Al Hatab Foods - SAP Innovation Awards 2026
Finalist in the Supply Chain Catalyst category: Al Hatab Foods has transformed its production from reactive baking to autonomous manufacturing using SAP Digital Manufacturing. By integrating real-time signals from Mettler Toledo hardware with SAP S/4HANA and SAP BTP, the company has reduced production waste by 35%, increased production by 25%, and achieved real-time visibility and analytics, ensuring their promise of freshness with millisecond precision. Entry 26001 Download the DocumentInnovation Story
PUBLIC
Empowering the Ultra-Fresh
Customer Experience. A Strategic
View with SAP Digital
Manufacturing
Al Daajan Trading Company ( Al Hatab Foods )
Retail
Supply Chain Catalyst
PUBLIC
Empowering the Ultra-Fresh
Customer Experience. A Strategic
View with SAP Digital
Manufacturing
Al Daajan Trading Company ( Al Hatab Foods )
Retail
Supply Chain Catalyst
Empowering the Ultra-Fresh Customer
Experience. A Strategic View with SAP Digital
Manufacturing
© 2026 SAP SE or an SAP affiliate company. All rights reserved | PUBLIC
Al Hatab Foods, formerly known as Al Hatab Bakery, has established itself as a leading food company in
Saudi Arabia. Our main principle is to deliver fresh food, as reflected in our motto: 'Fresh is our promise.'
The company has expanded beyond baked goods to include a wide variety of products such as dips,
ready-to-cook and ready-to-eat meals, soups, salads, fresh meats, and groceries, available across more
than 100 stores and three factories.
Al Hatab Foods is pivoting from reactive baking to autonomous manufacturing. By integrating real-time
signals from Mettler Toledo hardware directly into a closed-loop flow via SAP Digital Manufacturing,
SAP S/4HANA, and the SAP Business Technology Platform (BTP), we have eliminated the "information
silos" that breed waste. This centralized source of truth—fused with SAP SuccessFactors for workforce
precision and SAP Analytics Cloud for predictive analytics—doesn't just identify bottlenecks; it predicts
them. The result is a shift from manual oversight to a data-driven powerhouse, slashing production waste
by 35% and ensuring that our "Fresh" promise is backed by millisecond-perfect precision.
Experience. A Strategic View with SAP Digital
Manufacturing
© 2026 SAP SE or an SAP affiliate company. All rights reserved | PUBLIC
Al Hatab Foods, formerly known as Al Hatab Bakery, has established itself as a leading food company in
Saudi Arabia. Our main principle is to deliver fresh food, as reflected in our motto: 'Fresh is our promise.'
The company has expanded beyond baked goods to include a wide variety of products such as dips,
ready-to-cook and ready-to-eat meals, soups, salads, fresh meats, and groceries, available across more
than 100 stores and three factories.
Al Hatab Foods is pivoting from reactive baking to autonomous manufacturing. By integrating real-time
signals from Mettler Toledo hardware directly into a closed-loop flow via SAP Digital Manufacturing,
SAP S/4HANA, and the SAP Business Technology Platform (BTP), we have eliminated the "information
silos" that breed waste. This centralized source of truth—fused with SAP SuccessFactors for workforce
precision and SAP Analytics Cloud for predictive analytics—doesn't just identify bottlenecks; it predicts
them. The result is a shift from manual oversight to a data-driven powerhouse, slashing production waste
by 35% and ensuring that our "Fresh" promise is backed by millisecond-perfect precision.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
CHALLENGE SOLUTION OUTCOME
Implement SAP DM integrated with Metler Toledo Scales
Disparate systems requiring manual reconciliation between
shop-floor devices or limited visibility into real-time production,
inventory, and manpower status.
Integrate the MES with the weighing system / IOT devices and
the backend SAP S/4HANA to gain immediate insights and
controls, supporting operational decisions.
Automates core processes on the production shop floor to
reduce downtime and streamline data exchange.
Al Hatab Foods have been moved beyond static ERP by
architecting a Live Manufacturing Core. This was achieved by
bridging the physical and digital worlds:
Edge-to-Cloud Integration: Real-time signals from Mettler
Toledo IOT devices flow directly into SAP Digital Manufacturing,
eliminating the "manual reconciliation" lag.
