SAP and Ultimo: Better Together

However, while SAP is a robust ERP system, it can lack the comprehensive in-depth asset management features and data integrations today’s industrial firms need to power-up best-in-class maintenance practices and processes in a controlled, cost-effective and efficient way.

IFS Ultimo provides an extensive range of asset management tools and interfaces that can be tailored for specific industry sector needs. Even better, it’s an SAP certified partner that integrates seamlessly with SAP S/4HANA to ensure data consistency and reliability.

Let’s take a look at why a growing number of industrial firms are opting to integrate IFS Ultimo EAM software with their SAP environments.

Maximizing efficiency, minimizing costs

Despite utilizing SAP, many CIOs struggle to maintain full control over maintenance operations or contain costs. Issues such as siloed systems, disconnected workflows and limited data visibility make it difficult for operations and maintenance teams to work effectively and in concert with one another. To compensate, they resort to manual workarounds and procedures that compromise operational efficiency and limit understanding or awareness of in-the-moment operational realities.

Working in siloed systems creates inconsistency, quality and integration issues with data. Without a streamlined, fully integrated single-source-of-truth solution, maintenance teams will find themselves scrambling to ascertain what is accurate and urgent.

By contrast, IFS Ultimo delivers the advanced tools that maintenance and operational teams need to work quickly and with precision, using real-time data insights:

• Advanced maintenance management – detailed maintenance planning, work order tracking, and scheduling

• Comprehensive asset tracking – full visibility of asset lifecycles, from acquisition to disposal

• Enhanced reporting – from tracking maintenance costs per machine to dashboards that deliver real-time insights into spares, bills of materials, energy consumption and more . Fully integrated BI dashboards offer the potential to set up, and connect to the data source your teams manage your assets and maintenance from

• Integrated HSE suite – covering everything from work permits, lockout procedures, change management and HSE incidents. This eliminates the need for several point solutions for each individual aspect of HSE. Instead, every single HSE process is fully integrated into your maintenance process, to check on permits or lock-out/tag-out before resolving incidents, for example. This streamlines and enhances compliance management and operational safety tasks.

User-friendly interface

One common complaint about the EAM in ERP suites like SAP S4/Hana is its complexity and steep learning curve. This complexity generates delays, errors and frustrations as users spend time hunting down the right module or prevaricate due to concerns about making mistakes.

With IFS Ultimo, maintenance and reliability teams are able get up to speed fast thanks to intuitive interfaces that deliver a smooth user experience:

• Simplified navigation – users can work in a streamlined way, following standardized automated processes and procedures that guide them through tasks and ensure they undertake work orders in a structured way

• Customizable dashboards – user groups can customize their admin panels to match specific needs, access real-time reports, and more

• Accessibility – mobile friendly features make it easy for users to manage and report on assets on the go, increasing their productivity and efficiency

• Learning materials – Ultimo’s industry-leading learning materials assure that its EAM system adds value to an organization quickly. They are available to everyone and bespoke to every user role. All users can travel through the learning curve at pace and start working with the system in a proficient manner.

Flexible integration with SAP

Because IFS Ultimo is designed to integrate seamlessly with SAP, data flows consistently between the two platforms. This data flexibility enables organizations to boost workforce productivity, facilitate accurate reporting, demonstrate compliance and enhance risk management.

Most important of all, it delivers a holistic view of asset and business operations that enables managers to make data driven decisions quickly and keep production on track:

• Data consistency – real time data synchronization ensures that asset information is up to date across all systems

• Automated workflows – integration with SAP modules such as finance, HR and supply chain help maintain continuous workflows

• API support – robust API support for custom integrations that enable businesses to tailor their EAM solution to their specific needs.

Widening horizons: it’s time to power-up EAM in your organization

While SAP offers a reliable and comprehensive ERP solution, integrating IFS Ultimo for asset management transforms how organizations maintain their assets and production facilities.

Delivering the unified data management capabilities organizations need to manage and maintain their assets efficiently, promote collaboration between teams, ensure compliance and enhance decision-making, IFS Ultimo complements SAP to enhance your operational excellence. Whether that’s undertaking advanced maintenance planning, implementing data-driven processes, or initiating industry-specific capabilities.

With IFS Ultimo, SAP users can take a significant step towards optimizing their asset management processes and create feedback loops between current asset conditions and future engineering decisions that ultimately result in continuous improvements to operational efficiency.