A ginger shot, fresh off the line, was the first stop for many visitors at SAP’s booth at Hannover Messe. But the real takeaway was seeing AI in action. From mixing the ginger shot to packaging and warehouse delivery, visitors saw how SAP is turning AI ambition into real-world manufacturing execution, delivering end-to-end supply chain management processes, and building the resilience every manufacturer needs.

Held from April 20–24, Hannover Messe is the world’s leading industrial trade fair.

On day one, Christian Klein, CEO of SAP SE, stopped by the SAP booth before joining German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and other industrial leaders on the center stage to discuss the importance of moving from AI ambition to real-world execution.

And visitors to the SAP booth experienced that shift firsthand, following the production of the ginger shot.

Packaged in a neat blue box, the ginger shot was refreshing but that wasn’t the only takeaway. The real takeaway was how SAP’s new set of AI-powered manufacturing and supply chain innovations can deliver connected end-to-end supply chain business processes powered by AI.

Supply chain orchestration

From AI and data and then using SAP’s agentic AI, visitors saw what supply chain orchestration looks like in practice. SAP uses agentic AI, trusted data, and applications to help manufacturers sense, analyze, and act in real time.

At the booth, visitors saw human operators interact with an ANYbotics robot through Joule using natural language to run live, remote field service inspections; Uhlmann’s high-tech glass-fronted packing machine, PacXplorer, in action opposite the CNC machine from DMG MORI that was creating spare parts for the PacXplorer; and, at end of the production cycle, AIMBO’s robot handling the picking and packing of the ginger shot. Both AIMBO and ANYbotics are part of SAP’s growing network of physical AI partnerships.

In addition to many tours held in German and English, day one also saw tours in Japanese, Chinese, and Portuguese—Brazil was the partner country at Hannover Messe 2026.

Equipped with headphones to block out the noise of the crowds at the booth, visitors heard how SAP’s AI can deliver trusted orchestration and smarter execution for manufacturing and supply chain management.

Live AI use cases demonstrate functions and benefits

Operations and insights use case

Here, visitors experienced SAP’s vision of supply chain orchestration. In this vision, supply chain orchestration acts as the nerve center of the enterprise. It uses external alerts such as natural disasters, port congestions, or supplier routes to optimize enterprise logistics and planning using agents.

Benefits can include faster response times with AI-assisted monitoring and automated alerts; improved decision-making with data-driven, operational decisions powered by integrated business AI capabilities; and seamless integration with end-to-end connectivity from supply chain planning through to manufacturing execution and quality control.

Top AI functions

• Production Planning and Operating Agent can assist with order release and real-time monitoring.
• A physical AI robot inspects hazards, analyzes inspection data, and identifies root causes.
• Supply optimization analysis helps summarize insights, analyze, and explain the time-series optimization planning run.

Smart production use case

DMG MORI demonstrated production at its CNC machine—as part of an end-to-end process—from engineering to planning to production.

As the white robotic arm of the CNC machine silently moved the pusher spare part after the milling process, visitors learned about the benefits of integration, from design to tool management, CNC programs to SAP Digital Manufacturing as part of a seamless, integrated process. The production operator dashboard offers the operator on the machine AI capabilities and insights to operational and maintenance information.

The process then continues through to logistics execution with SAP Logistics Management, which helps combine warehousing and transportation capabilities for smaller warehouses.  This features an AI-powered logistics assistant that can cut through the noise, automatically gathering, summarizing, and prioritizing critical shipment information. It can also provide real-time shipping prices, bringing to life trusted orchestration and smarter execution.

Top AI functions

• Joule with SAP Logistics Management uses natural language to help streamline warehouse and transportation operations.
• Joule’s integrated AI agents can provide manufacturing information and support decision-making throughout the workflow.

Intelligent packaging use case

Uhlmann’s PacXplorer and SAP highlighted a fully integrated, high-speed packaging line from SAP S/4HANA, to SAP Digital Manufacturing, down to Uhlmann’s automation layer to produce the packaged ginger shot. The ginger shots were moved away from the line by a mobile autonomous robot from Symovo. This use case showed visitors how SAP supports regulated industries such as pharma and life sciences.  

Highlighted benefits include increased operational speed with higher throughput thanks to decreased order processing time, built-in regulatory compliance, reduced manual intervention, inventory transparency, and data integrity across the entire production chain.

Top AI functions

• Condition monitoring-led services can enhance asset uptime and service efficiency by combining AI-driven insights and seamless collaboration across the service ecosystem.
• AI-empowered flow analysis enables quick process modeling and engineering optimization.
• Intelligent exception handling is embedded in agent-driven processes.
• Joule’s integrated AI agents can support decision-making throughout the workflow.
• Joule can help power order and line insights.

Humanoid use case

At the final stop before getting their ginger shots, visitors watched an intelligent humanoid robot perform physical tasks at the end of the packaging line, bridging the gap between digital planning and physical execution, highlighting SAP’s Project Embodied AI.

