Published on
March 5, 2024
Unlimited Extensibility: Deloitte Combines VR Builder and SAP to create VR-Ready Digital Twins for Process Planning - and Revolutionizes the Way Their Clients Transform Their Businesses
SAP S/4HANA-based business transformations can be extremely rewarding for companies, but they also come with challenges that are not always easy to manage. The success of such a transformation project will always require intensive communication, a constant knowledge exchange and an excellent understanding of the process by the employees.
However, this vital, deep understanding of the business processes is difficult to build through cross-location projects, virtual meetings or a document-based knowledge exchange. Especially in operational areas such as manufacturing and logistics, it is of the utmost importance to make the physical processes tangible, ensuring employees avoid misunderstandings and design mistakes long before they happen. Other challenges that arise in this type of project are the targeted training of employees and achieving their positive approval to counteract uncertainties around the new system. The training phase in particular creates high financial and physical pressure, and is often made more difficult by language barriers in the global context of training and training documents.
Deloitte utilizes VR Builder to offer their clients the chance to revolutionize their transformation process. By combining SAP backend services and VR Builder in Unity, they make it possible to integrate VR technology with their clients' SAP systems such as the SAP Business Technology Platform and SAP S/4HANA.
This allows to design digital twins of physical environments and devices, as well as to simulate operational processes, including real-time data exchange with SAP S/4HANA system. Through the 3D visualization of virtual warehouses, production halls, and devices like barcode scanners, printers, desktop terminals and vehicles (e.g. forklifts), this product supports process design, testing, training, as well as the change management process.
The virtual objects are intelligently linked to the SAP system, making them a powerful digital twin of their respective physical counterparts. In addition, they are made VR-ready through VR Builder. This combination creates a seamless connection between an immersive simulated environment and the physical world through the SAP backbone.
As for any business transformation, a deep understanding of the specific client challenges is mandatory. Adaptability towards the client situation is key, which has to be reflected in the objects of interest as well as the client's processes.
Further environments and situations can be simulated by acquiring additional 3D assets or by bringing in already existing customer-specific 3D objects. Processes are designed together with the client's subject matter experts and directly reviewed in VR by using standalone headsets and already integrated hard- and software. The VR headsets continuously access S/4HANA data in real time, which allows for a process design accurately reflecting real system behavior.
By using the XR Cloud software component from SAP together with Virtual Reality technology, Deloitte creates an interactive virtual environment based on real-time SAP system data. This allows your existing real objects and systems to be transferred into the virtual world as digital twins. This gives you the opportunity to present your business processes in a tangible way and thus build up excellent process understanding within your project team. Your employees are enabled by the virtual environment to analyze the future solution in detail and to identify problems quicker, as well as to easily adapt and optimize business processes. Distance is also no longer an issue, as by sharing the same virtual world, all participants can easily communicate, ensuring clear and thorough understanding across locations.
The computer-integrated interactive environment can be used in and brings benefits to all project phases, such as design, fit-gap workshops, testing and training. Cross-phase use allows you to experience the SAP solution much earlier and to execute business processes interactively in a virtual environment based on real-time data and user interfaces – at the same time building a foundation of trust in the new system much faster. In the crucial period of the training phase, which usually involves a high financial and physical strain, a virtual reality application can be created with little effort by reusing existing templates and 3D objects.
Pilot projects already show that the use of virtual reality can reduce SAP implementation project time by almost 10%, which represents a huge cost and timing advantage. As we look at the potential of this technology for the future, many new use cases and advantages we can imagine become feasible.
"The logistics area thrives on fast and continuous process optimization. It is therefore important to accurately reflect the customer-specific situation. At Deloitte we offer our clients a solution. By using VR technology and a real-time SAP connection, we can simulate the real world cost-effectively.
With the VR Builder, MindPort offers us suitable software that ideally reflects our requirements. We imitate the real world through digital twins such as forklifts and other objects. Using a simple drag and drop principle, we work with our customers to model their individual processes in real time.
The high level of user-friendliness and excellent support make MindPort a reliable partner and the best solution for our needs."
- Susanne Leiterer, Solution Engineer SAP Warehousing at Deloitte
SAP XR Cloud enables you to reinvent your SAP S/4HANA transformation. When introducing a new ERP system, companies should be aware that they will face many challenges during implementation. In order to make the transformation as smooth as possible, shifting from old-fashioned processes to a new, digital way of working can be a defining factor of success. The use of VR technology is an exciting and efficient way to make this shift. Shortened project timings, higher user acceptance, qualitatively better work results and impressive cost reductions in training are just a few of the immense benefits it can bring. This is only the beginning – in the future, there will be many new XR technology use cases and benefits to facilitate your transformation project.
With their technical expertise, business process knowledge and global network, Deloitte is able to provide solutions to any challenges you face linked to today’s rapidly changing technology. For their outstanding contribution in working with SAP, they received several SAP® Pinnacle 2023 awards, including
Deloitte, an SAP global services partner, helps clients activate the intelligent, cloud-enabled Kinetic Enterprise™ with SAP technologies — to help them reimagine everything, innovate rapidly and evolve with confidence in the face of constant disruption. Each day across the globe, Deloitte’s team of more than 26,000 professionals is working with leaders across industries to explore the art of the possible with SAP solutions — and to take action. With an SAP relationship that dates to 1989, Deloitte has helped more than 3,500 clients efficiently enable SAP solutions and realize business value from those investments.
MindPort has helped several large enterprises adapt XR technologies to gain a competitive advantage in their industry. We understand the challenges on the journey from early prototypes to a global rollout. With our experience and vast network of trusted partners, we help our clients to reap the benefits of immersive technology in a more efficient and effective way.