LogiMAT 2023: Project House for SAP Logistics takes satisfactory stock
Augsburg, 04.05.2023 – SWAN GmbH is pleased about an entirely successful trade fair performance at this year’s LogiMAT. The numerous visitors showed great interest in SWAN’s innovative and automated intralogistics solutions based on the SAP modules SAP EWM and SAP TM. Many prospects were primarily interested in the necessary migration of their existing SAP system to SAP S/4HANA. Automation projects, software retrofits and a step-by-step SAP LE-TRA replacement to SAP TM Advanced generated particularly strong demand. Another highlight was the joint panel talk with a SAP representative about “The future of intralogistics: flexibility and automation along the supply chain with SAP”.
From April 25 to 27, the trade fair for intralogistics and process management experienced record attendance with more than 62,000 visitors in the exhibition halls in Stuttgart. SWAN presented its user-centric portfolio to an international expert audience and is extremely satisfied with the trade fair as a whole, the number of visitors and the individual contacts. Alongside existing customers, many new prospects, logistics planners and network partner companies visited the trade fair stand. The focus was particularly on the SAP EWM (SAP Extended Warehouse Management) and SAP TM (SAP Transportation Management) business areas, which gave SWAN many new contacts and concrete project inquiries. The necessary migration from SAP EWM 9.5 to SAP S/4HANA represents a major need, for which SWAN offers custom-fit solutions.
Specialist for innovative, user-centric SAP logistics solutions
The visitors were impressed by SWAN’s comprehensive expertise in the field of manual and automated logistics solutions. SWAN offers highly usability- and performance-oriented automation solutions for intralogistics, including innovative add-ons in the areas of material flow, direct coupling, IoT connectivity, and Real Time Location Systems (RTLS). All this makes SWAN the perfect sparring partner for upcoming automation projects.
The focus is particularly on the modernization of customers’ SAP environments, as old solutions in SAP EWM 9.5 have been discontinued by SAP until the end of 2027. Companies must migrate their system to SAP S4/HANA by then in order to be prepared for the future. “Since SAP does not migrate any transaction data, the migration of data is a more complex procedure. Our intralogistics experts develop the right solution for every requirement in order to migrate all relevant data,” emphasizes Andreas Brand, authorized representative and Director SAP Realization at SWAN. Many interested parties are currently focusing on software retrofits – a development of the last economically challenging years. The increased cost of new construction has led most companies to favor modernization of the existing warehouse and associated software. However, a slow trend reversal is emerging here. “The Construction industry has calmed down a bit and new warehouse projects are being built again, which require new SAP intralogistics solutions. Thus, many orders are added to our short-term planning,” adds Andreas Brand.
From Basic to Advanced: Step-by-Step SAP TM Implementation
In order to achieve high process performance across the entire supply chain, the interlinking of SAP TM and SAP EWM is getting closer and closer. SWAN offers companies bundled solutions for efficient transport management – an offering that is meeting with increasing demand. Here, too, it is clear that the upcoming major SAP migration is calling the tune. The widely used SAP ECC 6.0 and SAP LE-TRA systems have been discontinued for the end of 2027 and 2030, respectively. With SAP TM Basic and SAP TM Advanced, the replacements for integrated transportation management are already available. Furthermore, solutions for transport and cargo space optimization such as freight tracking, GIS connection or graphical route planning were increasingly in demand.
The Future of Intralogistics: Panel Talk with SAP
Together with Matthias Nater, Solution Advisor, SAP Digital Supply Chain Management & Manufacturing of SAP Deutschland AG & Co. KG, SWAN invited to a panel talk at the booth of the strategic partner SSI Schäfer. Nater looks back on 21 years of SAP experience and is jointly responsible for the development and implementation of SAP EWM. The core of the roundtable discussion on “The Future of Intralogistics” was growing flexibility and automation along the supply chain with SAP. Companies that use SAP rely on a platform that enables them to further develop and adapt solutions and optimize processes in order to remain competitive in the decades to come. SAP can be used to implement integrated solutions – from ERP functions to logistics and production to the control of automation technology and robotics. A field that attracted great interest from the public and met the needs of customers.
“We look back on three days of concentrated knowledge and interest exchange. It is inspiring to network with people who have similar interests and goals as we do at SWAN,” sums up Alexander Bernhard, General Manager of SWAN. “LogiMAT is not the largest and most influential trade fair in the logistics sector by chance; not only for acquiring new customers, but also for forging and deepening partnerships. I’m looking forward to the coming weeks and months in which we will cultivate and consolidate our new contacts.”
