Lindsay Rewcastle

Yesterday SAP released the SAP RPT 1 model. This isn't just another predictive model, it is a versatile powerhouse that delivers impressive accuracy across diverse business use cases. I ran a few small data analysis tests across financial forecasting, HR compensation, and procurement planning, and the model consistently achieved 95-99% accuracy. With only a few tests here are some thoughts: - Lightning-Fast Predictions: With an average response time of just 302ms, it is fast and Dr. Philipp Herzig wasn't kidding with just how efficient it is. - Multi-Domain: The model seamlessly adapts to different data types and business challenges without requiring any domain-specific tuning. Whether it's predicting quarterly revenue, determining salary benchmarks, or forecasting procurement costs and lead times, the SAP RPT 1 Model handles it. - Impressive Pattern Recognition: It successfully captures non-linear relationships, interaction effects between different variables, and categorical dependencies. This means more nuanced and accurate predictions that reflect real-world business complexities. - Simultaneous Multi-Target Predictions: A key highlight was the model's ability to predict multiple target columns at once with minimal impact on performance. - Zero Training Time: One of the most significant advantages is the absence of a training phase. This drastically reduces development time and eliminates the need for extensive data science resources to get started. I would recommend everyone going and having a play with it https://rpt.cloud.sap/ To make it even easier for others to experience the power of this model, I've developed a MCP tool (I know this is likely coming). You can check it out and get the code here at https://lnkd.in/eVcC-Mzg One feature that would be nice is confidence scoring and feature importance scoring so we can get and understanding of validity and reasoning behind the result calculated. Overall, the SAP RPT 1 Model series is looking to be an interesting and very capable model. I need to do some more testing with larger datasets to get a full idea of where this is best applied. Jon Baukham Libby Mason Dan McNamara Brett Haakenson James Mandikos Mark Williment Karthik Shivaram Sravya Talanki #SAP #AI #MachineLearning #DataAnalysis #Innovation #Tech #BusinessIntelligence #Forecasting #Procurement #HR #Finance #SAPTechEd #SAPRPT1

157

1 Comment

ERP systems are burning millions in wasted spend. here are 5 ways to fix it. i watched aerospace executives go pale as their cio explained that their $32M erp project had just hit $48M. worse yet, they couldn't deliver on commitments to customers. you could feel the tension as market position was now at risk. this story plays out again and again because companies run on 100+ disconnected systems. these tech silos make it nearly impossible for teams to collaborate, make smart decisions, or respond quickly to market changes. the missing piece? executives who bridge the gap between technical implementation and business strategy. if you're leading a transformation, focus on these five areas that actually move the needle: 1️⃣ financial management: build simple dashboards that track spending against budget. catch problems early before they turn into million-dollar overruns. 2️⃣ scope control: test every change request against your strategic goals. know the true cost before saying yes. 3️⃣ risk management: cut the noise. focus only on risks that threaten critical milestones. everything else is a distraction. 4️⃣ decision alignment: keep a running list of who decided what and why. nothing kills projects faster than leaders contradicting each other. 5️⃣ stakeholder buy-in: watch engagement metrics like a hawk. people problems sink projects faster than technical issues ever will. success isn't about some perfect linear process. it's about creating a feedback loop where your people, your systems, and your intelligence layer strengthen each other. for a deeper dive on executive oversight in erp implementations, check out my latest article in lighthouse where i explore how disciplined governance can prevent project derailment and deliver the operational efficiency your stakeholders expect. link in comments 👇

