Broadly speaking, Cottage Health lacked the basic test automation framework to optimize their testing workflows.

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With decades of experience in the local market, this company is part of a global healthcare network, which operates in multiple countries, including the Czech Republic, France, Germany, Norway, the Netherlands, Spain, Turkey, and the United Kingdom.

The company’s IT Director shared insights into the company’s transformation plans, emphasizing the critical role of SAP S/4HANA in streamlining finance, logistics, and ERP functions.

“Today, we process approximately 130,000 invoices daily and serve 22,000 pharmacies out of the 30,000 in this region,” he explained. “Our legacy ERP system, has functioned primarily as an accounting tool rather than a fully integrated enterprise system. The move to SAP S/4HANA will enable us to digitize manual processes, enhance financial planning, and integrate AI-driven analytics.”

The transformation roadmap at the company is structured into three key phases:
1. ERP Assessment & Business Case Development (2025)
• Conducting a feasibility study to define current system gaps.
• Engaging local SAP partners for process mapping.
• Securing executive approval for the transition.

2. Implementation Kickoff & Rollout (2026)
• Launching a global SAP S/4HANA implementation in collaboration with the company’s international teams.
• Standardizing procurement, financial forecasting, and supply chain management processes.
• Migrating warehouse management systems (WMS) and financial operations into a unified SAP framework.

3. Full System Deployment & Optimization (2027-2028)
• Expanding AI-driven insights for demand forecasting and inventory management.
• Integrating extended warehouse management (EWM) to optimize stock replenishment.
• Enhancing real-time financial reporting and risk management.

The IT Director highlighted the organization’s focus on leveraging AI within the SAP ecosystem.

“We manage millions of invoices per month, yet financial visibility remains a challenge. AI-powered tools in SAP S/4HANA, such as predictive analytics and automated risk assessments, will bring much-needed transparency,” he noted. “Our priority is to apply machine learning models for stock replenishment and pricing strategies, ensuring cost efficiency and adaptability in market fluctuations.”

The move to SAP S/4HANA also positions this region of the company as a potential SAP center of expertise for the broader network of regional teams.

“This region has a deep talent pool of SAP professionals, and our goal is to leverage this strength to become an SAP knowledge hub within our organization,” the IT Director stated. “We have already engaged with SAP’s regional General Manager to explore collaboration opportunities.”

This initial regional team at this company is also implementing Workday for HR. The IT Director noted that the existing HR system is essentially a custom developed solution based on a local HR application, but is not an enterprise-grade solution. The company will not leverage Workday’s full feature set to begin with, and will continue for a time to manage some HR processes like payroll outside of Workday. And deep integration with SAP S/4HANA is not currently planned.

Reflecting on the transformation process, the IT Director emphasized the importance of:
• Prioritizing Employee Training: “Training should not be an afterthought—it must be a priority from day one to ensure smooth adoption.”
• Long-Term Vision Over Short-Term ROI: “Companies should avoid focusing only on immediate financial returns and instead take a long-term strategic view when investing in digital transformation.”
• Managing Organizational Change: “Shifting company culture is just as important as implementing new technology. Employees need to understand the ‘why’ behind the transformation.”

With a two-year implementation timeline, the company is focused on laying the groundwork for a seamless SAP S/4HANA deployment. The company anticipates that Spain’s SAP rollout—currently underway—will provide valuable insights into best practices for a multi-market single-instance strategy.

As the transformation progresses, the company aims to redefine its IT landscape, embracing cutting-edge AI, automation, and cloud-first strategies to stay ahead in the evolving pharmaceutical distribution industry.

What This Means for ERP Insiders

Industry fit remains a key factor for ERP. It’s worth noting that a significant majority—95%—of the world’s life sciences companies utilize SAP solutions, which include SAP S/4HANA. This high adoption rate underscores SAP’s strong presence in the pharmaceutical industry, encompassing various segments such as research and development, manufacturing, and distribution. SAP S/4HANA offers specialized functionalities tailored to the pharmaceutical sector, including features like SAP Advanced Track and Trace for Pharmaceuticals. This application assists companies in complying with international and regional drug serialization mandates, effectively combating counterfeit medications and enhancing supply chain transparency. Such capabilities are particularly beneficial for pharmaceutical distributors like Alliance Healthcare aiming to ensure product authenticity and regulatory compliance.

