September 1997, Volume 3, No. 9 Technology Update: SAP Set to Roll Out R/3 4.0

Despite an impressive growth rate, SAP (Wayne, Pa.; http://www.sap.com), a supplier of enterprise application software, has been dogged by complaints that its R/3 business process automation product is far too difficult to implement. SAP plans to address those user concerns with its upcoming R/3 release 4.0, which will be available to existing users by the end of the year and generally available by the second quarter of 1998. R/3 4.0 will feature new best-in-class functionality, improved speed and flexibility, faster implementation and upgrades, and extended supply chain capabilities available. The addition of SAP Retail in R/3 4.0 will offer extended supply chain business processes from the point of product design to the point of consumption. New logistics functionality address the enterprise resource planning (ERP) market with enhancements to the core applications, focusing on the extended supply chain, including flow manufacturing, distribution resource planning, sequencing, euro price management, and credit and payment card handling. In addition, SAP is delivering several new business and Internet components: a sales configuration engine; a product data management (PDM) component; an available-to-promise (ATP) server; and a Web-based catalog and purchase requisition system. In addition, SAP's new SCOPE initiative for supply chain optimization, planning and execution includes a new component called Advanced Planner and Optimizer (APO), which extends the R/3 System to provide high-performance real-time optimization, forecasting and graphical decision support.

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