Innovation grows from the social, economic, and environmental issues that drive technological incentives, introducing a force from a dream or a vision, to create change.
The SAP Innovation Awards honors and celebrates the achievements of forward-thinking companies and individuals that have harnessed the power of the latest SAP products and technologies. 2022 marks the 9th year of the innovation awards, where companies have used SAP products and technology focusing on: the intelligent enterprise, new business realities, positive social impacts, the circular economy, and powerful experiences; finding new ways to conduct business.
Innovation in Mill Products and Mining industries
Bessemer invented around 1850 how to mass produce steel, and, at the first glance, the process may not have changed a lot since then. At a second glance, engineers have created more than 3,500 different grades of steel with a wide variety of physical, chemical, and environmental properties. Approximately 75% of modern steels have been developed in just the past 20 years. And an even bigger revolution is around the corner with hydrogen replacing coal.
Bessemer steel-making process (image credit)
Companies manufacturing industrial materials like metals, glass, paper, or plastics, have constantly pushed the limits to drive down cost (and waste), to sweat their highly expensive assets, and to replace competitors and alternative materials – be it on weight, strength, or sustainability.
This year’s innovation awards candidates celebrate this innovation power, creativity, and competitiveness, that marks this industry. We proudly present – drumroll – our 2022 innovation awards shortlist. Be inspired, push the limits in 2022, and become an award winner yourselves in 2023.
Companies innovating in real-life
For a better planet …
With more than 60 years of experience in creating the perfect combination between decor, color, design, and texture, Arpa Industriale is a leader in the manufacturing of high-pressure laminates and materials for interior design, furniture, and architecture. Arpa Industriale is known for its craft skills acquired in more than 60 years of history, for its investments in research, and its focus on sustainability. In 2013, Arpa Industriale disrupted the market with the introduction of FENIX materials, and quickly learned that the traditional HPL production process led to defects, profits lost, and large amounts of waste. As the material’s demand grew, Arpa Industriale decided – a solution was essential to uphold their ambitious sustainability targets. How would this even be possible? The FENIX factory. An intelligent factory built from the ground-up, running exclusively on SAP software. Fast forward to today, with dashboards, predictive analytics, and embedded automation, Arpa Industriale has reduced energy and water use by 80%, about eliminated scrap waste to zero, and saved 750K€ in production costs in the first year. So, what’s next? Continually harnessing the power of SAP HANA’s predictive analytics to push towards a greener future.
Arpa Industriale 2022 Innovation Award: A Next Gen Factory incorporating Sustainability and Quality
Improving customer experiences …
Over a century, CEMEX S.A.B. de C.V., has grown from a local fish in the pond, to a global leader across the construction industry. A company that focuses on creating value through their four core products – cement, ready-mix concrete, aggregates, and urbanization solutions – felt challenged with their lack of visibility, unclear processing statuses, and reliability of information – to act, or react upon. Clarity was restored with the linkage of machine learning, artificial intelligence, and platform applications, welcoming visibility, trust, and confidence in the CEMEX system and solution landscape. CEMEX will continue their journey with a defined roadmap, towards the Intelligent Operations Control Center.
CEMEX 2022 Innovation Award: Perfecting Operations with Machine Learning
With customers in over 160 countries, the largest steel producer in Brazil, ArcelorMittal Brazil, has plants in six states, manufacturing sinter feed and iron ore … plus, high-quality long and flat carbon steel for the automotive, household application, packaging, and shipbuilding industries. In November of 2020, the Banco Central do Brazil, shook up the payment market with the rollout of PIX – one of the most efficient payment systems in Latin America, bringing instant payments to life. To support ArcelorMittal’s CX model, they utilized SAP ERP to focus on outbound and inbound interfaces. How? With QR codes based on customer orders, and receipt notifications once payment were completed using the QR codes. The solution made ArcelorMittal one of the first steel manufacturing business in Brazil to have its SAP technology integrated with PIX, improving their customer experiences, with faster, more convenient payment methods – paving their own path, and being a true trailblazer.
ArcelorMittal Brazil 2022 Innovation Award: Making customer experience better through PIX - the new Brazilian instant payment system.
It all began back in 1958, with building products made-on site in the factory of Turkey for one of European’s finest, and now largest producer and exporter of ceramic sanitary ware, Eczacıbaşı Group, Vitramax. With a mission to provide a unique and seamless experience to each customer and stakeholder, it was essential to be a data and tech driven organization. Eczacibasi, chose to implement 20 SAP S/4HANA Core and 5 CX modules in a period of 13 months. Today, nearly all manual operations are automated, taking the companies efficiency and productivity to new levels – creating a new foundation to make decisions, accelerate growth, and scale.