Define a clear cloud strategy: public vs. private. Selecting the appropriate cloud deployment model is crucial for migrations like this pharmaceutical company is undergoing. SAP S/4HANA offers two primary options: Public Cloud (GROW with SAP): Ideal for small to medium-sized businesses seeking rapid deployment with standardized processes. This model
leverages preconfigured best practices, allowing for swift implementation, often within weeks. However, customization options are limited, making it suitable for organizations that can operate within SAP’s standard configurations. Private Cloud (RISE with SAP): Suited for larger enterprises with complex requirements necessitating extensive customization.
This model provides greater control over the environment, supporting tailored processes and integrations. The tradeoff includes longer implementation timelines and potentially higher costs due to the bespoke nature of the deployment.

Single ERP instance across multiple countries is achievable. Deploying a single-instance ERP across multiple countries like this global company is endeavoring to do is a complex but strategic approach that can deliver standardized processes, improved compliance, and enhanced visibility across global operations. A “Global Template with Localization” approach ensures consistency while allowing flexibility for regional needs. This starts with a Global Core Model, consisting of standardized business processes for finance, supply chain, procurement, HR, and reporting; centralized master data management (MDM) and governance; and consistent security and compliance policies. Then there are localized configurations, including adjustments for country-specific tax regulations, legal compliance, reporting standards (GAAP, IFRS), and HR policies; language support and multicurrency capabilities; and integration with local banking, tax, and payroll systems. A multi-national single instance strategy must also contemplate regulatory compliance and data residency. Each country has unique regulatory compliance, security, and data residency requirements.
Companies must ensure ERP is configured for VAT/GST, electronic invoicing, statutory reporting (e.g., SAF-T, Making Tax Digital in the UK), and compliance with Sarbanes-Oxley
(SOX), IFRS, and local GAAP standards. And CIOs must ensure ERP complies with data protection laws like GDPR (Europe), CCPA (California), PDPA (Singapore), and China’s PIPL, and choose regional cloud hosting where data sovereignty laws apply.

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The Client

EMIS Health is a major provider of healthcare software, information technology and related services within the UK. Their vision is to be the leading provider of innovative healthcare technology that focuses on improving people’s lives.

As custodians of over 40 million records across every major area of healthcare, EMIS Health remain uniquely placed to help provide faster, better and cheaper healthcare through connected software and services.

The Challenge

EMIS Health were already live with ServiceNow Customer Service Management (CSM) when Inetum UK&I, an Elite partner of ServiceNow, were tasked with replacing the company’s Project Portfolio Management tools and processes. This was done by implementing ServiceNow’s SPM (Strategic Portfolio Management) suite of products. The aim of this was to bring order and consistency to their processes, providing a centralised tool enabling efficient planning, coordination and management of projects and programmes.

In the fast-moving, dynamic world of software and healthcare, with tens of thousands of clinicians across the UK relying on their software and systems on a daily basis, it was imperative that EMIS Health had a tool to support internal processes. They needed to implement an iterative process for upgrades, configurations and customisations, which would allow them to take advantage of the new features and functionality that the ServiceNow platform has to offer.

The Solution

We delivered the implementation of the PPM modules within the ServiceNow SPM suite. This has provided EMIS Health with a centralised tool to:

• Enable efficient planning, coordination and management of projects and programmes
• Continually optimise resources to increase business agility
• Provide status visibility and performance data

Upon completion of this successful project, an engagement to provide Platform Management as a service from Inetum UK&I began. Platform Management encompasses three different levels of support services, meaning that we could offer EMIS Health a modern, personalised alternative to the traditional support model. For more information on this, click here.

“For me, the key word is relationship. At EMIS we work hand in hand with our colleagues at Inetum UK&I as an agile team. We have empowered each member to provide best practice guidance and feedback for every request that has been submitted. Thought goes into every piece of work we do, and how it best suits the business and the management of the ServiceNow platform, ultimately leading to our combined success.”

Aaron Riley

ServiceNow Platform Lead at EMIS Health

The Benefits

• As part of the roadmap and ongoing transformation of the ServiceNow platform, Inetum UK&I recommended an Automated Test Framework (ATF) be put in place. This is a set of components that facilitate executing tests and comprehensive reporting of the results. With this in place, EMIS Health have been able to streamline their yearly upgrades and optimise their upgrade testing resources, reducing the overall effort for manual testing by 80%.
• Inetum UK&I have the ability to attract skilled resource in a very demanding market. This gives EMIS Health access to a much wider and more varied skillset than if they had attempted to manage the platform in isolation.
• The customer now has the flexibility to scale their resourcing requirements at pace. This is something they were previously unable to do alone, and has allowed for greater flexibility in an ever-changing world of work.
• EMIS Health has a worldwide workforce with, like Inetum UK&I, a strong presence in India; this helped the two companies to collaborate, utilise resources efficiently and deliver a blended service, allowing for a better return of investment.
• Utilising a central PPM (Project Portfolio Management) tool, the business now has improved transparency, tracking of demand and ability to effectively manage and forecast the demand for resource and projects.

