News & Blogs
Stay updated with the latest news, insights, and expert blogs from Emixa. Explore industry trends, digital innovations, and company updates all in one place.
Preventing SAP S/4HANA Implementation Errors
Since the first release of SAP S/4HANA in 2014, SAP's latest ERP solution has undergone significant development. What started as Simple Finance, a 'next-gen' financial solution, has now become a completely revolutionary ERP system. Although the system is certainly not new, in practice incorrect implementation choices are sometimes made.
Make a Plan for your Data Migration in New Applications!
When you want to replace your existing application landscape or phase out an older system, there's a lot to consider. What should the new applications comply with? Are integrations needed with other systems? What are the business needs? Which functionalities will support my processes? These are important questions to ask beforehand, but also think about the migration of your data from the existing systems! Because without existing data in the new applications, they often cannot be used optimally by employees or customers.
Identifying Bottlenecks: Gaining Insights into the Production Process
Remaining competitive in a dynamic market, where customers demand fast, flexible responses at a competitive price, poses challenges for all manufacturing companies in the Netherlands. But the key to meeting these challenges lies in having insights into your production process, enabling you to rapidly adapt to new requirements. This raises the crucial question of pinpointing potential bottlenecks within your production. Manufacturing companies face a tough road ahead. The industry is fraught with uncertainty, both in the supply chain and with customers. Internal pressure on costs is increasing, partly due to global competition. As a result, companies are increasingly tailoring their production strategy to consumer demand. Yet, given the rapid shifts in demand, production must be able to respond very quickly. With a growing need for product variation, companies are compelled to significantly reduce the time it takes to introduce a new variant. Clear insights The trends outlined here present a significant challenge for production companies. In practice, the recurring issue boils down to a lack of insight—understanding how existing lines and layouts operate and their potential for flexible use or adaptation to meet the demand for a new product variant. This insight also emphasises the importance of visualisation. The demand for visual work, such as using 3D data, arises not only from the company itself to facilitate internal collaborations but also from customers and chain partners. The visual aspect has become a crucial element in communication and coordination between manufacturers and customers. Despite the inherent complexity, production companies must maintain flexibility to stay competitive in the market. Meeting customer demand faster and cheaper has become imperative. However, it's evident that classic tools like Excel or Visio are no longer sufficient for providing clear insight and overview. Production processes have evolved beyond their capabilities, with too many variables involved. These traditional tools have a significant drawback—they are built on basic assumptions due to technical limitations. Spreadsheets struggle to incorporate dynamic conditions like machine downtime and operator availability without high programming language skills. Meanwhile, management requires more detailed information than ever about the throughput of the new system. Virtual validation So, where does the solution lie? In one of our previous blogs, we highlighted the crucial role of seamless data exchange between engineering and production. Expanding on that concept, we are convinced that companies need to integrate digital tools into an increasing number of processes to effectively meet the demand for more product variations. These digital tools provide the capability to virtually validate production before implementing any changes. Many companies lack precise awareness of the issues within their current processes. We employ a step-by-step plan to thoroughly assess the current situation. This approach enables us to quickly pinpoint areas for potential improvements in existing lines. Whether it's for new investments in AGVs, an additional machine, or a new production line, we prefer to be involved as early as possible in the process. This proactive engagement not only contributes to achieving the most optimal and efficient production but also prevents misguided investments. Get in touch Interested in understanding how we would streamline the production process in your organisation? Contact us, and we'll be happy to share more with you.
Forever Foundry and Emixa Join Forces to Accelerate Digital Change in UK Manufacturing
EMEA's market leading Siemens partner, Emixa, join Forever Foundry’s exclusive digital transformation mapping initiative for UK manufacturers - announced (12th February 2025).
FAST: Turning Your Data Ambition into a Clear Action Plan
Many companies have ambitious data goals. Whether it involves modernising an outdated data landscape, implementing a new ERP system, ensuring compliance with CSRD, or streamlining numerous reports, the need for a robust data strategy is evident. Emixa's FAST methodology offers the guidance you require. How can it assist in transforming your data landscape? And how do we prepare you for a data-driven future?
A New ERP System: Will Our Reports Still Work?
Many companies are currently transitioning from their out-of-support (and often customised) ERP systems to modern cloud-based solutions. A great step towards a data-driven future, however not without its effects on the status quo. A concern we often hear about: "Will our reports still work when the new ERP system is live?"
