Enterprise Resource Planning Assignment -1

Submitted by : DJ Pooja
SRN : 01FB15ECS083
Course Code : UE15CS411
TOPIC : RECENT NEWS ARTICLE

DJ POOJA 01FB15ECS083 ERP ASSIGNMENT-3

 ERP EVENT : How Artificial Intelligence Is Changing ERP

More than sixty years after artificial intelligence was first launched, it is finally being used to
streamline and boost business efficiency and productivity. Today, the building blocks are in
place for AI to deliver results.Sensors track products at every stop of their life cycle from the
shop floor to customer sites. Cloud solutions enable the collection of millions of data points
to create the foundation for machine learning.Personal assistants are readily available to
simplify and accelerate information retrieval for more informed decision making.

Earlier this year, ​Infor​​ announced its new ​Coleman AI​​ platform intended to make ERP data
more automated, conversational, and easier to use for actionable intelligence. ​SAP​​ also
recently rolled out ​CoPilot​​, an AI chatbot that helps enterprise users explore data and
business situations, and assist with evidence-based decision-making.

“In 2018, companies will begin looking at ways to make technology more human, while also
creating technology that augments human abilities,” says ​Joshua Feast, CEO of Cogito​​, a
firm that specializes in conversational AI. “AI is arriving to augment, not replace humans.”

DJ POOJA 01FB15ECS083 ERP ASSIGNMENT-3

Here are just a few examples of how AI is changing ERP:

1. ​Warehouse Management.
AI and machine learning can test hundreds of demand forecasting models and possibilities
with a new level of precision while automatically adjusting to different variables such as new
product introductions, supply chain disruptions or sudden changes in demand. Using AI
systems, every single part can be tracked from when it’s first manufactured to when it’s
assembled and shipped to an end customer.
Walmart ​cut taking physical inventory from one month to 24 hours by using sophisticated
drones that fly through the warehouse, scan products, and check for misplaced items. Using
algorithms that learn from experience to optimize logistics,​BMW​ follows a part from the
point it was manufactured to when the vehicle is sold—from all of its 31 assembly facilities
located in over 15 countries.

2. ​Financial Management.
Bots can automate repetitive accounting functions including categorizing invoice information
into various accounts, and even distinguishing between a monthly phone bill and a payment
towards a phone purchase. AI can close operations and automate monthly, quarterly and
year-end processes, even comparing account balances between various independent
systems and verifying statements and reports for accuracy. Using machine learning, bots
can even learn from different human input to make better judgments and adapt to the
behavior patterns of different accounting professionals.

3. ​Customer Service.
AI solutions can learn from customer service history, enabling chat bots to answer
customers’ inquiries more cost-effectively, quickly, and consistently. The quality of customer
service can also be improved by integrating real time data from different customer-facing
departments, providing a 360-degree view of the customer. When customer requires field
service, an AI solution can use knowledge about the required skill set and required parts to
assist with the planning and scheduling of service calls.

4. ​Human Resources​​.
Talent acquisition software can scan, read, and evaluate applicants and​ quickly eliminate
75%​ of them from the recruiting process. AI systems can successfully plan, organize, and
coordinate training programs for all staff members. By determining individual affinities and
revealing who should get a raise or who might be dissatisfied with the life-work balance, AI
systems can be proactive and solve the problem of employee churn before it happens.

DJ POOJA 01FB15ECS083 ERP ASSIGNMENT-3

5. ​Sales Automation.
Currently, sales automation systems are about tracking, reporting and team productivity.
The next wave will be about making individual interaction smarter by using data to
determine which content, which answers, and which sales plays are more likely to drive
results. AI can be introduced early in the process by pulling in the oceans of data from
outside the organization to help reps build comprehensive profiles of their targets. In
addition, customer engagements for inside sales can be fully automated, conducting basic
sales triage, such as information gathering, initial qualification and segmentation, and
real-time response handling.
Despite the immense potential benefits to arming ERP systems with AI, there are still some
hurdles to overcome. There are risks around sharing sensitive data, and regulations to
consider—such as GDPR.
In addition, the infrastructure behind AI is still evolving to meet the challenge of analyzing
real time data from different sources with a high level of reliability.
But no doubt, in time, the kinks will be worked out, since ERP with AI can introduce so
many efficiency boosters throughout the organization. Investing in smart technology to get
even smarter will become the norm, and AI will be necessary for companies to continuously
improve efficiency, excel and stay one step ahead of the competition.

