

Hicron also helps link quality tests to a specific machine configuration. Inspection plans can be assigned to the product variant, while test results are recorded in the system and made available to production, quality and service.

Business value

fuller traceability of components and configuration,
faster definition of the scope of a quality issue,
central nonconformity handling,
better control of corrective actions,
linkage of tests with a specific machine,
easier audits and technical problem analysis,
reduced warranty and service costs.

Finance: ongoing control of WIP, costs and configuration profitability

Machinery and equipment production takes a long time and includes many assembly and testing stages. Finance needs visibility of costs incurred during execution and the value of work in progress. Without current data, controlling may identify cost deviations and their impact on the financial result too late. Machine production costs may differ significantly between plan and actual execution. Differences result from material costs, labor, assembly time and configuration specifics.

In addition, different machine models and configurations generate different profitability. Without detailed analysis, it is difficult to make decisions about pricing, variants and product portfolio.

How Hicron helps

Hicron enables ongoing control of work-in-progress costs and their impact on the financial result. Thanks to WIP settlement functions and Results Analysis in SAP S/4HANA, costs can be assigned to production orders during execution.

SAP Product Costing and variance analysis make it possible to compare planned and actual costs at model and order level. Finance can see the sources of variances and their impact on margin.

Thanks to Margin Analysis, revenues and costs can be analyzed by model, configuration and customer. This supports decisions about pricing, product portfolio and sales profitability.

Business value

ongoing control of work in progress,
better visibility of costs during execution,
more efficient period closing,
cost variance analysis,
margin control at model, variant and customer level,
better pricing decisions,
better control of sales profitability.

IT: simpler architecture, fewer integrations and better data quality

In many companies, machinery production, configuration, service and controlling are handled by different systems: ERP, configurators, engineering tools, service systems and spreadsheets. Maintaining integrations, customizations and inconsistent data sources increases IT costs and makes environment development more difficult.

A separate challenge is integrating the dealer network with the manufacturer’s systems. Sales and service performed by dealers require consistent data on configuration, prices, availability, orders and service information.

Heavy equipment machines are also operated, modernized and serviced for many years. IT must therefore provide access to configuration data and machine history across a long lifecycle.

How Hicron helps

Hicron helps simplify the system architecture and reduce the number of tools used to handle configuration, production and controlling.

SAP S/4HANA makes it possible to move key processes into one environment, reducing the number of integrations and custom code.

Hicron also supports standardizing communication with the dealer network. Dealers can use central data on configuration, prices and availability, while orders and service data can be synchronized with the manufacturer’s systems.

SAP also enables machine data to be managed throughout the product lifecycle. Production, configuration and service data can be linked to a specific machine, improving data quality and reducing IT architecture complexity.

Business value

fewer dispersed systems,
fewer integrations and less custom code,
simpler IT environment development,
more consistent data between production, sales, service and finance,
better integration of the dealer network,
central configuration, price and availability data,
better management of machine data across the lifecycle.

HR: competencies, onboarding and retention of expert knowledge

Heavy equipment production requires specialized technical knowledge. New production employees must quickly acquire knowledge about assembly processes, safety and machine configurations. If onboarding is handled manually, it is difficult to track progress, assign training and assess when an employee reaches full productivity.

Managing technical competencies and certifications, for example in hydraulics, electrics or machine testing, is also an important challenge. Lack of competency visibility makes production and training planning more difficult.

In addition, knowledge about machine configuration and assembly is often held by experienced employees. Lack of succession planning increases the risk of losing know-how.

How Hicron helps

Hicron enables the onboarding process for production and technical employees to be organized. Thanks to SAP SuccessFactors, onboarding paths can be defined for specific roles and required training can be assigned.

SAP SuccessFactors Learning supports management of technical competencies and employee development. HR can identify competence gaps, plan training and maintain expert knowledge at the right level.

Hicron also supports succession planning for key technical and production roles. Thanks to Succession & Development functions, the organization can identify critical positions, assign successors and plan development paths.

Business value

organized onboarding of production and technical employees,
faster achievement of full productivity,
better control of training and certifications,
visibility of competence gaps,
development of technical competencies,
succession planning for key positions,
reduced risk of losing expert knowledge.

ERP Value Check

To introduce significant improvements, you do not always need to start with a major transformation project. Sometimes the best first step is a diagnosis: what already works, what should be improved and where the system can bring the greatest business value.

During ERP Value Check, we analyze the extent to which the current ERP environment supports processes typical for machinery and heavy equipment manufacturing.

In particular, we check:

whether the current system supports technical machine configuration,
where manual workarounds and data inconsistencies appear,
how production and critical component availability are planned,
whether the company has visibility of work in progress, costs and margin,
how engineering changes and configuration data are managed,
whether quality, testing and traceability are integrated with production,
how dealer, production, service and finance integration works,
whether the organization has control over competencies, training and succession in technical roles,
which processes can be optimized or further developed,
whether SAP S/4HANA can support the next stage of organizational development.

The outcome of ERP Value Check is an initial map of the areas where SAP can generate the greatest business value – through optimization, system development or implementation.

Schedule your ERP Value Check

Is your ERP environment ready for AI?

AI can support manufacturing companies in data analysis, planning, risk identification and decision-making. To use this potential, however, an organization needs organized processes, high-quality data and an integrated system environment.

In machinery manufacturing, data related to product configuration, component availability, production schedule, quality, costs and machine history is particularly important.

As part of ERP Value Check, we analyze not only opportunities for optimizing processes in SAP, but also the environment’s readiness to use AI: from data quality and process integration to areas where AI can genuinely support operational, planning and financial decisions.

Check whether your organization is ready for AI.

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