The standout benefits of Maextro are its rich functionality and its simplicity / user experience. We ultimately chose Maextro because it was the most integrated data automation solution we could find in the marketplace as well as following the Fiori principles. Before Maextro, for finished goods alone, we would consume approx. 51 working days of non- valued-added processing across various departments for material master. With Maextro we improved this by 75%
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XP Power is a leading global provider of power conversion systems, including AC-DC power supplies and DC-DC converters, high voltage power supplies and RF power supplies.
We design & manufacture power convertors, the essential hardware component for every piece of electrical equipment. XP offers total quality, from in-house design in Asia, Europe and North America through to manufacturing facilities around the world.
THE CHALLENGES:
We had recently migrated to S4 HANA (October 2019) which in itself brought its own set of challenges including consolidating our Master Data Team into a central department. We recognised the complexity of our Material Master in S4 HANA Especially considering we have created a centralised data team. We also recognised that there no was additional data required to create a part in the XP Power S/4 HANA system.
We were running our data processes very much as manual processes involving convoluted spreadsheets, manual input and email workflow for data enrichment. We were struggling with the manual creation process taking approx. 46 minute per part to create in S/4.
As XP had moved to a central team it was clear that we had to do something. We simply couldn’t carry on manually entering data. We looked at various solutions on the market place including Maextro. We looked at the standard offerings as well as alternative options for developing our own CRM system and even creating our own application. Out of the standard offerings on the market place, Maextro was chosen because of the native integration points, simplicity and Fiori user experience. It was easily recognisable as another set of tiles on the Fiori launchpad but with a simple configuration menu.
THE IMPLEMENTATION PROCESS:
After 3 months of go live on S/4 HANA we engaged with Bluestonex. Even though we were still in post go live/early BAU of S/4 implementation, the Bluestonex team configured Maextro to be very flexible in their agile approach especially regarding the rules within our data process & data model, as they were still changing. The team at Bluestonex gave us a clear implementation plan with milestones and quality gates – it was semi-agile. The project was run with regular weekly workshops and meetings to ensure good communication, speed and effectiveness.
SOLUTION OVERVIEW:
Within Maextro, we now use the Maextro create request function to capture the initial request. Maextro’s powerful workflow distributes the tasks across the relevant region for data enrichment but the majority of data is now rule based which means Maextro will populate the data for our data team automatically. We had some complexity in S/4 which Maextro added additional benefits & automation including MRP areas, integration for EWM product masters, control cycle and inspection lots creation all within the one request and managed entirely in Maextro – plus we could do this in MASS!
THE RESULTS:
Prior to Maextro it would take up to 46 mins per part and we estimated 51 days of manual non value-added time for the finished goods team. Our findings so far with Maextro has meant a big improvement to 10 minutes per part and even though its early days, the signs are good and we estimate a conservatory saving of up to 75% in efficiency. We expect to redeploy the team of 3 down to a 1 person team and that person will now administer the process as opposed to manually keying in data, which will result in fewer errors. Maextro helps us monitor the process as well as ensuring that data standards are adhered to so that the role of data team has changed (for the best).
Maextro has undoubtedly provided a Quicker, Cleaner and more Controlled Solution compared to what we had before. We now have full traceability and it’s all in one user-friendly place. Feedback from the end users across the globe has been very positive as they now know that data cannot be missed or incorrect because of the Maextro rule set, improving both governance and compliance on S/4 HANA.