6. ​Chatbots for Data Retrieval

While associated with social media and customer-facing support, AI-based chatbots can
play a much deeper role within a business. As Infor and SAP have shown, they also are
being used to guide employees and make ERP data more available.

The idea is that there is a better way than querying a backend database or looking at a
dashboard for answers. Chatbots can serve as a more natural conduit for accessing this
data, with employees querying chatbots for answers and relying on AI to figure out what
data should be pulled from the ERP system to answer the questions.
These conversational, AI-powered ERP interfaces won’t necessarily be text-based, either.

“Innovations in voice technology will play a big part,” says Feast, with employees being able
to talk with the system much like humans have been doing with computers for decades in
science fiction. We don’t have flying cars yet, but we’re close with computers that talk back
intelligently.

DJ POOJA 01FB15ECS083 ERP ASSIGNMENT-3

7. ​Dynamic Workflows.
As AI technology learns the different ways in which a given organization and individual
users interact on a daily basis with the software, ERP systems will start suggesting different
ways to optimize the system for individual users.
For example, after learning repeated patterns of use, an ERP system could configure the
software itself to minimize manual work, creating automatic actions or even reconfiguring
the interface to better suit a given user's usage pattern.

“AI will automate mundane tasks, freeing up humans for higher levels of creative thinking,”
suggests Feast.

8. ​Deeper Insight

In the past, data teams had to manually model and produce predictive insights for specific
outcomes. A fourth way that AI is changing ERP is by not only pulling data from the system
more easily, but also analyzing this data and spotting trends beyond what even a team of
data scientists can manage.

“No data-driven business could ever maintain enough data scientists to scale to all use
cases that predictive analytics could derive value,” says Jeff Nicholson, the vice president of
CRM marketing for Pegasystems. “AI enables organizations to scale and surface new
insights using machine learning and adaptive modeling that no amount of data scientists
would be able to uncover on their own.”
These insights also can more easily be activated across the enterprise as a result, he says.

DJ POOJA 01FB15ECS083 ERP ASSIGNMENT-3

Example:
SAP is gradually moving into the AI space. SAP has a ​cloud-based predictive
maintenance solution ​that is based on prediction models and machine learning
algorithms. The service technician has access to dashboards with key
performance-indicators and ad hoc reporting capabilities. It helps the service technician to
understand the real-time performance of the technical infrastructure and intervene when
required.
Earlier this month, SAP announced '​SAP CoPilot​,​ the chatbot for enterprise users. SAP
CoPilot is based on ​natural language processing​​ and machine learning technologies. The
main purpose of SAP CoPilot is to ​explore data and business situations​​, and assist users
with evidence-based decision making with the help of a DA. SAP CoPilot will gradually learn
from empirical data, which means that its recommendations become more reliable overtime.

DJ POOJA 01FB15ECS083 ERP ASSIGNMENT-3

Summary:

Without a doubt, artificial intelligence (AI) will have a profound impact on the footprint of
enterprise resource planning (ERP) solutions in the future. AI will enable organizations to
further optimize their operating model made up of business processes, software
applications, governance structures and technology infrastructure.

Almost every industry is grappling with the question of how AI will change their work style.
We all have realised that AI will change the way we work, but we all are yet to see how that
change will occur. For ERP, it is still early to access how will AI supplement ERP systems?
The very first use of AI in ERP space would be to help organisations to understand the
plethora of information or data that they possess.
AI-enabled ERP solutions will by default impact the heart and soul of day-to-day operations.
The mix of people, process and technology is going to change. AI solutions will take over
routine tasks in the end-to-end business process model that are currently performed by
humans. This particular change is driven by an ongoing need to reduce operational cost. It
is an irreversible process: "You either disrupt or get disrupted."
At the same time AI can augment people's capabilities and the effectiveness of the
organization as a whole. This can be realized by shifting the focus to non-routine, analytical
and creative tasks. Such a shift can only happen when AI and ERP are being addressed at
the same time.