Benefits of humanoids include increased operational speed with higher throughput due to a decreased order processing time; increased business uptime and cost efficiency especially in areas dangerous or difficult for humans; inventory transparency with real-time data integrity across the warehouse; and physical-digital alignment eliminating misalignment between planning and execution.

Top AI functions

• Joule and Joule Studio can enable robots to understand the physical world, make autonomous decisions, and learn from their environment for smarter operations.

More than a quick refuel

At the end of their visit, visitors got so much more than a quick refuel to slake their thirst. Following the creation of the ginger shot from recipe development and planning to production with mixing, filling, and packing, visitors came away with a clear understanding of how SAP is connecting insight to execution with trusted orchestration and smarter execution. And, it is this trusted orchestration and smarter execution that is building the resilience every manufacturer needs in today’s world.

At a time when business-to-business commerce can be orchestrated with the touch of a screen, buying and selling across geographic borders has become increasingly frictionless.

But what happens when the bill comes due, so to speak, from local jurisdictions? How may a business transact commerce globally while adhering to an emerging set of electronic-invoicing requirements that differ among countries?

Global visibility across multiple tiers of the supply chain

As global supply chains weather shifting tariff policies, geopolitical tensions, and climate events, business leaders have turned to cloud-based business networks to instill operational resilience, extend transparency, and foster collaboration. The convergence of data, applications, and artificial intelligence capabilities enable businesses to manage supply chains, procurement, logistics, asset maintenance, working capital, dynamic discounting, and other crucial interdependencies with comprehensive reach. Yet just as digital platforms foster connected commerce, they also facilitate regulatory oversight of the very same activity. That which simplifies business processes can at the same time invite complexity in the regulations governing them, particularly when the fine print varies by jurisdiction. Call it a paradox of procurement, or an irony of the intelligent enterprise.

The proliferation of legislation mandating electronic invoicing reflects a desire on the part of governments to bolster tax compliance, streamline financial reporting, combat fraud, and document the ethical sourcing of product components. To aid with compliance in the jurisdictions where they transact, SAP Business Network can support buyers and suppliers alike with the necessary workflows for invoice generation, submission, receipt, and storage—all while safeguarding otherwise confidential data. Our electronic-invoicing strategy prioritizes business-to-business collaboration by providing localization support for 41 countries, tailoring requested data to required format, and connecting businesses directly with trading partners and tax authorities. SAP Business Network can integrate seamlessly with government electronic-invoicing portals through partners as well as through SAP Document and Reporting Compliance.

Electronic-invoicing capabilities take shape around emerging legislation

Already in 2026, new electronic-invoicing mandates have taken effect in Belgium, Brazil, and Poland, with the United Arab Emirates and France set to follow suit later in the year. Though it takes shape differently around the world, the trend toward electronic invoicing is unmistakable. Requirements range from periodic reporting to continuous transparency, from preapproval of transactions by tax authorities to notification after the fact, from country-specific formats to continent-wide platforms, and so on. In India, Malaysia, and Romania, for example, suppliers must clear invoices with tax authorities, whereas in Belgium, Germany, and Japan invoices must conform to a particular format. In France and the United Arab Emirates, meanwhile, a specific platform or network must be engaged. Italy requires businesses to issue and receive invoices via its Sistema di Interscambio (SDI) platform, using a country-specific XML format called FatturaPA. By contrast, Germany permits UBL, CII, and ZUGFeRD formats but takes an ambivalent approach as to method of transmission.

For each of these countries, SAP Business Network can provide a solution. Connectivity to Italy’s SDI portal is natively embedded, obviating any need for additional licensing. For Germany, invoices sent through SAP Business Network arrive in the UBL format. Organizations with a license for the cloud edition of the SAP Document and Reporting Compliance solution can even receive invoices originating outside SAP Business Network, such as via e-mail or the pan-European Peppol procurement system.

Not only can SAP Business Network accommodate the different formats set into law, but other invoicing attributes as well. Consider the obligation to archive. In Germany, invoices must be kept on hand for eight years. In France, it’s a decade. Elsewhere, mandates vary or may not apply. SAP Business Network offers the flexibility to match business rules, or the parameters set by organizations within which transactions may proceed with trading partners, to all manner of regulatory requirements. This can prove especially valuable with orchestrating documents and processes that span sourcing, procurement, and finance—corporate functions that, prior to the advent of cloud-based networks, had often operated in relative isolation. SAP Business Network can also provide businesses with the end-to-end visibility and—equally important—the analytics to assess performance, gauge against benchmarks, and identify opportunities for growth and collaboration.

For the emerging set of electronic-invoicing mandates across the globe and other compliance-related processes, businesses must prepare. That’s because no matter where commerce takes place or in which local currency, C-suite leaders understand one thing is priceless: peace of mind. Only a cloud-based network supple enough to carry out operational processes on a global scale yet sufficiently nimble to adhere strictly to electronic-invoicing requirements and other regulations that typically arise on a national level can instill the confidence that businesses need to thrive in these turbulent times.

Learn how SAP Business Network can accelerate value for suppliers by streamlining business processes, increasing visibility, and connecting to new buyers.

Jörn Keller is executive vice president and chief product officer for SAP Business Network.