The Future

The evolution of EMIS Health’s ServiceNow platform continues. The business is keen to utilise best of breed technologies aligning to their strategic priorities, including technology innovation. ServiceNow continues to bring new offerings to market, and improve existing functionalities that are part of their already procured product suite. The team will continue to invest in these.

The partnership between Inetum UK&I and EMIS Health continues to grow from strength to strength, contributing positively to the EMIS ecosystem whilst unlocking the true potential of the ServiceNow platform.

For a free consultation on what Inetum UK&I could do for you, please get in touch with one of the team here.

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Harmonizing data across these systems is a foundational step manufacturers must cover before they can implement the type of sophisticated predictive analytics, supply chain optimization and sales forecasting that contribute to the success of the world’s largest manufacturers. Yet, fewer than half of manufacturing data teams assess themselves as successful in achieving this.

Large manufacturing companies must efficiently blend data across multiple ecosystems, across on-premises systems and the cloud, to establish a data foundation capable of powering enterprise AI initiatives.

A global pharmaceutical manufacturer with an extensive network of facilities, including two chemical plants, seven manufacturing plants, and numerous R&D and distribution centers worldwide, faced this challenge. When effective decision-making requires data that is sourced from multiple systems and platforms, how can this data be efficiently blended to drive the business forward?

The Challenge: Connecting disparate ecosystems

The company’s Business Intelligence (BI) team faced a daunting challenge: They needed to replicate critical financial, operational, and CRM data from various systems, including SAP, Salesforce, Power BI Cloud, and SQL Server. However, the integration process was complicated due to:

• A mix of cloud and on-premises environments, requiring seamless connectivity.
• Reliance on Salesforce for CRM and Power BI for analytics, which needed real-time data access to existing SAP systems.
• Manual SSIS-based data pipelines, which were labor-intensive and inefficient for large-scale data transfers.

The organization’s three-person BI team struggled to keep up with data demands, as manually creating pipelines for Salesforce and Microsoft data integration took days or even weeks, limiting their ability to provide real-time insights that drive robust decisions from organizational leadership.

CData Sync for ERP integration with Microsoft and Salesforce ecosystems

To overcome these integration hurdles, the pharma company turned to CData Sync, a powerful, automated data replication tool that seamlessly integrates Microsoft and Salesforce platforms with existing ERP systems like SAP. By implementing this solution, it achieved:

• Automated, real-time data replication between Salesforce, Power BI Cloud, and SQL Server.
• Improved analytics capabilities, allowing data from their CRM (Salesforce) and ERP (SAP) to be visualized in Power BI effortlessly.
• Efficient handling of 1.5 billion rows of data monthly, ensuring scalability and reliability.
• A hybrid integration approach, connecting on-premises SQL Server databases with cloud platforms like Power BI and Salesforce.

CData Sync allowed the business to integrate Microsoft SQL Server and Salesforce with SAP by creating a seamless, automated data pipeline. This eliminated the need for manual coding and maintenance of SSIS pipelines, enabling real-time synchronization of CRM, financial, and supply chain data across platforms.

Additionally, the integration ensured that Power BI reports reflect the latest insights, empowering decision-makers with accurate, timely data.

“With CData Sync, we’ve eliminated manual data transfers and now have a fully automated integration between Salesforce, SQL Server, and Power BI,” the BI team’s manager said.

The results? Optimized data integration has contributed to Recordati’s 31% annual revenue growth, empowering 3,500 global data users all the way up to the C-Suite to make informed, data-driven decisions about production, inventory and the broader supply chain.

Expanding data integration capabilities

Building on this success, the company now plans to further expand its Salesforce and Microsoft integrations by:

• Incorporating additional data sources into its analytics ecosystem.
• Replacing more SSIS pipelines with CData Sync’s automated processes.
• Enhancing cross-platform reporting capabilities to further optimize business intelligence.

What this means for ERP Insiders

Automating ERP data preparation contributes to a more agile, competitive business. Organizations using CData Sync have reported a 90% reduction in time-to-value for data integration. This means that operational data is more readily available to decision-makers across the organization – for the pharma company, reports that previously took days to compile are now available seven times faster, enabling it to react swiftly to market changes. This agility ultimately contributed to 31% year-over-year growth for the business.

