Building Smarter with Fewer People: How SAP Contributes to the Productivity Agenda

The Netherlands is on the brink of a fundamental productivity leap. This is evident from the recently published parliamentary letter Productivity Agenda by the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Policy. The message is clear: to safeguard our prosperity in a society facing ageing demographics, climate goals, and growing international dependency, we must achieve more with fewer people. For the construction sector—which faces a structural labour shortage and plays a pivotal role in societal challenges such as housing and the energy transition—this is a clear call to action.

Construction as a Catalyst for Productivity Growth

The report explicitly promotes sector-specific approaches, including a national “Productivity Agenda for Construction.” It states:

"At the regional level, successful construction ecosystems are encouraged to adopt innovations such as AI and robotics, particularly by SMEs."

Scaling up policy experiments that enable labour-saving process innovations is also a priority. The goal: to achieve more with fewer scarce labour resources.

SAP: From Digitalisation to Productivity

Digitalisation is identified in the report as one of the key levers for productivity growth. That’s where SAP comes into play. SAP is not futuristic—it’s a mature ecosystem that already contributes to smarter processes, better decision-making, and integrated operations. By automating routine tasks and making data centrally available, SAP reduces administrative burdens and increases labour productivity. Employees spend less time on manual input or verification and can focus on value-added tasks.

Within the context of productivity policy in the construction sector, SAP offers solutions that directly address the need for efficiency and effectiveness:

• Exception-based working: With intuitive SAP Fiori interfaces, employees can focus on deviations and exceptions instead of routine data entry and searching.
• AI agents and automation: SAP leverages artificial intelligence to accelerate processes, support decision-making, and fully automate repetitive tasks.
• Data-driven decision-making: SAP Business Data Cloud provides real-time access to reliable data, enabling faster and well-founded strategic decisions—across both SAP and non-SAP systems.
• Improved supply chain collaboration: SAP Business Network facilitates transparent and efficient collaboration with suppliers, partners, subcontractors, and customers, reducing lead times and minimising errors.
• Scalability and continuous innovation: SAP’s public cloud technology allows organisations to scale effortlessly and benefit from ongoing innovation without complex IT projects. These advantages are also accessible to smaller construction and installation companies without significant upfront investments.
• Integrated processes with Emixa Prefab for SAP S/4HANA: Specifically developed for the construction sector, enabling seamless process integration that boosts both productivity and collaboration.

In this way, SAP translates digitalisation into tangible productivity gains: reduced admin workloads, faster decision-making, and better use of human talent. In short, those who invest in SAP today are building tomorrow’s smarter, more agile, and future-ready organisations.

Government as a Catalyst

The government is supporting innovation and digitalisation in the construction sector through the continuation of European Digital Innovation Hubs (EDIHs) until 2028, with extra focus on SMEs and AI. Additionally, the creation of an "AI Factory" in Groningen aims to accelerate innovation and knowledge sharing. This opens up opportunities for construction firms to join networks, access testing environments, and apply for public support.

Emixa's Role

At Emixa, we help organisations in the construction sector use digitalisation not as an end goal, but as a strategic enabler. We support companies in implementing SAP solutions that optimise processes while also driving sustainable and scalable business operations. We always focus on aligning technology, people, and processes.

Conclusion: Those Who Invest Now, Build Their Future

The construction sector faces unprecedented challenges—but also immense opportunities. The government has laid out its vision, and the tools are available. The question is: who dares to accelerate now? SAP provides the tools, Emixa delivers the expertise.