OREANDA-NEWS. SAP SE (NYSE: SAP) today announced that many of its forward-thinking customers are working with SAP to drive digital transformation in their forest products businesses. Three customers will share their experiences at the SAP Forest Products, Paper, and Packaging Forum, being held October 21–22 in Frankenthal, Germany.

The two-day conference will attract more than 200 business and IT-focused attendees representing a diverse set of companies including those active in wood, timber, panels, particleboards, commodity paper, specialty paper, paper packaging, flexible packaging and metals packaging businesses. On-site sessions will focus on how companies can use the newest technologies such as the Internet of Things (IoT), mobile technology, in-memory computing and the cloud to improve margins and supplier relationships, increase productivity and asset performance and reduce downtime.

Sappi Limited, a global business headquartered in South Africa focused on dissolving wood pulp, paper pulp and paper-based solutions, is transforming the way it works with its customers to improve relationships, revenues and margins. The company implemented the SAP Cloud for Customer solution for its sales force. As a result, it was able to provide complete insight at a moment’s notice into inquiry, order, claim and financial status on any device to drive relevant and personalized customer interactions and service.

“Customer relationships are critical in the pulp and paper business, and we have to be looking at the newest technologies that will continue to put us ahead of the competition,” said Didier Magnien, IT director, Sappi Limited. “SAP Cloud for Customer is a vital information hub that ties together all information and significantly improves the effectiveness of our sales force. The solution allows us to converse with customers using powerful, real-time information,” Magnien continued.

Koehler Paper Group, a leading producer of high-quality specialty papers based in Germany, actively works with IoT and Industry 4.0 concepts to achieve predictive quality in its paper plants. With the SAP Manufacturing Integration and Intelligence (SAP MII) application, the SAP HANA platform, SAP Predictive Analytics software and sensors, the company tracks specific characteristics of paper products as they are being manufactured. Detailed feedback allows for real-time adjustments to control quality and ensure consistency between rolls.

“The solutions from SAP are enabling breakthrough business processes in the area of predictive quality at Koehler Paper,” said Jörg Behnisch, CIO, Koehler Paper Group. “Tracking and analysis from the sensors gives us much more control over the entire process, which helps us get closer to the exact quality required at the lowest cost and risk to produce.”

ARAUCO, a Chilean-based global leader in the production of pulp, panels and lumber, has embraced the cloud as a key platform to support its digital transformation aspirations. Specifically, the company is driving digital transformation by:

  • Managing, retaining and training a high-performing base of more than 13,000 employees worldwide with solutions from SuccessFactors, an SAP company, serving as its corporate platform
  • Enabling managers and HR staff to speak the same business language by taking advantage of the SAP SuccessFactors Learning and SAP SuccessFactors Performance & Goals solutions
  • Reducing the data consolidation process from seven to two days and speeding up the demand forecasting process by 50 percent thanks to the SAP Sales and Operations Planning application, powered by SAP HANA
  • Streamlining its procurement process for goods and services, managing operational sourcing and procurement and driving compliance through the extended use of solutions from Ariba, an SAP company

“ARAUCO is working with SAP in many areas of the cloud, which we believe is giving our company a distinct competitive advantage in the speed and flexibility with which we can predict and analyze our business,” said Fernando Santos, CIO, ARAUCO.

“Client testimonials show that SAP solutions for the lnternet of Things can add either incremental or breakthrough improvements in the forest products sector,” said Valentijn de Leeuw, vice president, ARC Advisory Group. “Users should develop their industrial IoT support, strategies and road maps based on these solutions combined with their business objectives, and update these regularly to reflect the fast-changing possibilities on the market.”