198

6 Comments

Explained: The 3 Tiers of the ERP Market When we talk about ERP systems, we talk about companies that are making multiple billions of dollars per year to startups that are in the infancy phase. Generally speaking, the ERP market is categorized into three tiers. These tiers reflect the size of their client base, their business process coverage, and the price points of the software solutions. Let’s break them down: 1️⃣ Tier 1: SAP 💲 Market Share: SAP leads the Tier 1 ERP category by far, almost in a monopolistic fashion. Though other ERP vendors are growing and trying to benefit from the ECC to S4 migration hesitancy, SAP is still by far the first in ERP market. Global Revenue: SAP's global revenue was €30 billion (2023). Business Process Coverage: SAP covers virtually all business processes, including advanced solutions in business intelligence. AI Capabilities: SAP leverages AI through its SAP Leonardo platform and the agent Joule. Top Clients: Coca-Cola, Adidas, Porsche. 2️⃣ Tier 2 ERP: Microsoft Dynamics, Netsuite, Workday, Epicor Market Share: These ERP solutions hold a significant portion of the mid-market, serving companies with more complex needs than Tier 3 solutions but with a smaller budget than Tier 1. Global Revenue: For instance, Microsoft Dynamics generated $5.44 billion in fiscal year 2023, while Netsuite brought in $1 billion in Q4 FY 2025. Business Process Coverage: Tier 2 ERPs typically cover financials, CRM, HRM, and manufacturing, with country & industry-specific solutions AI tools: Copilot for MS Dynamics, SuiteScript of NetSuite AI Top Clients: HP, Ford Motor, L'Oréal 3️⃣ Tier 3 ERP: Zoho, Odoo, Market Share: Small to mid-sized businesses, providing solutions at a lower cost with essential ERP capabilities. Global Revenue: Odoo's revenue was $650 million in 2024 with 11k customers. Zoho's ERP solution also has a growing share of the market with solid traction among small businesses. Business Process Coverage: These solutions cover core functions like accounting, CRM, and inventory management but may lack depth in advanced manufacturing or large-scale logistics. AI Capabilities: Odoo has recently launched its AI application that will be fully available in Odoo v19. Top Clients: Odoo counts Toyota, Danone, and Herman Miller as part of its growing client base. The business case for Odoo: Odoo has been positioned in Tier 3 historically & is now climbing into the Tier 2 category due to its impressive growth and rapidly expanding business process coverage. At ERP Happy, we have chosen to partner with Odoo because it provides functionalities of a Tier 2 ERP with Tier 3's flexibility & cost-effectiveness. And as a company, we offer Tier 1 ERP implementation expertise. Midsize businesses (up to 500 employees and/or a 5-50 million $ annual revenue) can fully leverage Odoo thanks to the variety & depth of business applications it provides today. #ERP #Odoo #DigitalTransformation #ERPHappy #SAP

240

59 Comments

If you’re still under $5M in revenue, chances are an ERP will do more harm than good right now. But you still need systems. You still need visibility. You still need clarity. Start with: ✔️ A centralized tracker ✔️ Clear naming conventions for SKUs and POs ✔️ Standardized BOMs (that are REGULARLY maintained) ✔️ A consistent process for forecasting and ordering ✔️ Analytics to provide visibility and control It’s not about being fancy — it’s about being consistent. And when the time comes to scale, you’ll be ready. #BeautyBrandFounders #SupplyChainSystems #CPGStartupTips #OperationsInfrastructure

15

2 Comments

Why don’t ERP systems have useful modules for scheduling nontrivial production even in 21st century? According to a Google search, the research firm Gartner coined the term Enterprise “Resource Planning" (ERP) in 1990 to describe the evolution of software beyond manufacturing into comprehensive, integrated systems that cover accounting, human resources, and other enterprise functions. Such resource planning software is generally useless for planning and scheduling production that involves a set of existing production resources of limited capacity. An ERP system is basically an enterprise-wide integrated information system without a powerful module for planning and scheduling production in a rational manner. It does meet various information needs of manufacturing systems but it does not deserve the description of "Resource Planning" system. For the last 25 years, I did not see any ERP system for #jobshops that has a truly powerful module for job shop production schedule. I guess very few job shops use scheduling modules of those ERP systems. Those few users have been using ERP for non-rigorous scheduling requirements or in an unsatisfactory manner. #productionscheduling is an important and difficult function in every complex job shop. Being hopeless about help from ERP systems, those factories themselves developed weak and unsatisfactory applications in Excel for scheduling their production. Consequently, ERP vendors felt comfortable because they were not pestered by the users for good scheduling modules and there is not much risk of losing any client due to poor scheduling module. If we get the full truth about the level of satisfactory use of ERP for job shop production scheduling, we may have a very bad impression of ERP with respect to production scheduling. ERP vendors do not seem to know what it takes to develop a powerful scheduling module. How do they know it when it is far beyond the software development skills? If one of the ERP systems has a truly powerful module for efficient scheduling of complex job shop production, it may have a great competitive advantage in the market. There are a few third-party, best-of-breed software tools for scheduling complex job shop production. But those tools can work well mostly with good support from #erp and #mes software. If ERP systems are integrated with those tools, ERP users in job shops will be greatly benefited. But such integration may go against invisible business strategies of ERP vendors. #productionplanning

27

17 Comments

If you need to test a complete OTC (Order To Cash) business process including integration with external partners (EDI, WMS, etc.) there's no easier way to do it with Int4 Suite and just simulate non existing 3rd party systems and EDI partners. Now we have a special Business Process view, which shows the complete SAP S/4HANA process in order to validate the results more quickly, as test reporting matters for SAP S/4HANA programs. There is bigger functional coming however - Int4 Suite Process Builder.... soon more on that topic :)

40

2 Comments

Most ERPs are designed for companies that build and sell the same thing over and over again. If you're in high-mix, low-volume contract manufacturing, then that isn't you. You should look for an ERP that makes master data creation (especially parts, BOMs, and routings) easy. 📖 Read more: https://lnkd.in/gpZ4M8aF #EMS #ERP

