ERP for automotive suppliers: call-offs, EDI and traceability in one system

AUTOMOTIVE ONE is an add-on for SAP Business One. It covers the requirements of a series operation – a manufacturer or a trading company – across sales, purchasing, production and inventory management, based on material handling units. The module is developed and maintained by init consulting AG, an SAP Gold Partner based in Kösching near Ingolstadt, Germany.

No. AUTOMOTIVE ONE is an add-on and requires an existing SAP Business One installation. It does not replace an ERP system, it extends one. Nor is it an EDI converter in the sense of transmission software, or a consulting service – and it is not the same thing as init consulting AG, the company that develops and maintains it.

Tier 1 and tier 2 suppliers working in series production that receive demand through call-offs rather than individual purchase orders. That applies to manufacturers and to trading companies in the supply chain alike. If you receive delivery schedules by EDI, work with cumulative quantities or have to produce VDA labels, the solution is relevant. AUTOMOTIVE ONE is in use at 40 to 50 customers, so typical constellations at VW, BMW, Mercedes and Stellantis are already covered.

The delivery schedule runs on VDA 4905 or 4984, EDIFACT DELFOR, ANSI 830 or ODETTE DELINS. The just-in-time call runs on VDA 4915 or EDIFACT DELJIT, the production-synchronous call on VDA 4916. Despatch advice and transport data go through VDA 4913 or 4987, EDIFACT DESADV or ANSI 856, and the invoice through VDA 4906, EDIFACT INVOIC or ANSI 810. Which direction – receive or send – is available in each case is set out in the overview of standards with all version levels.

The delivery schedule (LAB) transmits demand over a longer horizon and replaces the individual purchase order. The just-in-time call (FAB) refines that demand at short notice, with quantities down to the day or the shift. The production-synchronous call (PAB) follows the customer's own build sequence – here sequence and timing are part of the demand. AUTOMOTIVE ONE supports all three processes.

MHU stands for material handling unit. Behind an MHU with its unique number the system stores all the information about that unit and logs every movement, including its physical location. Full and empty returnable packaging and scrap are managed through MHUs as well.

The solution is built for transparent tracking across purchasing, production and the supply chain. MHU management makes it possible to trace without gaps which material went to which customer in which unit. Which specific evidence your auditor asks for depends on the customer and the applicable rules – we go through that together against your own audit requirements.

Yes. For demand-synchronous supply (JIT) the system drives the shipping proposal from the available quantity. For supply in build sequence (JIS) it processes the production-synchronous call, in which sequence and timing are part of the demand. Both run on the same delivery schedule as a regular call-off.

That depends on the routes your customers use to transmit data and on the formats involved. AUTOMOTIVE ONE processes the standards named here and comes with a configurable mapping system set up directly in SAP Business One – with no external middleware and no customising of the core system. The physical transmission route to the customer is a separate question. We settle it in the first meeting against your existing connections; a blanket answer here would not be serious.

Yes. Returnable packaging is managed through packaging material accounts and MHUs, in sales as well as in purchasing. The consignment stock process can be mapped, as can material provided to external service providers, including the issue of that material as it is consumed.

Yes. Sales and purchasing both have change management for changes in demand. In production the plan is held through blanket production orders and spans all demand – not only production orders that have already been frozen. Changes therefore reach the plan.

SAP Business One can be run in the cloud or on-premise, on SAP HANA or Microsoft SQL Server; init consulting offers both. Which operating model makes sense in your case with AUTOMOTIVE ONE – with regard to EDI connections, scanner infrastructure and availability requirements, for example – is settled in the concept. Background on the operating model is on Cloud ERP.

The price is made up of licences, the add-on and the implementation effort. That effort depends above all on the number of customers and formats to be connected and on the depth of manufacturing. For a first order of magnitude for the SAP Business One base, see Prices and costs or the online calculation. A dependable figure for the whole project follows the process review.

There is no serious blanket answer to that. The duration is driven by the number of customer connections, the number of sites, the depth of manufacturing and the state of your master data. After the process review you receive a schedule with named milestones.

The AUTOMOTIVE ONE user manual is publicly available and covers sales, purchasing, business partner master data, inventory management, production, the MHU solution, server services, and setup and operation. It is in German and can be found at manula.com – AUTOMOTIVE ONE 4.10.