Enhance operational efficiency through real-time ERP data integration with analytics platforms. ERP users eliminate manual pipeline development and reduce operational overhead by unifying their data. For organizations leveraging Microsoft, Salesforce and a variety of other ecosystems, products like CData Sync provide a robust solution for real-time data integration, automation, and analytics enablement – supporting reporting platforms like PowerBI, Tableau, and SAP Analytics Cloud This means that business users can more easily access high-quality data that is ready for analytics, enhancing their efficiency and insight.

Seamless cross-platform connectivity enables deeper, more meaningful analytics. By providing the ability to harmonize data across operational systems like ERPs, CRMs, databases, etc., solutions like CData Sync ensure a unified view of the supply chain, sales, production processes, etc. Users can utilize these solutions to easily connect data across ecosystems like Microsoft, SAP, NetSuite, and Salesforce to develop end-to-end visibility and analytics across your organization’s operations.

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The collaboration will bring Multiview’s cloud-based ERP software to GPHA’s network of hospitals in a bid to boost financial management and interoperability.

The software integrates seamlessly with GPHA’s electronic health record (EHR) vendor, providing improved interoperability and streamlining operations. This partnership is also hoped to deliver better financial solutions to GPHA hospitals, with a focus on rural and critical access facilities.

“We are excited to offer Multiview’s ERP solutions to our clients to improve the efficiency of their back-office operations,” said Tana Sells, chief information officer of GPHA. “Our top priority is to provide the best solutions for our hospital clients, and we believe Multiview ERP will be able to support our clients so that they can spend more time caring for their patients and communities and less time on administration.”

Multiview ERP has a long history of delivering user-friendly financial applications to healthcare organizations. Currently, over 4 percent of US hospitals use Multiview’s solutions, including rural and community hospitals similar to those in GPHA’s network. The software’s scalability and dynamic reporting capabilities have a track record of helping healthcare organizations break down data silos, automate accounting processes and improve access to financial information.

Michael Johnson, president and CEO of Multiview, said:  “Both GPHA and Multiview share a dedication to support rural and critical access hospitals, and we are excited to bring our affordable, powerful solution to GPHA hospitals at a broader scale.”

Founded in 1950, GPHA is one of the oldest and largest not-for-profit healthcare management systems in the US. The organization manages, leases and affiliates with hospitals across Kansas and Nebraska, providing comprehensive services and expertise to support rural healthcare.

Last year, another healthcare solutions company, TruBridge announced a partnership with Multiview Financial Software, benefiting from Multiview’s ERP software. As a preferred financial management solution, with the ability to integrate TruBridge’s electronic health record (EHR), Multiview is offering enhanced interoperability.

What it means for ERP Insiders

Transforming daily operations for healthcare financial professionals

For healthcare financial professionals like controllers, CFOs and accounting managers, the partnership between Multiview Financial Software and Great Plains Health Alliance (GPHA) promises a significant transformation in day-to-day operations. By implementing Multiview’s cloud-based ERP software, GPHA’s network of rural and critical access hospitals gains advanced tools for financial management, streamlining complex workflows and enhancing interoperability with electronic health record (EHR) systems. This integration means less time reconciling fragmented data and more time on strategic financial planning. End-users can expect to see automated accounting processes, real-time financial insights and dynamic reporting capabilities tailored to the unique needs of rural healthcare facilities – making financial management more efficient and transparent.

The growing demand for interoperable ERP solutions in healthcare

The healthcare ERP market is experiencing rapid growth, driven by the increasing need for financial transparency and operational efficiency. As hospitals and healthcare organizations face rising regulatory demands and tighter budgets, solutions like Multiview’s become essential. Multiview is competing in a market that includes major players like Oracle NetSuite and SAP, which also offer ERP solutions tailored to healthcare. With over 4 percent of US hospitals already using Multiview, the vendor is carving a niche in rural and community healthcare. Partnerships like those with GPHA and TruBridge highlight a broader trend: healthcare organizations are prioritizing ERP systems that integrate seamlessly with EHRs, supporting data-driven decision-making and fostering interoperability. Analysts project the global healthcare ERP market to grow at a CAGR of 6-8 percent through 2030, signaling a robust demand for these solutions.