45

9 Comments

A $20,000,000+ ERP collapsed because ‘mm’ and ‘millimeter’ were treated as two units. I was called into a UAE-based plastics manufacturer last year. They’d just spent $5M on a shiny new ERP. But by Q2: ☠️ $20,000,000+ “missing” inventory on the balance sheet. ☠️ WIP ageing reports showing negative stock. ☠️ Procurement ordered 3x more resin than needed. ☠️ Production halted for 3 days. Root cause? Two units of measure: “mm” vs “millimeter.” And their ERP treated them as separate. This is the part nobody talks about. So, I built a 7‑step Unit‑of‑Measure Sanity Scan we now run before every ERP migration: Step 1 — UoM Deep Extraction Don’t trust your Item Master blindly. Pull every UoM reference: - BOMs - Work Orders - PO/GRNs - GL cost mappings (Last week, I found 14 different “KG” formats across 4 systems for the same client.) Step 2 — The Single Source Map Create one master mapping file: System UoM → Standard UoM → Conversion Logic → Reporting Code (If this doesn’t exist, your stock, COGS, and margins are already wrong.) Step 3 — Expose Phantom Multipliers ERPs silently duplicate conversion factors: 1 Meter = 100 cm in one module 1 Meter = 10 cm in another   Result? Your stock report says you have 3,000 meters but the warehouse physically has 300. Step 4 — Financial Cross-Check Run reconciliation from UoM → Valuation → GL → COGS. If even one alternate UoM is off, your landed costs are fake. Step 5 — Lock Down Hierarchies For every SKU, define: Primary UoM → 1 only Allowable alternates → Max 2 Everything else? Block at ERP level. Step 6 — Check Your Integrations WMS, POS, Shopify, Excel imports, they all speak their own “UoM language.” In one case, our 3PL sent stock in “KG” while ERP stored “kg.” Result: shipments were marked as “short” in finance while warehouse was overflowing. Step 7 — Stress-Test Before Go-Live Take 5 SKUs and run a mock cycle: Purchase → Receive → Produce → Dispatch → Invoice. If your UoM math survives that loop, your ERP survives go-live. If not, fix before the CFO sees it. How many different formats of KG exist in your ERP right now? (It’s never just “one” though.) ♻️ REPOST so others can learn.

66

33 Comments

📠 Outdated systems slow down FES manufacturers. AutoQuotes + SAP changes that. That’s why more companies are combining the power of  SAP  with purpose-built solutions, like  AutoQuotes from Revalize, to streamline workflows, speed up quoting, and eliminate errors before they impact production. ✅ Better collaboration ✅ Shorter lead times ✅ A stronger customer experience Schedule a time to learn how digital transformation is reshaping the foodservice equipment space, one integration at a time: https://hubs.li/Q03BY5n00 #AutoQuotes #FES #SAPIntegration

13

Your biggest client changed requirements yesterday. Your WMS vendor said 6 months. Legacy systems treat basic configuration like major development work. Want to modify allocation logic? Submit a ticket. Need custom label formats? Schedule a consultant. Update FIFO/FEFO rules? Pay for professional services. Research from Springer shows traditional WMS customizations take 6-18 months and cost $100K-$500K. Then you're locked into ongoing maintenance fees for every future adjustment. Your business doesn't wait for vendor approval. Your WMS shouldn't either. Modern systems offer self-service configuration for inventory allocation, picking rules, and lot management. Changes happen instantly. No tickets. No quotes. No delays. ⚙️ Update allocation logic in minutes ⚙️ Design labels yourself ⚙️ Configure without custom code Speed matters. Especially when your client's business depends on it. #WarehouseManagement #LogisticsTech #3PL #SupplyChain #FulfillmentOperations

27

2 Comments

𝐂𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐒𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐜𝐢𝐧g 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐟𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥𝐬: 𝐖𝐞’𝐫𝐞 𝐠𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐚 𝐛𝐢𝐠𝐠𝐞𝐫 𝐛𝐨𝐚𝐭! Spreadsheets can’t handle the tidal wave of supply chain complexity. It’s time for sourcing teams to upgrade their tools—and their expectations. My latest blog on the waves of disruption and complexity that sourcing professionals face. https://lnkd.in/gcW8VZKw

11

When industrial CEOs launch a new business or product line, most of the focus naturally goes into the launch itself. Building the team, rolling out the product, and getting the subsidiary off the ground take center stage. But the bigger risk often hides in the background. Core systems like ERP, CRM, and quoting are usually left untouched during the excitement of the launch. If those systems are outdated or misaligned, they can quietly undermine the very growth the new venture is meant to create. The companies that scale successfully are the ones that integrate both priorities. They invest in the launch, but they also make sure the foundation of the core business can support the new growth without breaking. Our focus is helping CEOs align their technology and business strategies so that new ventures succeed without being dragged down by legacy systems. Onward 🚀

14

1 Comment