ERP for Electrical Engineering with SAP Business One

Assemblies, subassemblies, and components can be mapped in a structured manner. This simplifies the planning of material requirements and provides a transparent basis for purchasing, production, and cost estimation.

For custom devices or technical systems, specifications often vary from order to order. Well-maintained master data and bills of materials help ensure accurate cost estimates for variants and enable components to be procured as needed.

Long lead times for electronic components or specialty parts increase planning pressures. Transparent demand, inventory, and procurement information help purchasing and production identify bottlenecks earlier.

In the electronics industry, one product is often not exactly the same as the next. Different hardware, software options, or customer-specific configurations must be accurately represented. In our industry solution, individual product variants can be assembled based on a template bill of materials:

• Assemble products based on a template bill of materials
• Add or remove components according to customer requirements
• Adjust quantities of individual components
• Map individual product variants in a structured manner within the order
• Reduce the effort required for manual data entry

Especially when it comes to custom products, the question of manufacturing costs must be answered before an order is placed. Our industry solution helps with this:

• Create production orders directly from quotes
• Take into account the required components and quantities
• Calculate costs for different product variants
• Establish a basis for pricing
• Establish a closer link between the quote and subsequent production

The custom-configured product variant can serve as the basis for the production cost estimate.

Feedback from manufacturing and assembly can be recorded digitally. This provides project management and production with earlier visibility into completed orders, actual times, and outstanding tasks.

Material costs, time, and other expenses can be used as a basis for project and order evaluations. Variances are identified before the order is completed.

In electrical engineering projects, margins often change incrementally: A part becomes more expensive, an assembly needs to be modified, components aren’t available on time, or assembly times increase.

When material and resource prices fluctuate, bill of materials (BOM) prices can be automatically recalculated.

Price changes for items and resources are reflected in the affected BOMs—even in multi-stage production. This reduces manual effort and ensures that cost estimates remain closer to reality.

In electrical engineering, it is often necessary to reliably manage various components, assemblies, and replacement parts. Goods received, inventory levels, and stock transfers can be recorded digitally using handheld devices in the warehouse and transferred to SAP Business One.

Employees can more quickly check whether the required components, assemblies, or replacement parts are available. This ensures that the necessary goods are ready more quickly for manufacturing, assembly, or shipping.

When it comes to electronic devices, it is often not enough to know only the serial number of the finished product. Components such as chips or assemblies may also be tracked by serial number. This relationship can be mapped in a structured way even before and during production:

• Reserve serial numbers before production begins
• Create individual production orders for each end product
• Uniquely assign components to an end product
• Improve the traceability of installed components
• Reduce the manual effort involved in assigning serial numbers

Even in electrical engineering companies, the process doesn’t end with completion. Assemblies, spare parts, devices, or components must be properly packed, documented, and shipped. Paper-based processes increase the workload, especially when dealing with many individual items, partially picked shipments, or time-sensitive spare parts.

Packing operations can be handled based on customer orders or picking lists; shipping and order data are synchronized with SAP Business One and connected shipping service providers.

Key Features:

• Individual order picking based on customer orders or picking lists
• Automatic inventory write-off
• Generation of delivery slips and shipping documents
• Shipping labels and tracking IDs
• Package consolidation for partially picked shipments
• Display of packing status, warehouse, and item information
• Shipment tracking via tracking links

Many electrical engineering companies continue to support their products after delivery through maintenance, repairs, inspections, servicing, or spare parts services. When these processes are managed outside the ERP system, it leads to follow-up inquiries, data inconsistencies, and delays in billing.

In our industry solution, service requests, work orders, scheduling, and mobile confirmations are consolidated into a single integrated process. Especially when working with power plants, battery systems, transformer stations, or custom-built equipment, field technicians need up-to-date information on the order, the system, the tasks, and the required materials.

• Submit Service Requests

Requests can be submitted via a customer portal, QR codes on equipment, email forwards, or a mobile app. Tasks, scheduled times, priorities, materials, and technicians are clearly outlined in the work order.

• Schedule Assignments

Calendar, map, and list views help you plan by time, region, and availability. Even last-minute changes can be coordinated clearly.

• Provide mobile support to technicians

The mobile app for Android and iOS provides work orders, customer and equipment data, checklists, documents, a camera, notes, and a signature—even offline. This allows technicians to complete documentation right at the customer's location.

• Transfer feedback for billing purposes

Time, material consumption, and status information are fed back into SAP Business One. The back-office staff receives clearly documented data, reducing the need for manual follow-up work during analysis and billing.

Particularly relevant for:

• Maintenance Contracts
• Field Service
• Transformer Service
• Battery Service
• Power Plant Service
• Testing and Inspection Service Providers
• Technical Maintenance
• Spare Parts Management

Document capture, digital archiving, and intelligent document processes run directly within the system. Documents can be assigned to the appropriate SAP document and accessed from the ERP system.

Features

• Automatic document capture
• Audit-compliant archiving
• Electronic invoices
• Archiving of emails and attachments
• Document access directly from SAP Business One
• Workflows and approvals

Business data can be exchanged electronically between SAP Business One and external IT systems. SAP Business One documents are converted into the required communication format and forwarded to business partners.

Advantages

• Fewer manual entries
• Lower error rate
• Faster document exchange
• Traceable document flow
• Less paper and mail
• More efficient collaboration with customers and suppliers