As asset management capabilities within SAP S/4HANA continue to evolve, SAP experts recently hosted an ASUG webcast to detail the current state of SAP Intelligent Asset Management.
Led by Ryan Jones, Product Marketing Manager, SAP; Jeff Bonnell, Senior Director, Global CoE, SAP; and Lucas Hubacher, Senior Director, Global CoE, SAP, the webcast focused on new capabilities that allow SAP customers on SAP S/4HANA Cloud, SAP S/4HANA, and SAP ECC to track asset performance, execute maintenance and service, and maximize asset uptime.
Organizations face challenges in the form of continuously adapting maintenance strategies, contending with silos, streamlining processes with external service providers, interpreting equipment data, and managing worker dynamics. “There are things that you’ve probably faced within your own organization, but I would say some of them are maybe amplified a little bit in the current economic environment and the current operating context that we’re in,” Bonnell noted.
Jones, who has spent eight years working at SAP overseeing SAP Enterprise Asset Management (EAM) and SAP Field Service Management (FSM), compared the evolutions of S/4HANA Asset Management to the transition from flip phones to smartphones.
“With the flip phones in ECC, project management was very functional and did what we needed it to do,” Jones explained. “To improve and meet the needs of the next generation of consumers, it required new technology.”
Among the enhancements made to S/4HANA Asset Management since its introduction in 2015, he pointed to embedded scheduling, advanced analytics, phase-based maintenance, inspection checklists, and AI-driven functionality.
The experts also delved into the exclusive and enhanced capabilities that distinguish SAP S/4HANA Asset Management from SAP ECC Project Management (PM), such as integrated planning and scheduling, mobile functionality with SAP Service and Asset Manager, embedded analytics for real-time insights, a simplified user interface with Fiori apps, and AI-driven features for predictive maintenance and optimized decision-making.
Showcasing the Intuitive UX and Future Roadmap
During the presentation, Jones demonstrated the Fiori interface of SAP S/4HANA Asset Management, noting that “it’s intuitive, easy to use, and mobile-enabled.” Key highlights from the system demo included:
- Creating maintenance requests with failure mode-driven data capture.
- Utilizing the maintenance planner overview page for centralized information access.
- Managing work center utilization and schedules for optimized resource allocation.
- Leveraging embedded analytics for maintenance cost analysis and data-driven decision-making.
SAP continues to invest in SAP S/4HANA Asset Management, with features like a new Fiori app for managing maintenance orders, the integration of Joule (an AI-driven assistant) for technicians, and AI-assisted order creation based on historical data. A lab preview highlighted how Joule could “revolutionize the user experience” by allowing technicians to interact with the system using natural language to access S/4HANA Asset Management’s data and insights.
The Value Proposition
Hubacher, who works in SAP’s global Center of Excellence and focuses primarily on service and asset management, emphasized the comprehensive, end-to-end nature of SAP S/4HANA Asset Management, covering the entire asset lifecycle — from planning and acquisition to operational maintenance and decommissioning. Hubacher also highlighted its potential benefits: reduced maintenance costs (5-8%), decreased unplanned asset downtime (10-15%), and lower compliance penalties and fines (5-10%).
Additionally, Hubacher stressed the importance of seamless integration with other SAP modules to eliminate the need for costly third-party interfaces. He noted that “from a cost perspective, it really is worth looking at the capabilities from SAP Asset Management,” comparing it to competitors in terms of its optimal total cost of ownership (TCO).
Hubacher presented several customer success stories from various industries to illustrate the tangible impact of the solution. For instance, Compania Minera del Pacifico, a Chile-based mining company, reduced its frequency index for workers’ occupational risk from the industry average of 1.1 to 0.12 after implementing S/4HANA Asset Management. Meanwhile, Danish State Railways digitized maintenance processes at several workshops, resulting in reduced overhead costs, improved rolling stock reliability, and increased customer satisfaction due to fewer cancellations and delays in train journeys.
Getting Started with SAP Asset Management
For organizations interested in exploring SAP Asset Management, the panelists offered guidance on next steps, such as aligning business and IT requirements, gathering information from SAP or preferred partners, and leveraging SAP’s extensive partner network and consulting services for implementation support. SAP Intelligent Asset Management helps organizations define a high-level roadmap that encapsulates key processes: managing asset master data, preparing and optimizing assets, acquiring and onboarding assets, and operating and maintaining assets.
Asset-intensive industries face an increasingly complex and dynamic environment. SAP S/4HANA Asset Management is poised to help organizations optimize their maintenance processes, reduce costs, and drive asset performance with its advanced capabilities, intuitive user experience, and seamless integration with other SAP products, empowering organizations to overcome challenges and achieve their goals in the digital age.