Karlsruhe, 10/16/2023 - Whether it's technical innovations appearing at an unprecedented rate, the energy transition, or Globalization 2.0 - the pressure on companies to adapt faster and more flexibly to ever-changing requirements has never been greater. To avoid merely coping with this dynamic and instead gain real competitive advantages, companies need ERP solutions that make them significantly faster, more flexible, and more efficient. For this reason, Asseco Solutions has developed the latest generation of its ERP system and released it today: APplus 8.
The solution is tailored to the requirements of the innovative and professional world of today and tomorrow. The innovations focus on simplicity, adaptability, and efficiency. The innovative new operating concept allows data and process-oriented views of the processes to become one and maximizes adaptability and speed by means of configurations, low-code and templates. At the same time, it ensures significantly greater efficiency in day-to-day work. APplus 8 is available immediately.
"Just by looking at the example of groundbreaking AI innovations such as Large Language Models (LLMs), it’s clear to see just how fast technological development is moving these days: One revolution is literally chasing the next," says Markus Haller, CEO and CTO of Asseco Solutions. "This has a huge impact on many companies' business models. Just look at the manufacturing facilities: In the very near future, where a classic machine still stands today, a plant could be operating in a way that not only intelligently adapts its production methods to new conditions with the help of AI, but perhaps even actively generates suggestions as to how the production step itself should be overhauled for optimization. ERP systems must also be able to cope with this ongoing and rapid evolution of technology."
As the backbone of all corporate processes, they must be able to adapt quickly to ever-changing requirements and provide users with ways to process their daily tasks with unprecedented speed, noticeably increasing the overall efficiency of the company. Haller adds: "With APplus 8, we are meeting this need: Our new generation of software offers users focused, guided processes that can be easily adapted to ever-changing requirements. At the same time, in this age of mobile working models, they offer the freedom to be productive from any location and device without any compromises in terms of managing daily tasks."
The new Flow Mode: Efficiency and customization hand in hand
At the heart of APplus 8 is a completely new operating concept that offers users a choice of two modes of use depending on the task at hand: The new Flow Mode and the proven Classic Mode. The Flow Mode focuses on the specific process. Based on a structured interface, it guides users step-by-step through the processes to be completed. Only the information that is relevant to the current task is visible. As a result, potential sources of error are removed, and the clarity of the process is optimized. Users can thus process central ERP workflows at a significantly higher speed and efficiency than is possible using the classic method.
For maximum flexibility, the "APplus Board Designer" and "APplus Process Designer" tools can be used to tailor the processes to the requirements of the company and the wishes of the individual user, both at an interface level and at a process and logic level. Customization is done on a configuration basis. This low-code approach means that extensive programming knowledge is not required in most cases.
To cover larger processes, companies can also access tried-and-tested process templates in the new "APplus Best Practice Hub". The variety of best-practice templates may even enable customers to replace formerly individual ERP customizations with configurations, thus significantly simplifying maintenance and upgrades for the future. This reduces costs while providing full flexibility to react immediately and independently to changes in the market.
Two utilization concepts, maximum flexibility
At the same time, there will continue to be challenging processes and special cases that require deviations from the standard procedure. For this reason, the Classic Mode is on an equal footing with the Flow Mode. It offers users the proven data-centric usage approach with access to all relevant data at any time. Tasks can thus be processed in any order in the system. The user decides which step is required next. This enables users to work effectively with maximum freedom.
Users do not have to decide to use one of the two modes exclusively. Both modes of use coexist in parallel in APplus 8. Ralf Bachthaler, CSO of Asseco Solutions, explains: "Users can switch back and forth between Flow Mode and Classic Mode as needed, so they can choose the mode they feel is best for the process step at hand. For example, a user can start an order in simple Flow Mode and switch to Classic Mode as needed to verify a required piece of information in the inventory before they finalize the order in Flow Mode. A combination of process- and data-centric approaches of this type is innovative in the ERP world, and a real efficiency booster."
ERP "Everywhere"
The ease of use of the Flow Mode results not least from its clearly structured interface, consisting of what are known as "APplus Flow Boards". These automatically adapt optimally to the screen size and resolution depending on the end device used. In this way, they also enable complex ERP processes to be processed with full functionality on mobile devices without the need for a separate mobility app. APplus 8 thus accounts for today's flexible mobile working models.
Intelligent process automation to combat time-consuming routines
Business processes are also supported with innovative artificial intelligence. Among others, APplus 8 offers the option to implement intelligent process analyses. In this way, processes are identified that are usually always processed in the same way, such as the ordering of a specific item in an item group. If desired, the AI then offers the option of automating this process in the future, thus relieving employees of time-consuming routine tasks. Projects that have already been implemented have shown that it is not unusual for up to 30 percent of work steps to be automated in this way. The free capacities gained from this can then be used by employees to focus on exceptions and special cases.
More information and availability
More information about APplus 8 can be found here. The solution is available immediately to new and existing customers. hier. Die Lösung steht Neu- sowie Bestandskunden ab sofort zur Verfügung.