Manufacturing Menu: Master Cash Flow with Financial Management
Although manufacturing companies are primarily producers, good financial management (invoicing, accounts payable, accounts receivable, bookkeeping, payroll, cash management, banking, planning, budgeting, reporting) is an essential part of doing business. The control of cash flows in and out of an organization is a prerequisite for solvency, business continuity, cost optimization, productivity and a strong competitive position. This is why financial management is also a key element within Exima's manufacturing menu. Control and reporting are two core elements at the heart of good financial management. They provide transparency, structure and accountability, allowing you to get and keep a grip on your financial processes, transactions and buying and selling strategy. As a general rule, the larger, more complex and more diverse a company is, the more difficult it is to manage its finances accurately. However, modern IT technology offers fantastic opportunities to professionalize your budget management and use a data-driven approach to make operational costs and business results easier and faster to understand. That is why this is a regular feature of the Manufacturing Menu.
How SAP Signavio Enhances S/4HANA Migration & Process Standardisation
Do you find that inconsistent processes often create confusion, errors, and delays in your business? Whether it's invoicing, purchasing, or financial closing, employees executing processes in different ways can lead to significant inefficiencies. These inefficiencies often result in errors, delays, and employee frustration, hindering the smooth functioning of your business. But what if there was a way to streamline and standardise these processes, ensuring consistency, efficiency, and reduced errors across your organisation? The answer lies in leveraging SAP Signavio with your SAP S/4HANA migration.
Engineering and Manufacturing Demand a Central Data Platform
Consumers increasingly demand new product variations. To meet this demand, machine builders and high-tech suppliers must dramatically accelerate innovation and production. Designing, building and testing new machines – or modifying existing ones – can happen much faster when all company departments interlink data. Or better yet – centralise all data. Does your firm have a shared data repository? It will come as no surprise that consumer demand directly impacts suppliers. The growing consumer demand for new product variations results in shorter product life cycles. This means that new products, and consequently machines, need to come to market faster. To stay ahead of the competition, manufacturing companies must be able to cope with this increasing pressure on time-to-market. And that’s not all. Customers not only expect faster delivery of new machines, but also demand simultaneous improvements in quality and reductions in cost compared to previous versions. This pressures machine builders to enhance flexibility and efficiency across design, testing, and production. Only by optimising these critical processes can they stay competitive. Data in silos Digitisation is key here. The presence of a 360° view throughout the entire product lifecycle – from design to production and after-sales service – ensures optimal collaboration across all departments for effective product development. The end goal is staying ahead of the competition. Now, let's shift to the practical scenario. Business departments still often operate in silos, each equipped with its own systems and data. Once the product design is completed, engineering colleagues metaphorically toss the design over the dividing wall to the production department, which operates with its unique set of systems or, at times, relies on traditional tools like Excel, pen, and paper. There is no automatic flow of data between the departments. Drawing from personal experience, I've observed that engineering is frequently advanced in terms of digitalisation. However, a brief visit to the production department reveals a different story: paper-based work instructions, scattered emails, and Excel sheets dominate the landscape. The considerable investment in engineering digitisation doesn't reach its full potential unless production similarly embraces digital integration. Brakes on efficiency The lack of digital alignment between engineering and production can significantly impede the efficiency and flexibility that the company so desperately needs. Non-integrated, paper-based workflows make it challenging to provide feedback from production to engineering. Connecting with ERP systems proves difficult, requiring manual transcriptions of paper slips and bringing the risk of errors. Plus, there's no clear view of the production run status, delivered quality, errors, interruptions, and the like. Without exaggeration, engineers in such environments can dedicate up to 50% of their time to data collection and validation. When production alterations are required, the disjointed data systems often lead to unnecessary hours spent syncing updates. The lack of digital data flow also limits visual operations in production due to the absence of a link with engineering's 3D data. All these factors contribute to extended lead times. Shared data platform A company aiming to streamline engineering and production can achieve this by initially establishing a shared data platform. Goodbye to silos! Once the data is centrally available, the departments can collaborate more seamlessly. This leads to a quicker time-to-market, fewer issues related to production quality, and reduced recalls. In my opinion, digitalisation in this context begins with a unified repository for documents and bill of materials, alongside all mechanical, electronic, software, and simulation data. This single source of truth provides a solid foundation to optimise collaboration between departments, addressing the efficiency and flexibility of your Product Lifecycle Management strategically. Get in touch Curious about our advice on streamlining your Product Lifecycle Management? Contact us, and we’ll provide you with all the details.