Table of Contents
Introduction
The manufacturing industry is fast realizing the potential of digital transformation in optimizing business-critical processes. They are increasingly investing in adopting the latest technology to automate their operations. Tech investments rose by 30% from 23% in 2023 to 30% in 2024 in this sector, and it is poised to grow even further in 2025.
Now, ERP is an essential part of the digital environment of the manufacturing industry, since streamlined resource management lies at the core of this sector. Being one of the biggest names in the field of enterprise resource management, SAP is used by a major percentage of manufacturing companies worldwide. In fact, SAP provides dedicated solutions for manufacturers that are optimized for their requirements and operations.
Despite all that, manufacturing companies frequently face challenges when implementing SAP. Be it the complexity of the SAP application suite, the difficulty in designing a suitable training program, the greater time and cost for onboarding, or employee resistance, SAP implementation comes with roadblocks that require thoughtful handling to resolve. Moreover, SAP training for manufacturing has to be executed in such a manner as to not disrupt business operations. A future-proof deployment plan and an effective SAP training strategy aided by an employee-sensitive change management program is the best way to go about it. In this blog, we will not only explain the correct SAP training program steps but also illustrate how Assima’s solutions streamline the process.
Here’s a closer look at how Assima paves the path for effective enterprise-level SAP training.
Understanding the Need for SAP Training in Manufacturing
| End-to-end automation of processes and functionalities | In-depth analytics for reporting, recording, forecasting, and feedback |
| Easier planning for process implementation, resource utilization, and technology integration | Facilitation and streamlining of supply chain and order fulfillment |
| 360° visibility to allow improvement of efficiency, productivity, turnover, and ROI | Demand predictions, investment insights, and more from data research of self and competitors |
| Intelligent inventory management and movement, production management, and operational control | Distribution, sales, and marketing supervision at every level |
| Sensitive employee and lead management in line with ethical practices | Management of quality, safety, and compliance issues in a comprehensive manner |
| Accounting and financial management of all aspects of business | Centralized data management for consistent operation |
However, you can only enjoy these advantages if you are able to plan and implement SAP deployment in a streamlined manner. Most organizations face a number of challenges that stop them from enjoying these benefits. Common challenges include:
- SAP Platform Complexity
- Budget Constraints
- Time Limitations
- Employee Resistance
- Lack of Management Support
- Digital Environment Shortcomings
- Security Inadequacies
- Insufficient Training
Not addressing these challenges can give rise to multiple issues upon SAP deployment like:
- Poor Employee Performance
- Demotivated Workforce
- ROI Below Expectations
- Increased Helpdesk Calls
- Increased Human Errors
- Greater Security Risks
- Greater Expenditures
- Inflated Time-to Metrics
Only two actions can resolve most of these issues almost completely. The first is making arrangements to reinforce your digital infrastructure before implementing SAP. The second is proper, thoroughly planned training, which includes education and awareness sessions on the benefits of SAP. A good training program with the right strategies and suitable digital SAP training solutions can help you overcome any challenge and give you a successful SAP implementation. In fact, SAP training for manufacturing is especially essential, since this industry deals with a large number of parts in motion, all of which must be kept running smoothly. Only well-trained employees can make that happen.
Key Components of a Successful SAP Training Program for Manufacturing Teams
Successful SAP training for manufacturing is possible only if it incorporates certain key components, which include:
- A training platform, through which training materials can be distributed and delivered.
- Proper training materials that cover all the necessary details about system navigation, functionalities, and data input and output.
- Different modes of training, like instructor-led classroom or virtual training, group or individual training, scheduled or self-paced learning, etc.
- Different modes of information consumption and application, like user manuals, demonstrations, live training, simulation training, etc.
- Assessments and analytics to keep an eye on user performance, training program success, training material effectiveness, etc.
- Refresher courses to keep users up-to-date on the latest SAP updates and practices
Take a closer look at how Assima can help manufacturing teams ace training
Step-By-Step Guide to Implementing SAP Training for Manufacturing Teams
We will now discuss the steps that, if you follow meticulously, will lead to highly successful SAP onboarding for manufacturing:
Step 1: Identify Business and User Needs
The first thing you need to find out before planning for manufacturing team SAP learning is what the team needs to learn and for what purpose. Conduct a survey to find out who needs training, what their roles and responsibilities are, and what parts of your business can benefit from expert SAP usage. Based on that, decide which SAP modules you should get and provide learning for.
Step 2: Assess Your Training Goals and Objectives
You also need to understand what you are aiming to achieve with the training program. For one, not every user will require the same level of expertise in SAP. Moreover, you have to align your SAP functions with what your business is trying to achieve in the future. SAP training for manufacturing teams must also be designed keeping in mind your goals and objectives for your company.
Step 3: Develop Customized Training Modules
Manufacturing companies have diverse teams taking care of diverse operations. Hence, SAP training for enterprise teams in the manufacturing sector must be tailored to the varying role-based functions in every team and department. Otherwise, they would not be as impactful as expected, wasting users’ time with lessons they don’t need or making them miss lessons they do need.
Step 4: Tailor Training Materials to Learning Preferences
Once you have finalized what every user would be trained in, you have to decide how to train them. Deliver content as interactive SAP training, theoretical materials, instructor-led lessons, self-served, self-paced modules, group learning sessions, individual learning options, and more, as you can afford. It is a great idea to survey your employees to know their preferences beforehand.
Step 5: Leverage Digital Training Solutions
Before delivering training materials, you might want to figure out what medium you want to use for that. We suggest using a digital adoption solution that uses interactive methods to train employees since SAP has a steep learning curve and requires immersive training to be learned satisfactorily. Assima uses hyper-realistic simulations that emulate live training but without risks.