Criteria for evaluating healthcare ERP providers

When evaluating ERP providers, end-users should prioritize integration capabilities, scalability and user-friendliness. Seamless integration with existing EHR systems is critical to avoid new data silos. Scalability ensures the software can adapt to the evolving needs of healthcare organizations, particularly as they grow or encounter new regulatory challenges. User-friendliness, combined with robust training and support, ensures that financial teams can quickly adapt and leverage the software effectively. Furthermore, rural and critical access hospitals should seek solutions with a proven track record in their specific setting, ensuring that the ERP system aligns with their unique operational challenges. In the case of Multiview and GPHA, the partnership exemplifies a tailored approach, delivering a solution built for the nuanced demands of rural healthcare finance.

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The company’s approach to TPM has been spearheaded by Tom Marriage, Global Digital Lead – Commercial Planning, Bayer. With two decades of experience, Marriage underscored the necessity of a structured and strategic roadmap at the recent TELUS Consumer Goods’ RGM Forum.

Rather than reacting to challenges as they arise, Marriage believes companies should define clear end goals, ensuring TPM aligns with broader revenue growth management (RGM) strategies. Key considerations include defining the role of TPM within RGM, ensuring trade promotion efforts contribute to overall business objectives, establishing and tracking performance indicators to measure success, leveraging insights to enhance trade spend effectiveness, and designing frameworks that accommodate local market needs while maintaining global consistency.

Bayer’s collaboration with TELUS has played a crucial role in structuring this pathway, Marriage reports. Specializing in Agriculture & Consumer Goods, TELUS offers a global TPM solution which aims to simplify planning and execution for numerous aspects of a promotional strategy across both retail and foodservice, ensuring data integration, stakeholder alignment, and smooth execution across markets.

Bayer’s TPM Framework: A Phased Approach

Bayer’s journey in TPM has followed a structured pathway, ensuring alignment across stakeholders and maximizing visibility into trade spend effectiveness. This approach includes a foundational phase focused on establishing customer listings, fund management, demand integration, and post-event ROI evaluation. The controlled volume planning phase incorporates annual promotional planning, new product launches, and demand adjustments. Total volume planning implements consumption-based planning, accrual harmonization, and budget tracking. The advanced phases integrate net revenue management, trade promotion optimization, predictive modelling, and AI-enhanced analytics.

One of the key challenges in TPM implementation is finding the right balance between global consistency and local market flexibility. Bayer’s approach ensures centralized governance with market-level adaptability, allowing individual markets to tailor strategies to local consumer behavior and retail dynamics while maintaining a core TPM framework. Continuous performance assessment is conducted using a phased proficiency rating system, ranging from reactive to expert, to assess and optimize TPM maturity across different regions. By benchmarking performance across markets, Bayer identifies best practices and areas for improvement, ensuring data-driven market comparisons.

What this means for ERP Insiders

• Optimising Trade Promotion for Revenue Growth and Pricing Efficiency
  Bayer, in collaboration with TELUS, has implemented a structured TPM approach that directly supports revenue optimisation and pricing accuracy. By integrating TPM with broader Revenue Growth Management (RGM) strategies, Bayer ensures data-driven decision-making, enhances trade spend visibility, and improves promotional ROI. This methodology provides revenue and pricing leaders with the insights needed to refine pricing structures, forecast promotional effectiveness, and maintain margin integrity across global markets.
• Structured Framework for Improved Financial Control and Pricing Strategy
  Bayer’s phased TPM implementation—spanning foundational fund management, controlled volume planning, and advanced analytics—offers a scalable approach to managing trade investments. The ability to harmonise accruals, track budget performance, and optimise trade spend effectiveness ensures robust financial governance. Through data integration, TELUS’ global TPM solution further enhances pricing precision by aligning promotional planning with revenue accounting, enabling companies to maintain pricing consistency while adapting to regional market dynamics. As recent Wellesley Information Services research reports, 83% of finance professionals view cleansed and harmonized master data as either important or very important to support their business priorities.
• Follow these core principles for TPM success. Companies must understand their current state and desired outcomes before launching or optimizing TPM systems. Engaging cross-functional stakeholders, including business leaders and IT professionals, is essential to ensure holistic implementation. Also, leveraging external expertise such as experienced TPM specialists and technology providers helps avoid common pitfalls. Finally, businesses should invest in TPM features that align with their objectives, avoiding unnecessary complexities. Ensuring TPM solutions support local market nuances while maintaining global standardization provides the flexibility needed for a successful implementation.

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Shedding light on how process intelligence can be used to facilitate better research and potentially justice reform, researchers open up about the opportunities to improve the disconnect between key systems in a large US state, working with data intelligence leader Celonis. Additionally, Celonis VP and leader for the UKI, Rupal Karia shares more about the progress of the UK’s National Health Service (NHS) process mining project which has already reaped quantifiable benefits.

