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SAP Business Network

SAP Business Network

Overview

What is SAP Business Network?

SAP Business Network is a comprehensive B2B collaboration platform that connects people, processes, and systems across multiple enterprises, digitizing transactions, and creating transparent, resilient, and sustainable supply chains.

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Recent Reviews

feel happy

8 out of 10
October 13, 2023
Incentivized
- usage as transport network for our PUR documents

Problem:
- onboarding process for our Supplier
- understanding, what is it
- no single sign …
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Supplier on the SBN

9 out of 10
October 13, 2023
Incentivized
We are using the SBN as a supplier to connect with our buyers across multiple geographies.
At the same time we are using the SAP Ariba …
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Awards

Products that are considered exceptional by their customers based on a variety of criteria win TrustRadius awards. Learn more about the types of TrustRadius awards to make the best purchase decision. More about TrustRadius Awards

Reviewer Pros & Cons

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Pricing

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What is SAP Business Network?

SAP Business Network is a comprehensive B2B collaboration platform that connects people, processes, and systems across multiple enterprises, digitizing transactions, and creating transparent, resilient, and sustainable supply chains.

Entry-level set up fee?

  • Setup fee optional

Offerings

  • Free Trial
  • Free/Freemium Version
  • Premium Consulting/Integration Services

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Product Details

What is SAP Business Network?

SAP Business Network enables transparency, resiliency, and sustainability in global supply chains through digitized trading partner collaboration. The network drives trading partner collaboration across procurement, supply chain, logistics, and asset management by enabling business processes beyond the four walls of a company across the entire value chain.

This enables all trading partners to exchange data, manage workflows and apply network-wide intelligence to improve decision making.

SAP Business Network is reported to serve millions of companies across 190 countries conducting trillions of dollars in commerce each year.


Transparency
SAP Business Network helps to ensure delivery of the right product to the right customer at the right time by aligning trading partners with consistent and accurate information across orders, inventory, capacity, logistics, and asset management.
Resilience
SAP Business Network drives swift response to disruption and supply or demand fluctuations before they impact customers by staying connected to trading partners during disruption, finding new sources of supply, and receiving real-time alerts.
Sustainability
SAP Business Networks helps to strive toward zero waste by incorporating resilience and circularity in the business's supply chain. Access to diverse partners can expand the supply base and help act with carbon efficiency in mind, so customers can trust in a business's sustainable practices.


Key Capabilities

Procurement Collaboration
Supports supply assurance, procurement efficiency, compliance, and spend transparency with a global network of suppliers.
  • Collaboration with suppliers
  • Automates procurement transactions and workflows
  • Improves spend transparency and supplier management
  • Enhances process and regulatory compliance
  • Enforces spend controls through business rules

Supply Chain Collaboration
Supports transparency by enabling plan-driven automation, optimizing capacity and inventory, and streamlining workflows.
  • Improves supply planning, predictability, and quality
  • Data can be shared with trading partners
  • Supports rapid response to disruption and risk
  • Supports efficiency and resiliency
  • Extends processes beyond organization

Logistics Collaboration
Collaboration with shippers and carriers to optimize logistics processes, increase on-time deliveries, and mitigate supply risk.
  • Streamlines freight collaboration
  • Connects with logistics service providers
  • Offers insight into goods in transit
  • Tracks shipments enriched by data
  • Evaluate the impact of deviations
  • Creates a chain of trust for product genealogy

Asset Collaboration
Empowers operators, manufacturers, and service providers with a single network for resiliency and transparency.
  • Maximizes uptime and service efficiency
  • Deploys a common asset definition
  • Improves asset data integrity and completeness
  • Enhances overall equipment effectiveness

Finance Collaboration
Frees up working capital to strengthen the financial supply chain and manage risk with working capital management solutions.
  • Secures early payment discounts
  • Provides suppliers with third-party funding
  • Obtains receivables financing from unpaid invoices
  • Improves inventory visibility and reduce lead times

Customer Collaboration
Supports customer relationships and grows business with tools designed for digital collaboration whether the user is a supplier, manufacturer, carrier, or service provider.
  • Frictionless customer collaboration
  • Streamlined processes to sell, ship and deliver goods
  • Enhanced visibility along the supply chain and asset management
  • Business growth and reach expansion to new customers

SAP Business Network is designed to offer a better way to collaborate with trading partners and navigate the networked economy.

SAP Business Network Features

  • Supported: Commerce Automation
  • Supported: New Supplier Discovery
  • Supported: Planning Collaboration
  • Supported: Supply Chain Collaboration
  • Supported: Freight Collaboration
  • Supported: Global Track and Trace
  • Supported: Material Traceability
  • Supported: Asset Collaboration
  • Supported: Dynamic Discounting
  • Supported: Supply Chain Finance
  • Supported: Accounts Receivable Financing
  • Supported: Inventory Management
  • Supported: Trading Partner Portal
  • Supported: New Customer Lead Discovery

SAP Business Network Video

SAP Business Network Competitors

SAP Business Network Technical Details

Deployment TypesSoftware as a Service (SaaS), Cloud, or Web-Based
Operating SystemsUnspecified
Mobile ApplicationApple iOS, Android

Frequently Asked Questions

SAP Business Network is a comprehensive B2B collaboration platform that connects people, processes, and systems across multiple enterprises, digitizing transactions, and creating transparent, resilient, and sustainable supply chains.