Want to know more about how Assima’s simulations make training a breeze?
Step 6: Provide Real-Time Support and Reinforcement
Assima Train provides experiential learning opportunities before you put employees on the live SAP system. However, we also provide in-app support after SAP goes live. Assima In-App Search is a DAP search tool that overlays on the live software and provides highly contextual, dynamic search results on demand directly from all connected knowledgebases.
Step 7: Optimize Training with Feedback and Iteration
After you have deployed the DAP and delivered content through it, you have to collect data and analyze it to perceive the success of the training program, the performance of each user, as well as areas of improvement and learners who would need extra support. Based on these reports, you can modify the program as well as the lessons to better suit your workforce and business.
Step 8: Offer Refresher Courses to Keep Users Updated
SAP is an expansive digital solution. The best way to maintain the success of your training program is to create refresher courses that will help users stay up-to-date on the latest updates to the system and constantly implement the best practices of the industry. If you don’t you might notice a steady decline in the performance of employees as they fall out of touch with SAP.
How Assima Train Helps Manufacturing Teams Master SAP
If you have been looking for an innovative way to enforce SAP training for manufacturing, we have your back. Here’s why Assima is a perfect fit for your manufacturing company.
Overview Of Assima Train as a Digital Training Solution
Assima Train has been a force to be reckoned with in the enterprise training world ever since its inception in 2002. It uses a 4X patented simulation authoring technology to create hyper-realistic and hyper-interactive clones of any software that perfectly mirrors live training scenarios to train your employees without any risks to your business data or live system. These clones or simulations are fully editable due to being object-based and can be easily modified, updated, and reworked, all of which reflect across screens. It is fully scalable with multilingual, data anonymization, and multiple dataset output capabilities. If you want to train a global workforce working in the manufacturing sector on SAP, Assima is the right choice for you.
Key Benefits of Assima for SAP Training for Manufacturing
Here are a few ways the Assima training style fits SAP training for manufacturing well:
Hands-on SAP Training Without Affecting Live Systems
Manufacturing industries deal with a huge volume of interconnected data; even a small error can completely mess entire systems up. However, SAP, being a complicated digital platform, requires live training to gain perfect skills. Assima brings you the best of both worlds – our hyper-realistic, interactive simulations accurately emulate the SAP application but do not expose new learners to the live system or data, keeping the training process completely free from risks.
Faster SAP Adoption and Minimized Training Errors
Simulation training is proven to improve knowledge retention and recall. It also improves problem-solving skills. The more realistic the simulation, the greater the improvement in the learner’s decision-making skills. Training with Assima provides all these advantages – reduces the chance of users making errors, enhances the speed of digital adoption, and boosts employee performance during onboarding, when most businesses experience increased downtime.
Cost Savings Through Reduced Reliance on Sandboxes
Most companies still use sandboxes to provide hands-on training to employees in SAP. However, sandboxes are very hard to maintain – not only are they costly but they also require a full-fledged team of content creators, developers, designers, etc. Moreover, the data in the sandboxes need to be refreshed regularly and any changes require rework from scratch. Assima eliminates all these difficulties and saves you a ton of money in SAP training for manufacturing.
Case Study: A Manufacturing Company That Improved SAP Proficiency Using Assima Train
ASML is a major Dutch manufacturer of chip-making machines and the world’s largest supplier of photolithography systems. In 2018, they set out on a comprehensive business process improvement program that encompassed 45 different projects spanning across functions including planning, procurement, finance, customer support, supply chain management, etc. The software falling under the umbrella included all versions of SAP and certain homegrown applications.
With Assima, training the 4000+ users was much easier and smoother than ASML could have ever imagined. Digital adoption and onboarding were faster and so was content delivery. Moreover, they experienced greater business agility on onboarding and also created a far more structured learning system than they previously had. You can read about ASML’s training success with Assima in more detail here.
Conclusion
Realizing why SAP training for manufacturing requires a thoroughly planned and meticulously implemented program starts with understanding what SAP can do for you and what you must do to reap those benefits. That’s not all; SAP training implementation is not a one-off process. Training must be made a regular exercise with refresher courses, and you must keep applying SAP training best practices throughout. Of course, with digital training solutions like Assima, the process is much easier than you are used to. Give us a try and feel the true power of SAP in the manufacturing industry
Let us help you streamline your manufacturing business with the most advanced training technology in the world.
Frequently Asked Questions
Let’s Answer Some of Your Questions.
SAP is one of the top ERP solutions in the world and manufacturing teams are one of the departments that make the most out of ERP systems. If your company is using SAP but your staff isn’t trained, not only will they be missing out on the many benefits of SAP usage, but they would also be slowing down due to their lack of skills.
To build an SAP training program, you must first assess the needs of your workforce and the key objectives you wish to accomplish for your manufacturing business with SAP. Based on that, choose a suitable DAP, build lesson content, and deploy them in a tailored fashion to each target role. Use analytics and reporting to keep track of training progress and modify and add to the program accordingly.
Assima Train uses hyper-realistic simulations for highly interactive training. For a digital application as complicated as SAP, this is the best solution to ensure better retention, recall, and application. Moreover, none of the data in the live system is affected when training, giving learners greater confidence to practice and test their skills.
Digital SAP training solutions will help you deliver and deploy content in a customized fashion, standardize your training program, provide scalability and agility in your training methods, and reduce your training time, cost, and effort.
The best way to measure the effectiveness of your SAP training program is to calculate its ROI. You can also use other metrics like adoption rate, pass rate, net promoter score, and other such variables to measure the success of the program.
