LAS VEGAS — SAP SE (NYSE: SAP) today announced updates to its spend management solutions to help companies collaborate strategically, increase productivity, manage compliance effortlessly and gain business insights.

The announcements were made at SAP Spend Connect Live, the industry’s premier spend management conference, held October 14-16 in Las Vegas.

SAP Embeds Generative AI Across Spend Management and Business Network Solutions

SAP is embedding its generative AI copilot Joule across the SAP Ariba source-to-pay solution portfolio to make it easier for customers to manage routine inquiries, such as status updates, summarization and frequently asked questions. Generative AI will be further infused in SAP Ariba solutions to recommend buying bundles and provide comprehensive supplier summaries.

Joule will help SAP Fieldglass solutions customers perform time-consuming hiring tasks and service requests with speed and accuracy. Joule can recommend best-fit templates to generate job postings and statements of work (SOWs) with prefilled information such as start date and the number of skilled workers needed.

Joule embedded across SAP Business Network will facilitate tasks in logistics and asset management. Generative AI will analyze, categorize and transform unstructured invoice rejection errors into structured, actionable insights to reduce the cost of resolving exceptions. Generative AI capabilities within the SAP Business Network Discovery solution will help match suppliers with new business opportunities.

Joule is currently available within SAP Ariba solutions and will debut in SAP Fieldglass solutions and SAP Business Network in the fourth quarter 2024. Joule will manage 80% of the most frequently performed tasks in the portfolio of intelligent spend management and business network solutions from SAP starting in the fourth quarter 2024 with a phased approach.

New SAP Ariba Intake Management Solution Delivers Simplicity in Procurement

SAP introduces the SAP Ariba Intake Management solution to help transform how businesses handle employee requests and process orchestration, starting with procurement.

With SAP Ariba Intake Management, employees have one place to go for procurement inquiries and visibility on status. The solution collects employee requests, orchestrates processes across heterogenous landscapes and applications, including all necessary stakeholders, and provides visibility on status while shielding employees from process complexity yet keeping them informed. This simpler, more intuitive user experience is designed to help drive adoption and improve compliance.

SAP plans to make SAP Ariba Intake Management available in the first quarter 2025.

New SAP Business Network, Promote Subscription to Help Suppliers Grow their Businesses

SAP Business Network in the first quarter 2025 will launch a new promote subscription with value-added features to help suppliers differentiate themselves, attract new buyers and grow their businesses. With millions of companies conducting nearly $6 trillion in commerce annually on the SAP Business Network, promote presents a sizable opportunity for suppliers to accelerate growth.

SAP Unveils Analytics Add-On for External Workforce Management

The new analytics add-on with AI capabilities for SAP Fieldglass solutions helps procurement, vendor management and HR professionals to quickly implement more agile multi-channel talent strategies. This add-on enables business users to benchmark and predict external talent scenarios.

The analytics add-on for SAP Fieldglass solutions lets users:

• Review performance against over 50 external workforce key performance indicators.
• Access global market intelligence including rates, talent supply and demand, and time-to-hire trends.
• Track sustainability initiatives such as spend with diverse suppliers and worker health and safety, while observing cost overruns, worker fatigue, and on- and offboarding compliance.

“With SAP Business AI as the foundation of our intelligent products, customers can improve productivity and gain insights from their spend data no matter where it sits,” said Manoj Swaminathan, President and Chief Product Officer, Intelligent Spend and Business Network, SAP. “Whether it is managing cost, mitigating risk or supporting scope three emission reduction, SAP empowers companies with the right solutions for agile and effective spend management and supply chain functions.”

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Media Contact:
Kelly Sheldon Murray, +1 (978) 708-6821, kelly.murray@sap.com, ET
SAP Press Room; press@sap.com

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New Features in SAP S/4HANA Cloud Private Edition 2023 FPS02 Aim to Revolutionize Enterprise Operations

SAP has announced the release of SAP S/4HANA Cloud Private Edition 2023 FPS02, which includes advanced AI-assisted capabilities and the expansion of SAP’s copilot Joule, the cutting-edge digital assistant designed to transform the user experience.

Combined with a suite of other innovations, these features are set to deliver unprecedented efficiency and intelligence across various business functions.

