Pioneer in order-based planning with SAP IBP & RTI
One of the world‘s first implementations of rule-based sales order confirmation with real-time integration (RTI) in SAP Integrated Business Planning (IBP)
For over 100 years, Viessmann Climate Solutions (a CARRIER company) has been developing innovative solutions for energy-efficient, digital, and customized heating and energy generation systems. Today, the company is seizing a once-in-a-century opportunity to drive a sustainable transformation of the energy supply. Its contribution: integrated climate and energy solutions tailored to diverse needs while supporting environmental sustainability. For the benefit of our planet.
In order to provide customers reliable delivery dates in today‘s volatile market conditions, Viessmann Climate Solutions is enhancing its existing demand and rough-cut capacity planning processes with a rule-based customer order confirmation solution. It enables timely identification and appropriate resolution of short-term supply chain challenges or bottlenecks. Besides, high service levels are supported by an optimized global stock distribution process while maintaining decent inventory costs.
We extend our gratitude to our CONSILIO colleagues for their support in implementing order-based planning with SAP IBP and for ensuring the successful completion of the project.
30% Efficiency Gain due to System-Supported and Transparent Processes Based on Order-Based Planning with SAP IBP
Project Benefits for Viessmann Climate Solutions
- Globally standardized rules for sales order prioritization and confirmation, ensuring fair inventory distribution across markets and stable order confirmations.
- Seamlessly integrated planning processes, linking rough-cut long-term and medium-term planning with operational execution.
- System-supported planning of company-specific processes to effectively address competitive factors.
- Simplified, standardized adjustment possibilities for fine-tuning automated processes.
- Development of key performance indicators for monitoring and reporting.
- Increased transparency enables quick responses to operational issues and supports identifying further optimization opportunities across the supply chain and planning processes.
We are pleased to have once again relied on CONSILIO’s outstanding expertise, which enabled us to successfully complete this challenging SAP IBP project through a strong collaborative partnership.
End-to-end transparency through operational supply chain planning with rule-based sales order confirmation in SAP IBP.
Challenge
Order-based planning in SAP IBP enables seamless integration with SAP S/4HANA, requiring a thorough analysis and adaptation of operational processes. At Viessmann Climate Solutions the ERP-based availability check (ATP) was integrated with the sales order confirmation functionality in SAP IBP to provide maximum flexibility while ensuring stable confirmations. In IBP custom functionalities were implemented for safety stock prioritization and to achieve consistent, equitable rules for global customer order confirmations based on finite planning.
From a technical perspective at project start, implementing the new real-time interface (RTI) for master data and order synchronization between SAP S/4HANA and SAP IBP was a significant challenge. However, in close collaboration with SAP development, emerging issues were resolved and performance improved significantly.
We express our gratitude to our CONSILIO colleagues as we proudly pioneered together a new era of stable, reliable, and real-time order confirmations with IBP Response & Supply—culminating years of relentless effort, cross-functional collaboration, and achieving a major milestone marked by significant improvement in the maturity level of our supply chain management.
Project Steps
- Analysis of the current state, including existing processes, pain points and opportunities, followed by strategic design of the future coordinated planning processes.
- Determination of the process and IT strategy focusing on optimizing operational supply chain execution processes, leveraging SAP IBP.
- During the explore phase, a decision was made between interface technologies (SDI vs. RTI), with RTI selected for its future readiness and strong support from SAP development.
- The realization followed an agile project methodology and involved close collaboration with all stakeholders.
- The go-live took place in multiple waves, with the sequence determined by ascending complexity and scope of isolated supply chains. This approach ensured rollouts and gradual experience-building with the new processes at low risk. Opposed to a big bang approach workload for central planners was reduced and change management was more effective. Also IT benefited from proving and optimizing the new interface also in the productive environment.
- The final rollout, covering the largest segment of the supply chain network, was executed as a Big Bang. It encompassed additional non-standard special processes and a significantly larger scope, leveraging the success and learnings from previous rollouts.
