SAP gunning for SME manufacturing industry
1 min read
ERP applications giant SAP – which revealed preliminary second quarter 2006 results up substantially year-on-year in the single digit and low teens percentage points, although below analysts expectations – says that the focus is firmly back on SME manufacturers.
Simon Pollard, vice president of SAP’s discrete manufacturing in EMEA, defines that as companies in the range eur 20m to 500m, and adds that SAP systems are being successfully used in companies with as few as 10 employees.
At the upper end of that spectrum SAP is pinning its hopes on the All-in-One extended ERP suite – the vertical industry focused, partner-developed and sold system, with its rapid implementation methodologies.
Then at the mid to small end of SME, the focus is on its Business One offering, with additional manufacturing functionality from the SoftBrands Fourth Shift stable.
Says SAP marketing exec Francis Sanville: “The issues for system implementation throughout manufacturing today are as much business competitiveness and change management as they are the technology underneath.”
And he insists that’s where SAP and its partner community will score for wannabe manufacturing SAP users.
With the company’s clear total focus on applications below the Tier One domain that it dominates, he’s probably right.