SAP SE and General Atomics Electromagnetic Systems announced the successful implementation of the SAP S/4HANA manufacturing solution for production engineering and operations for the US defense and diversified technologies company’s Electromagnetic Systems Group.
GA-EMS launched an initiative aimed at digitally transforming its manufacturing processes to expand capabilities to meet the growing demand for the design and manufacture of its specialized and highly complex components and systems. This required an end-to-end enterprise operations system that could bring its engineering and manufacturing teams together with its business systems to improve communication, collaboration and quality in a paperless manufacturing environment.
“Industry 4.0 and the digitalization and automation it brings have shown significant productivity improvements across all industries,” said Franz Hero, SAP head of digital supply chain development. “This is particularly true in complex manufacturing environments such as GA-EMS, where the need for collaboration between production and engineering, and the move to digitalization of manufacturing operations across the enterprise, are essential.”
Extending SAP S/4HANA to support digital collaboration and processes bridged the gap between production engineering and operations manufacturing. Providing detailed production process modeling capabilities and in-depth instructions for production operators helps ensure that processes are executed properly, according to the partners.
“We created a step-by-step plan to transform our manufacturing processes to improve how we operate, reduce costs and ensure timely delivery of the highest-quality, most reliable products to our customers,” GA-EMS President Scott Forney said. “SAP’s support of Industry 4.0 has significantly improved quality and efficiency by providing greater visibility throughout the manufacturing and production processes when engineering changes occur. This gives us the flexibility to pivot faster when changes are required, utilize the right resources where they are needed most, and provide a higher degree of traceability as products progress across the floor.”