DJ POOJA 01FB15ECS083 ERP ASSIGNMENT-3

Company Profile - SAP

SAP SE is a German-based European multinational software corporation that makes

enterprise software to manage enterprise resources, business operations and customer
relations. SAP is headquartered in Walldorf, Baden-Württemberg, Germany with regional
offices in 180 countries.
The Company offers enterprise application software. The Company operates through two
segments: Applications, Technology & Services segment, and the SAP Business Network
segment. The Applications, Technology & Services segment is engaged in the sale of
software licenses, subscriptions to its cloud applications, and related services (primarily
support services and various professional services, and support services, as well as
implementation services of its software products and education services on the use of its
products). The SAP Business Network segment includes its cloud-based collaborative
business networks and services relating to the SAP Business Network (including cloud
applications, professional services and education services). Within the SAP Business
Network segment, the Company markets and sells the cloud offerings developed by SAP
Ariba, SAP Fieldglass and Concur.
Stock price​​: ​SAP​​ ​(ETR)​​ € 100.24 ​-3.56 (-3.43%)
10 Oct, 4:31 PM GMT+2

CEO​​: ​Bill McDermott​​ (21 May 2014–)

Headquarters​​: ​Walldorf, Germany
Subsidiaries​​: ​SuccessFactors​​, ​SAP Concur​​, ​SAP Ariba​​, ​Sybase​​, ​MORE
Founders​​: ​Dietmar Hopp​​, ​Hasso Plattner​​, ​Claus Wellenreuther​​, ​Klaus Tschira​​,
Hans-Werner Hector

DJ POOJA 01FB15ECS083 ERP ASSIGNMENT-3

SAP CoPilot:

SAP CoPilot enables a humanised user experience for your SAP applications. Get your
work done in the context of your business data. You can create business objects and
perform transactions through conversation. Use it anywhere – on your mobile device or in
an SAP application.

Key Benefits:

Work more efficiently​​: Create business objects quickly and use pre-populated information
drawn from business applications for maximum efficiency.
Maintain continuity of work:​​Experience a smooth transition across channels to complete
tasks without interrupting your workflow.
Customise to your business:​​Build and augment skills for your SAP CoPilot to fulfill the
needs of your business model.

Key Capabilities

Humanised, next-generation user experience:

● Interact with SAP applications in natural language, as if you’re talking to another
human being.
● Type, talk, or interact with the screen depending on your device.
● Control your conversation, interacting by text or voice recognition, based on your
situational context and preference

DJ POOJA 01FB15ECS083 ERP ASSIGNMENT-3

Context-sensitive collaboration
● Create business objects with information pre-populated from your conversational
context.
● Share notes, screenshots, and business objects with other users within the context
of your conversation
Open and extensible
● Build custom skills for your digital assistant using the SAP CoPilot Skill Builder
● Deploy new skills and capabilities across applications and channels
Business context awareness
● Get your work done more efficiently with a digital assistant that understands your
data and business processes
● Drill down for more information based on your business context.

DJ POOJA 01FB15ECS083 ERP ASSIGNMENT-3

BIBLIOGRAPHY:
Altering workplace: How AI is changing ERP(Aug 11, 2018, 12.04 PM IST) By Pradeep
Agarwal & Prabhakar Posam
https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/small-biz/security-tech/technology/altering-workplace-
how-ai-is-changing-erp/articleshow/65363507.cms

agsandrew, Thinkstock
TECHNOLOGY AND IIOT
How Artificial Intelligence Is Changing ERP
The building blocks are in place to deliver results. By ​Andres Richter​ | Sep 04, 2018
https://www.industryweek.com/technology-and-iiot/how-artificial-intelligence-changing-erp

https://it.toolbox.com/blogs/erpdesk/five-ways-ai-is-changing-erp-092717

https://www.sap.com/india/products/digital-assistant.html

https://www.reuters.com/finance/stocks/company-profile/SAP

https://itelligencegroup.com/in-en/global-blog/digital-assistance-how-sap-copilot-is-set-to-m
ake-life-easier/

DJ POOJA 01FB15ECS083 ERP ASSIGNMENT-3