NGO keeping Texas’ juvenile justice in check

Sharing her first-hand experience of working as a juvenile probation officer in the town of San Angelo, Texas in the late 1990s, Erin Espinosa explains to ERP Today about one of the many such cases where a ten-year-old boy, Chris, was entangled in the fragmented state of the juvenile justice and mental health systems that don’t always lead to the best outcomes.

Imagine if we’re able to process mental health and juvenile justice data to know sooner…

Espinosa, now a director of research at Evident Change, shares the story of how despite being just a minor, the child was arrested several times and would come to her probation department for misbehavior, and later assault in the classroom, which happened routinely over three years. “What we didn’t know was the other half of the story, that he was diagnosed at age eight with an early onset of Bipolar 2 disorder.” Chris’ mother also could not afford to fill in his medication prescription, so he would be weaned off his medication over the summer break and restart it when school started in autumn, further complicating the case.

This is where the disconnect between the two systems, as playing an important role in treating, rehabilitating and reintegrating youth into the community, became obvious.

“When I learned all of that information, I was finally able to intervene differently,” Espinosa says. “Chris, at 13 years old, was on his way to be committed to state prison for five years […] So that’s the scene.”

While pointing out several underlying issues and systematic inefficiencies, this case also exposed the reality of the ever-increasing ratio of children to caseworkers and managers. “Imagine if we’re able to process mental health and juvenile justice data to know sooner from a system’s approach instead of [blaming] a kid,” she adds.

This is one example of a niche where having an end-to-end view of the process can make a huge difference to human lives. This means a change from systems thinking, with separate systems (juvenile justice and mental health) that work in silos, and instead integrating the children’s information from said systems to understand what’s happening and offer better support.

To act on these particular issues, a team of researchers explored the opportunities by adding a temporal component – tracking children over time – and applying process mining into the system. “So by applying process mining and an object-centric approach, we are able to retrace the journey of these children through both the juvenile justice and the mental health care system, and combining these two, we can also see how the two systems are interacting with each other and how the handover is happening,” Arturo Castellanos, assistant professor at William & Mary, says regarding the research.

But the ultimate goal of such efforts is how to scale from one child to many more by recognizing the trajectories of children within these systems. “And by doing that, then we can take a granular level view and say “this is the individual kid, but we can also abstract that to a more general view. These are all the kids in the systems, and notice how many deviations from a typical process there are. This is where you can start enacting change by saying, ‘There’s got to be a better way, right?’” Castellanos explains, while adding that these insights can provide ideas about what needs to change in either system and the need to connect the two systems “so that we can look at the reality of each of the children in the general system”.

Process intelligence can help determine how systems perform where a child with history of arrest also has mental health issues

Castellanos describes how the teams have used process mining in partnership with Celonis to help determine how the two systems perform in those cases where a child with a history of arrest also has mental health problems – suggesting that there is a good chance that the reason for the arrest could have been mental illness that was never originally diagnosed.

For this reason, the team has come up with two KPIs. “Firstly is what we call the detention spiral. The detention is a flag which shows whether a child is more likely to come back into the system through re-offending, compared to their peers. The second is the rate of treatment accuracy. This is simply a percentage of time a child was provided the right level of healthcare for their needs,” Castellanos explains.

By combining these two indicators, the team can then gather a good idea of what can happen to these children in the long term, fully exposing that in a lot of cases where the children are not provided the right level of treatment, they go back into the system for subsequent, and potentially bigger, crimes.

Evolving mining strides in UK’s National Health Service

1,800 appointment cancellations were avoided each week at one trust, and this combined with the other improvements at the trust resulted in an estimated annual saving of £2.8m

In another use case which has already seen some progress, Celonis’ VP and leader for the UKI, Rupal Karia, recently discussed the process mining efforts within the UK’s National Health Service (NHS), as the work has significantly reduced waiting times for patients.

“Unlike most of the use cases where the impact is financial, that’s not what we’re about – it’s about patient care. So it’s a completely different measurement to what naturally businesses look at,” Karia says. “In this scenario, of course, it saves money to be more efficient, but the drive is all about patients. It sounds corny, but it is improving health and therefore saving lives.”

The team is now looking for the next focus of this venture, aiming to expand its work in chunks of 10-20 further trusts, especially in light of the new UK government’s target to slash healthcare waiting times with sustainable solutions.

Planning the next steps for the Celonis team, Karia shares more about the trajectory of the project: “We’re now quite embedded in all five trusts and that gives me more confidence, because when you get one right, and you start seeing it work in four or five trusts, then once we get another five or ten going, we will have critical mass. It’s proven that we can do it at scale,” he says.