Pioneering AI-Assisted Capabilities

SAP S/4HANA Cloud Private Edition 2023 FPS02 harnesses the power of artificial intelligence (AI) to automate routine tasks, provide predictive insights, and streamline decision-making processes. New capabilities in this release include:

• AI-Assisted Sales Order Fulfillment: Sales departments can now leverage AI to monitor and resolve order fulfillment issues to greatly enhance order accuracy and customer satisfaction. Sales orders are summarized on header and item level in natural language, fulfillment issues are identified and resolved, sales orders can be updated, and document flows are made transparent.
• Conversational Planning in Transportation Cockpit: The supply chain management module introduces AI-driven conversational planning. This feature allows users to interact with the system using natural language, simplifying complex transportation decisions and significantly reducing planning time.
• Inbound Cargo Document Creation: The automation of inbound cargo document creation through AI reduces administrative burdens and minimizes errors. It improves operational efficiency by reducing manual checks at the gate and waiting time for trucks.
• Maintenance Order Recommendations: In asset management, AI assists in predicting maintenance needs. The system analyzes asset performance data to recommend proactive maintenance strategies, helping extend asset lifespan and reduce downtime.

Introducing Joule for SAP S/4HANA Cloud Private Edition: The Future of Digital Assistance

At the heart of this release is Joule, a revolutionary digital assistant designed to streamline user interactions and boost productivity across the SAP ecosystem. Joule offers both transactional and navigational support, providing context-sensitive suggestions and shortcuts that significantly enhance the user experience.

With this release, Joule supports:

• Project Management Support: Joule simplifies project management tasks by offering intuitive navigation and transaction handling. This makes it easier for project assistants to manage complex projects, ultimately improving project flow and efficiency.
• Master Data Governance: Generative AI allows changes to master data and provides a summary of changes using natural language, reducing the time to change master data attributes and increasing the transparency of changes for reviewers.
• Hybrid Sourcing in Advanced Available-to-Promise (ATP): This functionality allows for a more dynamic approach in covering sales order demands, leveraging both internal and external suppliers to meet demand efficiently.

Additional Innovations Across Functional Areas

In addition to AI-assisted functionalities and Joule, this latest release is packed with enhancements aimed at refining procurement, finance, R&D, and service management.

Procurement

• Version and Pricing Comparison for Purchasing Contracts: Enables procurement professionals to efficiently evaluate different contract versions and pricing, ensuring optimal decision-making
• Controlled Information Access for Sourcing Projects: Enhances security by allowing defined access levels for contributors, safeguarding sensitive information and fostering secure collaboration

Finance

• Centralized Plan-Versus-Actual Analysis: Integrates plan data for a cohesive comparison between projected and actual financial performance, aiding precise budget management
• Subscription Order Management with SAP GTS Integration: Streamlines handling of subscription-based revenue models and ensures compliance with global trade regulations

Manufacturing

• Renewed Production Planning and Detailed Scheduling KPI Monitor: Provides in-depth analysis of key performance indicators (KPIs), enabling informed production planning and scheduling decisions
• Engineer-to-Order Production Models: Facilitates seamless integration of engineering requirements into production plans, reducing lead times and aligning manufacturing with customer-specific configurations

R&D

• Simplified Handling of In-Planned Services in Lean Service Procurement: Ensures efficient processing of service requirements, reducing administrative overhead and accelerating procurement cycles

Service Management

• Combined In-House Repair and Field Service: Enhances service efficiency by enabling combined in-house repair and field service within a single service order
• Non-Serialized Products in In-House Repair: Broadens the range of items that can be managed and repaired under the same system, driving operational flexibility

Asset Management

• Inspection Checklists Management: A new SAP Fiori app simplifies the management of inspection checklists. This new app shows an overview of inspection checklists in the Inspection Lots view, or the corresponding inspection characteristics in the Characteristics view. The planner can filter the result list and perform actions, like setting the usage decision.

Cross Topics

• Analyze Direct Project Transfers in Migration Cockpit: Facilitates smoother data migrations and offers analytical insights to ensure data integrity

The SAP S/4HANA Cloud Private Edition 2023 FPS02 release is a testament to our commitment to leveraging advanced technologies like AI and digital assistants to transform enterprise operations. With the introduction of AI-assisted capabilities and Joule, enterprises can expect significant improvements in efficiency, accuracy, and user experience.

As businesses worldwide navigate the complexities of the digital age, SAP’s latest innovations provide the tools needed to stay ahead of the curve, driving strategic growth and operational excellence.

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Maura Hameroff is senior vice president of ERP Product Marketing at SAP.