Thinking beyond the SAP standard

Demand-driven MRP (DDMRP) as a concept for effective and demand-driven supply chain planning has now also fully arrived in the SAP world.

Today, corresponding solutions are available for all relevant SAP platforms (SAP ECC, SAP SCM, S/4 Hana, SAP Integrated Business Planning).

SAP Integrated Business Planning (SAP IBP) is a particularly suitable platform for the DDMRP concept, since the entire production and distribution network can be mapped very easily here - an important prerequisite for the systematic definition and monitoring of strategic decoupling points as envisaged by the DDMRP concept.

The DDMRP solution for SAP IBP, jointly developed by Camelot ITLab and SAP, builds on this strong foundation by extending existing standards instead of replacing them. The implementation of the concept is thus also easily possible for SAP IBP existing customers.

Enhancement Framework

Within the SAP IBP system, own developments are not possible. An extension of the standard is done via an enhancement framework with corresponding interfaces.

Not only DDMRP for SAP IBP uses this function, but also other applications can thus complement the SAP IBP standard. In the context of Demand-driven SCM, especially for complex environments and extensive global supply chains, more advanced functionalities are often necessary to fully realize the core principles of the concept.

For example, the principle of a parameter-driven supply chain in complex and heterogeneous environments requires systematic segmentation and derived parameterization, which, however, can only be implemented to a limited extent using on-board tools.

Another use case is the use of AI algorithms for the optimization of planning parameters such as inventory levels (Camelot AI-enabled Supply Chain Planning). The SAP Cloud Platform is used in these scenarios to operate the enhancements. This is in line with the strategic direction of SAP, which already supports and uses its Cloud Platform for extensions of other cloud products.

Such extensions for standard software and its processes, such as S/4, SAP IBP, SAP SCM, are called microservices. Their task is to improve existing or introduce new process steps within a business process.

Such a microservice has to implement the data extraction and processing as well as the transfer of determined results. To map this process, Camelot uses the Camelot Intelligence Engine developed on the basis of the SAP Cloud Platform.

It is additionally able to repeat the execution of the process with jobs that can be scheduled. This basis is used by the cloud product Camelot Segment & Strategize in the context of data segmentation.

Segment & Strategize enables the systematic segmentation of products, customers, suppliers and other (planning) relevant entities and a derived parameterization of the supply chain planning.

The result is a constantly updating and differentiated parameterization of the supply chain and thus an important cornerstone of demand-driven SCM.