Case Study – SAP

The Problem:

The client had developed a custom SAP solution to help manage stock levels and orders for their customers’ retail locations. The client field personnel would go to customers’ stores to review actual inventory and track those observations. Once they returned to the office they would input the stock data, compare this with store POS data received by the customer, take into account specific store level requests and adjust orders as needed. The client wanted this process to be more efficient as data would not be reflected in their back end SAP system until later in the day/evening and it was easier to make errors over a number of manual steps. These delays could affect the revenue materially.

Solution:

The client wanted a solution that could be run on a mobile device but also handle little to no internet connectivity when needed. They had previously tested the path of an offline Fiori solution but found this to be problematic. We proposed a custom solution including a native iOS mobile application integrated with REST services hosted on their SAP Gateway that communicated with their back-end SAP ERP. The REST services would be designed to integrate directly with their existing custom SAP program, allowing the new field operations app to become a natural extension of the system they had already invested in. By developing a native mobile application with an “offline-first” approach, we could greatly limit the amount of time the app needed to have an internet connection. This would provide a very good experience for field personnel while also allowing data to get uploaded as soon as an internet connection is available.

Key Issues/Challenges:

• Needed to integrate with a custom developed application in SAP
• Needed to work seamlessly in the field without an internet connection
• Needed to upload ordering & count data before returning to office