The Orchestration Layer: Using SAP BTP, we fused this shop-
floor telemetry with SAP S/4HANA (for financial and inventory
accuracy) and SAP SuccessFactors (for real-time manpower
optimization).
The transition was a strategic overhaul that yielded immediate,
quantifiable results. By eliminating manual reconciliation and
establishing a real-time link between Mettler Toledo hardware , SAP
S/4HANA, and SAP Digital Manufacturing, Al Hatab Foods achieved:
25% Increase in production: Real-time weighing and automated
allowing for faster production process and reduce the bottlenecks
35% Reduction in Production Waste: IoT-driven monitoring and
identified batch defects at the point of origin.
50% Faster Reporting Cycles: By unifying SuccessFactors
(manpower) and SAP S/4HANA (finance/ops) into a single SAP
Analytics Cloud dashboard, leadership now receives actionable KPIs
in minutes rather than days.
Scalability Milestone: Successfully increased production capacity to
1 million meals per month across 100+ locations without increasing
administrative overhead.
85% Capacity
Utilization
Real-Time Visibility and Analytics
Seamless ERP-to-Shop Floor Integration
35% Waste
Reduction
30 % Reduction in Manufacturing cycle
time
23 % Reduction in Inventory Carrying Cost
25% Productivity
Increase
Annual Saving of $750 K
90 % Compliance with Industry 4:0
Standards
© 2026 SAP SE or an SAP affiliate company. All rights reserved | PUBLIC 3
CHALLENGE SOLUTION OUTCOME
Implement SAP DM integrated with Metler Toledo Scales
Disparate systems requiring manual reconciliation between
shop-floor devices or limited visibility into real-time production,
inventory, and manpower status.
Integrate the MES with the weighing system / IOT devices and
the backend SAP S/4HANA to gain immediate insights and
controls, supporting operational decisions.
Automates core processes on the production shop floor to
reduce downtime and streamline data exchange.
Al Hatab Foods have been moved beyond static ERP by
architecting a Live Manufacturing Core. This was achieved by
bridging the physical and digital worlds:
Edge-to-Cloud Integration: Real-time signals from Mettler
Toledo IOT devices flow directly into SAP Digital Manufacturing,
eliminating the "manual reconciliation" lag.
The Orchestration Layer: Using SAP BTP, we fused this shop-
floor telemetry with SAP S/4HANA (for financial and inventory
accuracy) and SAP SuccessFactors (for real-time manpower
optimization).
The transition was a strategic overhaul that yielded immediate,
quantifiable results. By eliminating manual reconciliation and
establishing a real-time link between Mettler Toledo hardware , SAP
S/4HANA, and SAP Digital Manufacturing, Al Hatab Foods achieved:
25% Increase in production: Real-time weighing and automated
allowing for faster production process and reduce the bottlenecks
35% Reduction in Production Waste: IoT-driven monitoring and
identified batch defects at the point of origin.
50% Faster Reporting Cycles: By unifying SuccessFactors
(manpower) and SAP S/4HANA (finance/ops) into a single SAP
Analytics Cloud dashboard, leadership now receives actionable KPIs
in minutes rather than days.
Scalability Milestone: Successfully increased production capacity to
1 million meals per month across 100+ locations without increasing
administrative overhead.
85% Capacity
Utilization
Real-Time Visibility and Analytics
Seamless ERP-to-Shop Floor Integration
35% Waste
Reduction
30 % Reduction in Manufacturing cycle
time
23 % Reduction in Inventory Carrying Cost
25% Productivity
Increase
Annual Saving of $750 K
90 % Compliance with Industry 4:0
Standards
© 2026 SAP SE or an SAP affiliate company. All rights reserved | PUBLIC 3
Project details
PROJECT OBJECTIVES USE CASE
DEPLOYMENT COUNTRY DEPLOYMENT DATE NUMBER OF END USERS TRANSACTION VOLUME
Al Hatab Foods' Digital transformation strategy is to move to a homogeneous
environment with an integrated platform, SAP S/4HANA & SAP Digital
Manufacturing, and integrate the industrial weighing scales from Metler Toledo with
the best option to adopt SAP best practices to achieve the following:
1. Align SAP Digital Manufacturing with a new business structure.
2. SAP Digital Manufacturing will enable visibility across business process layers for
inventory, production monitoring, Real-time equipment, and real-time KPI’s
monitoring and decision-making.