Coupa, E2open, and Ivalua Source-to-Pay are common alternatives for SAP Business Network.

The most common users of SAP Business Network are from Enterprises (1,001+ employees).
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Comparisons

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Reviews and Ratings

(40)

Attribute Ratings

Reviews

(1-1 of 1)
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Score 8 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
We use SAP Business Network in combination with p44 for tracking deliveries to customers, but also internally in our production network. We intend to receive more intelligent ETA by gathering milestone data from our 3PL via p44 and enriching those data with further environmental factors which could have an impact on the delivery date. Intelligent algorithms on p44 side are supposed to incorporate data which would impact the delivery time and routes, e.g. extreme weather conditions, traffic restriction information or political limitations.
  • Gathering information from different 3PL sources
  • Back-end integration into SAP ERP / S/4 HANA EM systems
  • Connecting the dots
  • Close cooperation with Transportation Management
  • Harmonization of integration to Trading partners for collaboration as well as milestone tracking
  • Increase the available reports and dashboards
  • Improve partner collaboration model within the SAP Business Network
  • Enable reports and dashboards by customers without need for Intelligence Insights
  • Aligned milestone status between BN4L and Transportation Management
Integration with Backend works well for enriching delivery data (esp. ETA) to deliveries in SAP ERP / S/4 HANA EM The gathering of data from different data sources / trading partners is well integrated and supported by different formats p44 as global track & trace partner is not well integrated Onboard of 3PL works well, but the mapping of milestones is not prepared / provided to an extent which would be expected for a standard solution
  • So far our Business Case has not realized as the data are not consistent enough
  • Expectation was to reduced the cost for emergency shipment by 40%
  • Extension of Forwarder Network to be integrated by 30%
We collaborate by exchanging delivery information for the sake of receiving close real-time shipment milestones. We also collaborate by exchanging shipment documents with our 3PL. So far there has not been a solution to harmonize these different communication types with the same partners in one technical way as milestones are always routed via p44 where document exchange requires a direct integration on SAP Business Network for Logistics.
Not yet, data needs to mature and become consistent, first. Expectation is to have an early warning on expected late deliveries to enable an immediate reaction by eg. changed routing on the last leg or by switching to emergency / express shipments. However, in terms of forwarder coverage we have improved which gives us a broader overview on delivery status.
The visibility of shipment status as well as delivery times will significantly increase. On working connections with 3PL we can experience close to real-time monitoring. For connections with other 3PL we first have to achieve a consistent and complete milestone receipt. Challenge is the different mappings between the 3PL and p44 which requires customer-specific mapping tables and interpretation of milestone data.
We selected SAP Business Network in collaboration with p44 for the backend integration to SAP ERP and S/4 HANA EM. In addition we appreciated the global reach of p44 milestone data coverage and number of already onboarded partners. The availability of all required transportation types, such as plane and truck was another decision criteria.
10
Key users from the Business Logistics Shipment area validating the tool and data results as well as further promoting the tool internally to extend business usage and prepare for further global rollout;
Project members from the IT Shipment area to support the tool operations as well as prepare for upcoming extensions and rollouts.
3
IT resources who have extensive General SAP understanding and significant expert knowledge in SAP Shipment and Transportation Solutions and Processes.
Involve Business Key Users who understand end-to-end processes and business implications as well as being capable to generate a strategic vision and holistic picture on how to evolve companies' capabilities and strengthen business partner collaboration.
  • Integration of Forwarders
  • Tracking of Forwarder deliveries
  • Understand unexpected delays
  • Strengthen business partner collaboration
  • none yet
  • Integration of warehouse service providers
  • Milestone tracking for warehouse activities
  • Exchange of operational documents in forward collaboration beyond the pure contracting and settlement processes
Up to now due to delay not fulfilling the envisaged business case. However, expectation that we can still ramp the usage based on existing scope. Further, we foresee additional scope which would give us an additional business case going forward, extending the Business Network usage to Warehouse Service Provider integration.
No
  • Scalability
  • Integration with Other Systems
Integrate additional information and forwarder collaboration results directly into SAP ERP and SAP S/4 HANA backend systems.
Stronger validation of selling messages.
Good performance from SAP as key deployment partner; collaboration and deployment with additional business partner for data provision and business partner onboarding was rather difficult, slowing down the project progress and overall success perception.
  • Third-party professional services
SAP
Yes
Design
Template Build
Pilot rollout
Scope extension
Further rollouts
Change management was a small part of the implementation and was well-handled
So far no global rollout, yet.
Change Mgmt. and Training activities yet to come for broader audience.
  • Mapping of forwarder milestone input against SAP understanding of milestones and their status
  • Onboarding of forwarders took more time than expected
  • Reporting capabilities of SAP BN4L not available from start, requiring use of external partner's dashboard capabilities in addition
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