While the repeatability of good practice has made scalability in this sector easier, it’s also about going deeper and finding additional use cases. “There are some really complex things, like in cancer research, pharmaceuticals around vaccine deployments, as we do things around research, and we think about a different marker altogether. So where do we go next? There’s so many opportunities. We’ve got to work out where the highest impact is.”

In another step forward, the team is exploring ways Celonis can help them to be more proactive by letting them identify and address small problems before they become major issues. In this way, the approach has a good potential for being used to prevent challenges by examining a process and predicting how it can impose constraints before they materialize, something that healthcare systems in the country can greatly benefit from.

The impact of acting on process intelligence’s potential

What if we were to embed process intelligence into our

 government processes?

The power of process intelligence in these cases lies in the ability to identify historical issues, clearly understand their correlation and identify potential solutions while continuously monitoring processes. This helps to track how process changes are working and make future adjustments. “We have a way to look at it from a process perspective in juvenile justice – what does that reoffender look like? Why are they getting stuck in this endless loop of reoffending? Is there a way for us to intervene before this happens?” Monica Chiarini Tremblay, professor of business at William & Mary, says, while adding “also, changing out KPIs like treatment accuracy can help us look at this object-oriented approach because there’s many ways for us to cut and slice the data.”

Approaching it from a taxpayer’s perspective, “What if we were to embed process intelligence into our government processes? As taxpayers, we have the right to know if our processes are working right,” Tremblay says. “We believe that we have a real opportunity to use process engineering and process intelligence to improve government processes.”

Using the opportunities of this pilot project in partnership with Celonis, the research team is analyzing more data from government agencies and is already demonstrating the power of using this set of data to make an impact.

When it comes to Karia and his team’s process mining journey in the public healthcare industry, they are seeing much more interest from CEOs of trusts and heads of departments seeking involvement in similar projects – a serious shift from just tech-department interest in the past.

Celonis has also recently won a contract with the UK Cabinet Office, which ensures the effective running of government. More details are to be released soon, marking the company’s entry into the UK central government, with Karia seeing the potential for more departments to benefit from the new approach at local and national levels.

As Brexit has evidently added more complexity to government structures in the UK, “there’s so much we’ve got to work out, because the reality is, we can mine any process. At the moment, we’ve started on a journey with a pretty simple use case, but I think the potential is much, much broader,” Karia says.

Going beyond the markers of traditional business wins, process intelligence is surely making its mark in public and private organizations, showing a potential for advancing business processes as we know them.

The post How process intelligence impacts lives appeared first on ERP Today.

The enhanced version uses artificial intelligence (AI) to help customers increase their productivity, expand visibility, and accelerate supply chain processes. 

Oracle Cloud SCM now provides real-time insights into work orders and generative AI-powered shift reporting to help organizations improve their manufacturing processes. Through its Smart Operations for Manufacturing capability in Oracle Fusion Cloud Manufacturing, it also helps production supervisors resolve issues related to operational performance. 

Maintenance issues can be resolved quickly through Oracle Fusion Cloud Maintenance’s Smart Operations for Maintenance capabilities, which send real-time alerts on problems that might require immediate attention. The updated version also improves the Oracle Fusion Cloud Order Management system, which can help users perform mass updates on multiple order lines, take advantage of new search capabilities, and review alternate fulfillment options. 

Enhancements to the product’s Oracle Fusion Cloud Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) have updated its search capabilities. The PLM includes systems that can quickly find items and configure critical objects and navigation paths for users. 

Speaking about the improved version of the SCM system, Chris Leone, Executive Vice President of Applications Development at Oracle, said, “The latest enhancements to Oracle Cloud SCM help customers create a smarter, more responsive supply chain by enabling them to optimize planning and execution and improve the speed and accuracy of processes.”

Updates to SCM systems like the one by Oracle can help manufacturers prepare for low demand and activity cycles like the current one, where manufacturing output in August declined globally. The Institute of Supply Management’s (ISM’s) August Purchasing Managers Index (PMI), a key indicator of manufacturing activity, for the US inched up to 47.2% in August from 46.8% in July. Still, a reading below 50% on a PMI Index signals an economic contraction. 

Additionally, a strike at US ports on the East and Gulf Coasts starting on October 1, 2024, could likely impact supply chains ahead of the holiday season, making it even more imperative for manufacturers and distributors to ensure they have a robust SCM system in place to help them prepare for any eventuality. 