3. Al Hatab Foods will have the flexibility to allocate resources, manpower, and
manage recipes effectively.
4. Transform the organization to deliver a superior customer experience through
SAP’s Mobility Solution, specifically SAP Fiori.
1- Formulation Process
• A series of designed production operations to create a new semi-
finished product with specific characteristics by mixing, batching, or
cooking multiple components using industrial integrated scales that
automate material consumption during the processes.
2- Portioning Process
• A production weighing process for food ingredient(s) assembly
using integrated industrial take-away scales, portion tolerances,
and dynamic optimization for each portion to ensure accurate
portions for the consumer in the final product.
3- Real-Time Monitoring
• The SAP Digital Manufacturing system was designed to provide
Real-Time analysis for scales' and operators' performance (TDO),
Historical Portioning Data analysis, and Portioning Scales
Administration Cockpit.
Saudi Arabia 01-09-2025 75 More than 1,000 Ton Monthly, with
more than 10,000 Production Orders.
4© 2026 SAP SE or an SAP affiliate company. All rights reserved | PUBLIC
PROJECT OBJECTIVES USE CASE
DEPLOYMENT COUNTRY DEPLOYMENT DATE NUMBER OF END USERS TRANSACTION VOLUME
Al Hatab Foods' Digital transformation strategy is to move to a homogeneous
environment with an integrated platform, SAP S/4HANA & SAP Digital
Manufacturing, and integrate the industrial weighing scales from Metler Toledo with
the best option to adopt SAP best practices to achieve the following:
1. Align SAP Digital Manufacturing with a new business structure.
2. SAP Digital Manufacturing will enable visibility across business process layers for
inventory, production monitoring, Real-time equipment, and real-time KPI’s
monitoring and decision-making.
3. Al Hatab Foods will have the flexibility to allocate resources, manpower, and
manage recipes effectively.
4. Transform the organization to deliver a superior customer experience through
SAP’s Mobility Solution, specifically SAP Fiori.
1- Formulation Process
• A series of designed production operations to create a new semi-
finished product with specific characteristics by mixing, batching, or
cooking multiple components using industrial integrated scales that
automate material consumption during the processes.
2- Portioning Process
• A production weighing process for food ingredient(s) assembly
using integrated industrial take-away scales, portion tolerances,
and dynamic optimization for each portion to ensure accurate
portions for the consumer in the final product.
3- Real-Time Monitoring
• The SAP Digital Manufacturing system was designed to provide
Real-Time analysis for scales' and operators' performance (TDO),
Historical Portioning Data analysis, and Portioning Scales
Administration Cockpit.
Saudi Arabia 01-09-2025 75 More than 1,000 Ton Monthly, with
more than 10,000 Production Orders.
4© 2026 SAP SE or an SAP affiliate company. All rights reserved | PUBLIC
Innovations
INNOVATIVE USE OF SAP TECHNOLOGY
WHY SAP
Implementing SAP Digital Manufacturing in Al Hatab marks a transition from
reactive "siloed" production to a self-optimizing "Cognitive Factory" model. The
core innovation lies in the deployment of Closed-Loop Manufacturing
Orchestration, which harmonizes high-velocity production lines with volatile
consumer demand in real-time.
By utilizing SAP Digital Manufacturing for Edge Computing, the solution
ensures zero-latency execution on the shop floor, which is very critical for high-
speed ready meals lines, while simultaneously feeding granular IoT data into
the SAP Business Technology Platform (PCo/Edge Services, SAP BTP, SAP
Digital Manufacturing workflows, SAP S/4HANA QM, SAP Fiori). Moreover,
we localized critical decision-making logic directly at the machine interface,
ensuring millisecond-level response times for interlocking and quality checks,
while asynchronously syncing granular performance data to the global cloud
for cross-plant benchmarking.