Eczacibasi Building Products 2022 Innovation Award: Vitramax - more than just another digital transformation
The largest mill-independent material distributor in the Western world, thyssenkrupp Materials Services GmbH, strived for a stronger delivery performance and better material quality, for their high-quality raw material portfolio. The organization was challenged with aligned to their new transformation strategy, that put customers front and center. With SAP Commerce Cloud, the company when from an e-commerce to omnichannel model, integrating channels with their existing ERP landscape. The outcome? The implementation of a digital channel that introduces a new level of scalability through thyssenkrupp Materials Services e-commerce business.
thyssenkrupp Materials Services GmbH 2022 Innovation Award: Transforming Online Sales of Materials and the mindset of a company with SAP Commerce Cloud
Saving time and reducing costs …
Founded in 1935 to meet the republic’s need for glass, to present day, global glass, and chemical company, Şişecam, manufactures glassware, flat glass, automotive glass, glass packaging and glass chemicals. With aspirations to expand into new markets and industries, Şişecam needed a digital unification strategy to bring siloed operations together, to sustain business growth and expansion. With the new One Şişecam vision, the company was able to unify systems, restructure operations, and organize across all lines of business – opening new doors to business synergies and insights.
Şişecam 2022 Innovation Award: Glass and Chemical Leader Unifies Operations for Global Growth
With over 130 years of history, Furukawa Electric Co., Ltd., was founded in 2005 from a long lineage beginning in the 1800s. Over the long timeline, the company has spread to a variety of businesses, ranging from telecommunication (fiber cable) to electrical components, automotive components, and metal materials. With a wide range of business divisions, it took a long time to collect and analyze information and data. The company looked towards SAP S/4HANA to connect and standardize the operations of 12 business divisions to one. Furukawa can now look to the future with ease, enhancing its competitive advantage for centuries to come.
Furukawa Electric Co., Ltd. 2022 Innovation Award: "Onefit Phase3" for Driving DX in Purchasing, Accounting and Sales
Leader in omnichannel commercial furnishings, Kimball International, Inc. has expertise serving the needs of the learning, commercial office, healing and hospitality markets for over 70 years. With a combination of entrepreneurial spirit, craftsmanship and design-driven thinking the company has been able to remain progressive with time – establishing connections with customers, stakeholders, employees, and communities. Kimball wanted to say goodbye to their old manual planning process ways and create a newly integrated planning solution across all areas. With new insight, shared through dashboards and automated reporting Kimball has tapped into a new era of effective decision making.
Kimball International, Inc. 2022 Innovation Award: Collaborative Enterprise Planning (FP&A and S&OP) Integration Case Study
Optimizing supply chains …
With development facilities in 11 countries, operating across 17 plants, ThyssenKrupp Presta AG, is one of the world’s largest manufactures in the world of steering columns and steering systems. Since steering systems in modern vehicles consist of many components that must fit together perfectly, it has been a challenge for thyssenkrupp, to meet OEM traceability and quality requirements reporting needs in real-time to reduce production defects. With an implemented digital manufacturing platform, automating the shop floor, thyssenkrupp, can now track-and-trace, components across the entire production process in real-time – reducing defective product parts beforehand, and increasing cost savings.
ThyssenKrupp Presta AG 2022 Innovation Award: Digitization of Tier 1 Automotive Shop Floor Processes
Since the beginning of time, construction logistics have been complex, generating large numbers of paper documents, being purchase orders and delivery bills, creating a large pile of manual effort, and opportunity for errors to thrive. In 2018, one of Austria’s largest construction companies, PORR AG worked with SAP to digitize their paper process. Together, PORR and SAP founded an Industry Consortium and bring a solution to market for the entire industry. In 2021, SEQUELLO GmbH web app, powered by SAP BTP was founded to bridge the gap between suppliers, contractors, and workers, on a single platform.
SEQUELLO GmbH 2022 Innovation Award: Transforming Logistics Across the Construction Industry with SAP Business Technology Platform
In 2006, Al-Awalia, was established by the Qatari Government to supply their local market with building materials like gabbro, Sahara washed sand, dune sand, RCA, and limestone. Al-Awalia needed to supply reliability and quality efficiently to support the continuing development initiative and construction projects in the country. With old legacy systems, Al-Awalia was siloed – creating a lack of visibility and traceability. With an SAP S/4HANA implementation, Al-Awalia has flipped a new leaf, contributing to real-time reporting, reliable inventory management, increased flexibility, and speed to respond to customer and vendor requests.
Qatar Primary Materials Company 2022 Innovation Award: Radical digital transformation and automation.
Experience innovation first-hand
SAP welcome's 26 of the Innovation Award participants to speak at SAP Sapphire in Orlando or virtually on May 10-12, 2022.
Join us a by adding inspiration to your agenda with the "Get Inspired by 2022 SAP Innovation Award Winners" on Thursday, May 12, 2022. Add the session.
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To the visionaries ...
... the curious, the explorers, and the inventors. Let’s join forces and innovate together for a better tomorrow. Participate in the #SAPInnovation Awards 2023 and share your story; submissions open August 2022! Register Today.
21st-Century green steel-making process
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