Healthcare SCM improvements 

Oracle also unveiled a new solution embedded with RFID at the Oracle CloudWorld event to help healthcare organizations automate and manage their inventory.  

This enhancement to the Oracle Fusion Cloud SCM solution uses RFID technologies from Avery Dennison, Terso Solutions, and Zebra Technologies to capture usage, update stock balances, track location, and trigger automatic restocking of supplies and materials. The updates will help reduce human error while ensuring that supplies are readily available for clinicians during each procedure. 

According to Leone, “[Oracle is] collaborating with leading RFID vendors to deliver an end-to-end solution allowing healthcare organizations to automate stock replenishment, expand inventory visibility, improve productivity, and enable clinicians to spend less time looking for supplies and more time focusing on patients.”

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As shown by a recent Process Optimization Report from Celonis, 63 percent of enterprise leaders say that sub-optimal processes are costing them time and reducing productivity, even though 83 percent see processes as “their greatest lever for value and the fastest lever for change.”

Some of these realizations are perhaps the reason behind the recent boom of process intelligence (PI), which contributes to organizations by taking data from sources such as ERPs and CRMs, and using process mining technology to turn that data into a moving digital twin of a business’ end-to-end processes. Using AI algorithms and specialized process improvement knowledge, PI then directs teams to the places where value is hiding in their processes.

As a global leader in process mining and process intelligence, Celonis is advancing this new frontier for the world’s biggest businesses to become more productive and agile. Recently, Celonis has embarked on a mission to expand its process intelligence expertise, bringing it to more users with some UK-based developments making for interesting case studies.

The United Kingdom is one of the biggest software markets globally, within which “the company is gaining footprint,” Rupal Karia, recently appointed UK GM of Celonis, tells us. “We’ve got some very successful customers and it’s a large portion of FTSE companies – 25 percent of the Fortune 500 globally,” he adds, with the company planning to add to its 150 employees in the UK.

With an ambition to cement its strengths in every industry without straying from the company’s core, Celonis can be seen investing in healthcare, banking and the public sector in the nation, with an ambition to broaden into central government accounts.

Delving into various cases within the UK’s National Health Service (NHS), Celonis has started work within five trusts in the country, with University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Trust (UHCW NHS Trust) being one of the first of these to benefit from the partnership.

In that particular trust lay a fundamental issue – “there was a really high number of people who did not show up for their appointments, or canceled last minute, which is a problem because you can’t reuse that appointment,” Karia says.

Using the process mining and intelligence approach, Celonis worked to delve into how and when updates to appointments are triggered to reach a better adoption rate.

“So just by looking at that particular issue and sending text messages had a huge improvement to the number of people who turned up. We suggested changing text messages from roughly four days and then again one day prior, to 14 and four days prior, which meant any canceled appointments were re-utilized, given the team had more time to fill them. So that was a really simple use case.”

With the NHS being a good example of a complex use case with a large amount of disparate information, Celonis dug into its processes to identify more key bottlenecks. For example, despite common assumptions that the lack of doctors and nurses in a particular trust was creating long delays, the team found that the bottleneck could not be down to medical staffing issues at all.

“It could be that patients weren’t taken up to the theatre soon enough or the room or surgical instruments weren’t sterilized and therefore the room wasn’t available,” Karia reveals.

This realization plays a key role in problem-solving and optimizing NHS resources because “even adding 20 more doctors, if the assigned room is unavailable – and these are some very early indications, but we will prove this quite quickly. [Basically] if we just fixed those figures and secured hospital porters [instead of stretching budgets even further] for more doctors, it will make all the difference,” Karia shares.

The team has identified that proving and fixing this problem has a huge potential for improvement in productivity, which also highlights that sometimes the need for more staff might not be the way to fix the root issue. 

He adds: “If you can disseminate all of that, really start to work out these links and you realize which system we get that information from – once you start putting out all these different [elements], you can see where the real bottleneck is.”

While demonstrating the practical application of PI, there is one common misconception that users have – that process intelligence would replace other platforms they are using. “They sometimes ask, ‘Which platform am I replacing and what’s the benefit?’ Actually we don’t see it like that, we see it like this: the benefit of process intelligence as a top layer over your current systems should make those more impactful and therefore enable for better ROI.”

As more users tap into the added visibility that process intelligence provides, they can witness the benefits of PI and how those systems work better, increasing understanding of where bottlenecks are. Drawing insights from these direct NHS examples helps demonstrate the advantages of applying process mining that a growing number of enterprises are utilizing to stay ahead of the competition.

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