Al Hatab customer with SAP for 16 years. Selecting SAP Digital Manufacturing
is a strategic choice that moves production from a "silo" into the heart of the
business. While many MES providers offer great shop-floor control, SAP’s
unique value lies in the "Top Floor to Shop Floor" integration. SAP offers
Seamless "Plug-and-Play" Integration, Global Visibility, and Standardization
and Resilience via Edge Computing.
In the FMCG world, speed is nothing without precision. What impressed
me most about this innovation was that we harmonized our high-velocity
lines with the actual pulse of our customers, thereby accelerating the
decision-making process. We’ve transitioned from a reactive production
model to a closed-loop system, where our shop floor aligns directly with
our business strategy and Vision for Al Hatab Foods.
Ammar Aklan, CEO, Al Hatab
“Al Hatab Foods has invested in SAP Digital Manufacturing, regarded as
one of the top cloud MES solutions worldwide. It provides a new
experience with top quality for our consumers. At Al Hatab Foods, we
didn’t just digitize our records; we aimed to give our production lines a
brain. By adopting a 'Cognitive Factory' model with SAP DM, we’ve
effectively eliminated the barriers between our planning offices and
production lines.”
Ahmed Taher, IT Director, Al Hatab
In the high-speed world of ready meals, a few seconds of latency is the
difference between a perfect batch and a wasted one. Even with the high
velocity of our production lines, Al Hatab now has total harmony between
what the customer wants and what we are producing in real-time. We’ve
turned our shop floor into a strategic asset that learns, adapts, and
performs with zero delay.”
Ahmed Naguib, Head of IT- Applications, Al Hatab
5© 2026 SAP SE or an SAP affiliate company. All rights reserved | PUBLIC
INNOVATIVE USE OF SAP TECHNOLOGY
WHY SAP
Implementing SAP Digital Manufacturing in Al Hatab marks a transition from
reactive "siloed" production to a self-optimizing "Cognitive Factory" model. The
core innovation lies in the deployment of Closed-Loop Manufacturing
Orchestration, which harmonizes high-velocity production lines with volatile
consumer demand in real-time.
By utilizing SAP Digital Manufacturing for Edge Computing, the solution
ensures zero-latency execution on the shop floor, which is very critical for high-
speed ready meals lines, while simultaneously feeding granular IoT data into
the SAP Business Technology Platform (PCo/Edge Services, SAP BTP, SAP
Digital Manufacturing workflows, SAP S/4HANA QM, SAP Fiori). Moreover,
we localized critical decision-making logic directly at the machine interface,
ensuring millisecond-level response times for interlocking and quality checks,
while asynchronously syncing granular performance data to the global cloud
for cross-plant benchmarking.
Al Hatab customer with SAP for 16 years. Selecting SAP Digital Manufacturing
is a strategic choice that moves production from a "silo" into the heart of the
business. While many MES providers offer great shop-floor control, SAP’s
unique value lies in the "Top Floor to Shop Floor" integration. SAP offers
Seamless "Plug-and-Play" Integration, Global Visibility, and Standardization
and Resilience via Edge Computing.
In the FMCG world, speed is nothing without precision. What impressed
me most about this innovation was that we harmonized our high-velocity
lines with the actual pulse of our customers, thereby accelerating the
decision-making process. We’ve transitioned from a reactive production
model to a closed-loop system, where our shop floor aligns directly with
our business strategy and Vision for Al Hatab Foods.
Ammar Aklan, CEO, Al Hatab
“Al Hatab Foods has invested in SAP Digital Manufacturing, regarded as
one of the top cloud MES solutions worldwide. It provides a new
experience with top quality for our consumers. At Al Hatab Foods, we
didn’t just digitize our records; we aimed to give our production lines a
brain. By adopting a 'Cognitive Factory' model with SAP DM, we’ve
effectively eliminated the barriers between our planning offices and
production lines.”
Ahmed Taher, IT Director, Al Hatab
In the high-speed world of ready meals, a few seconds of latency is the
difference between a perfect batch and a wasted one. Even with the high
velocity of our production lines, Al Hatab now has total harmony between
what the customer wants and what we are producing in real-time. We’ve
turned our shop floor into a strategic asset that learns, adapts, and
performs with zero delay.”
