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Brose has more than 14,000 suppliers worldwide – and that means communication can be a challenge. Brose had already transformed its supply chain by creating a single sign-on portal that allowed suppliers to access back-end applications. Now, by adding generative AI, it is delivering even more innovation to make life easier for suppliers.

Brose is a global automotive supplier that builds mechatronic components and systems for doors, seats, electric devices, and electronics in 69 locations in 25 countries. One out of every two cars built in the world contains at least one Brose product.

Streamlining supplier communication

In 2023, the company worked with ÎÚÑ»´«Ã½ and SAP to co-innovate a supplier integration app built on SAP’s Business Technology Platform (BTP). This proof of concept became the ÎÚÑ»´«Ã½ Supplier Integration for Automotive (CSI4Auto) tool, and delivered a single digital gateway and central collaboration platform for the company’s 14,000 suppliers. The solution eliminated time-consuming, complicated, and resource-intensive daily processes.

CSI4Auto at Brose provides suppliers with a single sign-on to access back-end applications, with central access to any cloud or on-premises application out of the box. And supplier administrators can easily manage new user onboarding, while self-registration allows supplier employees to sign on for different legal entities. The content available to a supplier or legal entity was controlled based on what was relevant. The streamlined process enhances user autonomy and ensures a more efficient and transparent collaboration.

The optimized workflow paid big dividends. The new supplier integration application delivered an 80% reduction in manual effort, 50% faster supplier user onboarding, and a 20% decrease in support volume.

Solving the next challenge

While CSI4Auto solved an immediate business challenge, onboarding new employees on the supplier side still had some lingering hurdles. Suppliers usually receive specifications and quality standards in extensive documents. New employees would spend a lot of time manually reviewing the documents to find the right information for their role.

Language was another obstacle. Working in 25 countries means documents need to be maintained in multiple languages, requires a significant effort. And it was more material that employees needed to wade through before they could find the right information.

Introducing AI-supported innovation

Brose needed to provide relevant information easily, while reducing the administrative burden. The answer: the Supplier Chatbot.

Working with ÎÚÑ»´«Ã½, Brose harnessed the power of generative AI to create a chatbot specifically to serve its supplier community. The chatbot is trained on the supplier documents and is ready to answer questions. The advantages include the following:

• Quick answers: Employees can ask specific questions and receive precise information immediately, skipping the tedious document searches.
• Always available in any language: The AI enables continuous support for suppliers worldwide in any language, without concern for time zones – even without previously translated documents.
• Role-based answers: The chatbot provides tailored information based on the role of the person making the inquiry.

Added to CSI4Auto, the chatbot is an intelligent, user-friendly solution for supplier portals, and it increases the efficiency of collaboration across the supply chain.

ÎÚÑ»´«Ã½ and Brose brought the Supplier Chatbot from idea to reality within a few weeks, because:

• The modular CSI4Auto architecture enables the seamless integration of new innovations
• AI services in SAP BTP support rapid market introduction
• The co-innovation model combines the expertise of ÎÚÑ»´«Ã½, Brose, and SAP to allow joint pilots to be designed, implemented, and tested quickly.

Enhancing the supply chain

Supply chain transformation is challenging. Streamlining supplier communications adds efficiency and great collaboration. Using CSI4Auto and the Supplier GPT, companies can optimize processes and future-proof the organization to ensure the supply chain continues to operate smoothly. Improved workflows help everyone.

AI technologies can solve some of the most complex problems facing supply chains. By embracing innovation, companies can reshape workflow operations for the better.

ÎÚÑ»´«Ã½ champions co-innovation to foster sustainable and shared solutions that lead to a competitive advantage. Digital platforms are indispensable, and processes must constantly adapt. We want to elevate digital collaboration between companies and suppliers to achieve better business outcomes.

To find out more about how we made this solution possible, reach out to me on .