SAP turns Internet of Things for smarter manufacturing

The firm wants to streamline manufacturing processes and processes for the retail, chemical, and oil and gas industries

SAP Labs India, the third largest research centre of German enterprise software maker SAP, is building a base layer for the Internet of Things, which transfers data over networks without human interaction.

The aim was to derive intelligence out of information at different data points and develop protocols, which would further develop apps and functionalities in the manufacturing sector, Srikanth Gopalakrishnan, vice-president, product management, SAP Labs, told Business Standard.

These applications will meet the demands of various sectors, including retail, manufacturing, and oil and gas with the help of SAP Hana, the company's database management system.

"We look to change the nature of businesses with the Internet of Things through experimentation," Gopalakrishnan said. "Manufacturing will be a main focus area," he added.

"The question is what could be added to the enterprise resource planning layer to transform business? We want to be a key player in that space," Gopalakrishnan said.

SAP last year introduced smart-vending, which predicts when a shopkeeper is going to run out of stock. This helps retailers because an empty shelf means money lost. The fact that chips that go into the development of these technologies can be bought for as less as Rs 100 makes the notion attractive.

By developing such technologies, SAP Labs wants to streamline manufacturing processes and processes for the retail, chemical, and oil and gas industries.

The company was involved in a prototyping technique with Google glass, where 3D imaging of different parts of a facility helps fix device failures. The imaging tells experts the exact points of failure and where to tap in. SAP Labs India is partnering start-ups and other technology companies for co-innovation through SAP d-shop, SAP Blue, Co-Innovation Lab and SAP Startup Focus. In 2014, the total R&D expense by SAP was $2.6 billion. SAP has 6,500 employees in India. The company is expecting to add 500-700 employees this year, especially in R&D and product engineering.