Ahmed Naguib, Head of IT- Applications, Al Hatab
5© 2026 SAP SE or an SAP affiliate company. All rights reserved | PUBLIC
Benefits and outcomes
BUSINESS AND/OR SOCIETY IT
Implementing the SAP DM in a process industry, fully and instantly integrated with weighing scales
from Metler Toledo through BTP.
• Radical Waste Reduction: By integrating real-time IoT (Industrial
Weighting Scales) data with production execution, SAP Digital
Manufacturing identifies material waste in real-time. This reduced
the reduction in material waste within three months of
implementation by 25%
• Total Product Traceability and Consumer Safety (Society): SAP
Digital Manufacturing automates the "Digital Production Log,"
documenting every component, and Weighing Scales parameter.
This is critical for the Fresh and Ultra-fresh industries, which
enable Al Hatab Foods to achieve 100% automated traceability,
resulting in a 30-40% reduction in the cost of quality compliance.
• Workforce Empowerment & Safety (Society): The platform
replaces hazardous or repetitive manual data entry with AI-
guided Production Operation Dashboards (PODs). This results in
a 15% increase in labor productivity, alongside a measurable
decrease in workplace safety incidents related to improper
training or fatigue.
• Infrastructure Simplification & Global Scalability: SAP Digital
Manufacturing replaces high-maintenance, site-specific MES
server installations with a centralized SaaS model on SAP
Business Technology Platform (BTP). This enables IT to reduce
its infrastructure maintenance costs by 35%.
• Unified Data Architecture: By integrating shopfloor IoT data
directly with SAP S/4HANA.This creates a single source of truth
for both operational (OT) and business (IT) data, reducing the
data processing cycle time by 30% and resulting in a significant
decrease in manual data reconciliation errors.
• Standardization of Manufacturing Processes: SAP Digital
Manufacturing enforces "fit-to-standard" methodologies across
multiple plants, reducing the "customization debt" that often
plagues manufacturing IT environments, and increasing the
improvement in Overall Equipment Effectiveness by 10%
through standardized real-time performance tracking and
automated reporting.
6© 2026 SAP SE or an SAP affiliate company. All rights reserved | PUBLIC
BUSINESS AND/OR SOCIETY IT
Implementing the SAP DM in a process industry, fully and instantly integrated with weighing scales
from Metler Toledo through BTP.
• Radical Waste Reduction: By integrating real-time IoT (Industrial
Weighting Scales) data with production execution, SAP Digital
Manufacturing identifies material waste in real-time. This reduced
the reduction in material waste within three months of
implementation by 25%
• Total Product Traceability and Consumer Safety (Society): SAP
Digital Manufacturing automates the "Digital Production Log,"
documenting every component, and Weighing Scales parameter.
This is critical for the Fresh and Ultra-fresh industries, which
enable Al Hatab Foods to achieve 100% automated traceability,
resulting in a 30-40% reduction in the cost of quality compliance.
• Workforce Empowerment & Safety (Society): The platform
replaces hazardous or repetitive manual data entry with AI-
guided Production Operation Dashboards (PODs). This results in
a 15% increase in labor productivity, alongside a measurable
decrease in workplace safety incidents related to improper
training or fatigue.
• Infrastructure Simplification & Global Scalability: SAP Digital
Manufacturing replaces high-maintenance, site-specific MES
server installations with a centralized SaaS model on SAP
Business Technology Platform (BTP). This enables IT to reduce
its infrastructure maintenance costs by 35%.
• Unified Data Architecture: By integrating shopfloor IoT data
directly with SAP S/4HANA.This creates a single source of truth
for both operational (OT) and business (IT) data, reducing the
data processing cycle time by 30% and resulting in a significant
decrease in manual data reconciliation errors.
• Standardization of Manufacturing Processes: SAP Digital
Manufacturing enforces "fit-to-standard" methodologies across
multiple plants, reducing the "customization debt" that often
plagues manufacturing IT environments, and increasing the
improvement in Overall Equipment Effectiveness by 10%
through standardized real-time performance tracking and
automated reporting.
6© 2026 SAP SE or an SAP affiliate company. All rights reserved | PUBLIC