Supply chain volatility
Just-in-time models that can't absorb a semiconductor shortage, a shipping lane closure or a sudden commodity price shift without cascading schedule chaos.
Automotive
Supply chain, dealer network, and connected vehicle data on one spine
SAP for automotive OEMs and tier-1 suppliers — handling supply chain volatility, dealer management complexity and the telemetry streams from increasingly connected vehicles.
What we see in this sector
Sector-specificpressures
Dealer management complexity
Networks of hundreds of dealers each running their own DMS, with inconsistent data flowing back for warranty, parts and sales reporting.
Connected vehicle data
Telematics streams that could drive warranty, service and recall decisions sitting in a data lake instead of in the enterprise systems that would use them.
Warranty & recall exposure
Warranty cost analytics running on last-quarter's data, so trends get spotted after the recall rather than before.
The spine problem
The modern automotive OEM is really three overlapping businesses — a factory, a distribution network, and increasingly a data company reading telemetry off every vehicle it ever made.
Each used to run its own stack. Keeping them separate is now the biggest cost line in the IT estate, and the biggest barrier to pricing warranty accurately, routing parts efficiently or spotting a recall pattern early.
An S/4HANA spine isn’t the whole answer, but it is the only answer we’ve seen that holds up under the real-world data volume.
Frequently asked
Common questions fromautomotive leaders
Do you implement SAP for OEMs and tier-1 suppliers?
Yes. OEM engagements typically centre on S/4HANA with Available-to-Promise, Variant Configuration, Vehicle Management System and Integrated Business Planning for supply chain. Tier-1 and tier-2 work focuses on EDI integration, consignment stock and JIT/JIS scheduling.
Can you handle dealer-management-system integration?
Yes. SAP Integration Suite / CPI connects to DMS platforms (DealerTrack, CDK, Keyloop, Autoline and in-house DMS) for the order, service, parts and warranty loops. Pattern depends on whether you need real-time sync or end-of-day batches.
Do you work with connected-vehicle telematics in SAP?
Yes. Vehicle telemetry streams via SAP Event Mesh into HANA for warranty analytics, predictive-maintenance signals and over-the-air service-campaign triggering. Common sources include in-house vehicle platforms and tier-1 telematics providers.
How long does an automotive SAP rollout take?
Single-plant greenfield S/4HANA with lean and repetitive manufacturing runs 10–14 months. Multi-plant rollouts compress per-site after the template is stable. Dealer-network rollouts typically run in parallel with the first production wave.
Next step
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