Highlights from the Mastering SAP Conference on the Gold Coast

Two of the many distinct communities of SAP users came together on the Gold Coast in mid-November for the latest edition of the Mastering SAP series, in a packed two-day conference to thrash out issues facing the Enterprise Asset Management and Supply Chain & Procurement sectors.

The Mastering SAP conference packed more than 70 informative sessions into the two-day schedule featuring a diverse line-up of keynote speakers, plus opportunities for socialising and networking for attendees.

For EAM specialists across the Australasian region, the conference was an opportunity to tackle the macro issues facing the industry as a whole, in addition to addressing the challenges within attendees’ own business structures.

Clear themes included the emergence of AI and intelligence-driven tools such as ChatGPT, with Professor Marek Kowalkiewicz of Queensland University of Technology addressing how businesses can position themselves to reap the huge upsides of generative AI.

Sessions also dived into the capabilities and potential of SAP S/4HANA in EAM contexts, as Woodside Energy’s Colleen Bramowicz and TasNetworks’ David Kruijver related details of their companies’ implementation of the package and lessons learned. Meanwhile, Jarrad Huby of Innovapptive discussed the opportunity to utilise S/4HANA to seamlessly integrate with frontline workers, and Annabelle Roux of French company Gentackle outlined how to best utilise long-awaited inspection checklists included in the latest S/4HANA release.

Meanwhile, KPMG’s Stephen Silver and Peter Butler discussed why the Commercial Project Management component of SAP’s Enterprise Portfolio and Project Management Suite hasn’t been more widely adopted.

It was also an opportunity to hear from SAP itself, with Jon Wilson from SAP’s Global Centre of Excellence and SAP Solution Advisor Tim Jones teaming up to explain SAP’s strategy for planning, scheduling and mobile execution, detailing capabilities and processes relevant to a wide range of industries.

For Supply Chain and Procurement specialists, there was also no shortage of choices, from a session on transport management innovation and planning for fuel cost optimisation with KPMG’s Pat McGuire, and building intelligent safety compliance strategies with Lauren Walsh of CITIC Pacific Mining, to detailing how to use AI, IoT and blockchain to take service delivery and field operations to the next level with the team from INK IT Solutions.

Thomas Klemm, the Head of Supply Chain Planning for SAP, also spoke about the need to define a digital supply chain planning strategy, and fortifying supply chain resilience using predictive AI.

Also from SAP, Hermant Biradar and Graham Nicholson addressed how SAP Integrated Business Planning (IBP) can calculate and optimise spare parts and workforce planning for both maintenance and projects, and integrate to S/4HANA Asset Management.

The Gold Coast conference was the latest event from Mastering SAP, a Sydney-based team which has focused on connecting the SAP community in ANZ and APAC for the past 25 years.

The next Mastering SAP event will be held in Melbourne in May 2024, and will cover six SAP communities: Financials; Tech & Cloud; HR & Payroll; Security & Risk; Date & Analytics; and Public Sector.