Artificial intelligence is bringing about a similarly profound transformation in the world of work as the spread of personal computers did in the past. Whereas automation used to accelerate purely rule-based activities, AI now opens up a wide range of new possibilities. What was once a buzzword has long since become a productive lever for efficiency and resilience in supply chain and production processes.
cbs categorizes AI capabilities into three categories:
1. Collaboration: AI supports employees through text or interactions, for example in generative AI tools such as ChatGPT or SAP Joule. This ensures more efficient work, provides guidance, and aids decision-making.
2. Automation: AI automates entire process steps or parts of them based on defined rules and AI-based decision-making. Manual tasks are minimized, and accuracy and speed are increased.
3. Analytics: AI recognizes complex patterns, anomalies, and deviations, provides explanations, and enables targeted improvements.
It is important to note that AI does not come into the company in the form of singular big steps. The impact unfolds gradually, and costs fall after the first partial automation. With each additional process component, autonomy increases until the process is completely AI-driven.
The cbs Use Case Library
Our cbs Use Case Library provides guidance on where to find useful starting points. We developed these based on insights from our customer workshops and projects. The Use case library covers all areas of the value chain. The graphic shows a selection of use cases with a guaranteed high return on investment and significant AI-supported KPI added value. With the help of these use cases, our customers can gain experience that enables them to carry out further AI automation independently.
Let’s take a closer look at four of these use cases:
1. Automated sales order processing
The case is an evergreen: Many companies still receive orders by email or in some countries even fax. Manual entry and transfer to SAP is error-prone and time-consuming. With the AI agent framework cbs AID – Advanced Integration of Documents, customer data, item numbers, quantities, and specific attributes are automatically extracted from unstructured documents and transferred to SAP with an accuracy of over 99%. This can result in time savings of up to 50%, which translates into a positive return on investment in less than 9 months.
2. Automated verification of GxP and REACH certificates
In regulated industries such as chemicals and life sciences, companies must meet strict requirements (REACH, CLP, ISO 9001, GHS, GxP). Manual verification of certificates is time-consuming. Errors can result in compliance risks or even production interruptions.
AI-assisted certificate processing with cbs AID integrates the documents directly into SAP. Compliance checks, including GHS/GxP, are performed in an auditable and traceable manner. This results in time savings of 30-50%, leading to a positive return on investment in less than 8 months.
3. Optimization of routing master data with AI
When creating work plans, setup and process times are estimated based on historical values. Continuous monitoring of these times is time-consuming. This often results in a discrepancy between planned and actual times, leading to inaccurate production planning and inefficiency
Our AI solution uses ERP production and MES data, analyzes it continuously, and optimizes master data management.
It detects systematic deviations and suggests corrections for the work plans. This can lead to 20% higher planning stability, around 15% more accurate cost calculation, and 10-20% time savings for the master data team.
4. AI-supported recognition of UIC wagon numbers in the yard
Manual recording of UIC wagon numbers in rail logistics is time-consuming, error-prone, and unreliable. Our AI solution uses the camera of a data glasses device and reliably extracts the wagon number. An employee confirms this via voice command and the data is transferred directly to SAP. The result is a digital process with greater security, quality, and efficiency. This can result in time savings of 30-50%, leading to a positive return on investment in less than 9 months.
Learn more: Optimizing train sequence checks with AI and smartglasses
AI moves fast – don’t wait
AI will evolve faster in SAP processes than many people assume. We are rapidly moving from demos and experiments to solutions that operate independently and pass audits. Our recommendation: Don’t wait. It doesn’t matter if you’re still using SAP ECC or on-premise. Start small and agile. Identify a pilot process with high potential, select two KPIs, and aim for a result in six weeks.
The experience gained from the project will then help to develop the target vision for the coming months. The autonomy of AI can be continuously increased until you have completely AI-driven processes. Our goal at cbs is to enable our customers to use SAP AI effectively and independently – from the initial workshops to identify use cases, to formulating the target vision, to successful implementation. Start your journey now.
