AUTONOMOUS SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT
Business Network Assistant
Collaborate between buy-side, sell-side, and partner entities across procurement and supply chain processes.
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Overview
The Business Network Assistant enables procurement and supply chain professionals to more effectively collaborate with their suppliers and third-party providers such as contract manufacturers. From capturing market signals to facilitating source-to-pay processes for goods and services, optimizing logistics, and managing assets, it supports a wide range of core processes.
Tasks this assistant can help with:
- Sourcing, contracting, procuring, and managing payments
- Coordinating transportation flows by monitoring events and recommending actions when disruptions occur
- Monitoring, scheduling, and executing asset maintenance and work orders
Example use cases for this assistant:
- Supplier recommendations aligned with technical, regional, and compliance requirements, including rapid identification and validation of alternate supply sources during trigger events
- Buyer support for RFx creation and supplier enablement for RFx responses
- Automated document processing for order confirmations, advanced ship notices, goods receipts, service entry sheets, and invoicing
- Detection of logistics disruptions with recommendations for cost‑efficient fulfillment options
- Automated sharing of work order details
Benefits
Increased visibility into procurement and supply chain processes
Monitor market triggers to identify opportunities or potential risks, analyze options, and recommend actions.
Improved efficiency across sourcing and procurement processes
Reduce manual effort for buyers, operators, and suppliers with agent-led execution of RFx creation, response, and analysis along with agent-assisted document processing.
Enhanced regulatory compliance
Identify suppliers that meet policy and regulatory requirements, transact in accordance with regulations, and comply with documentation requirements.
Agents used by this assistant
Use the Business Network Assistant to orchestrate specialized AI agents, including Joule Agents that apply SAP’s process expertise or custom agents you create.
Supplier Onboarding Agent
Reduces supplier onboarding time from days to minutes, enabling teams to onboard at scale without increasing resources.
Order Confirmation Automation Agent
Issues automatic confirmations for orders that meet configured rules and conditions.
Logistics Predictive Insights and Response Agent
Monitors real-time logistics events to detect, predict, avoid, or mitigate disruptions via recommended optimized plans.
Supplier Discovery Agent
Identifies best-fit suppliers and engagement paths to increase margins and resilience.
Advance Ship Notice Automation Agent
Streamlines and automates ASN creation by aggregating orders and consolidating shipments.
Supply Chain Impact Analysis Agent
Detects supply chain exceptions and risk, maps them to customer orders, and quantifies impact.
Service Entry Sheet Automation Agent
Simplifies and automates service entry sheet creation.
Invoice Automation Agent
Automates invoice generation, stores costs, and adheres to customer-specific rules and preferences.
Invoice Dispute Collaboration Agent
Automates dispute resolution by assembling supporting evidence and recommending corrective actions.
RFx Collaboration Agent
Manages end-to-end RFx processes from creation through evaluation to improve outcomes.
Supply Chain Collaboration Exception Management Agent
Detects, notifies, and resolves supply chain exceptions in forecast, order, and ASN processes.
Maintenance Planning Alignment Agent
Orchestrates cross-system maintenance planning and automates data exchange with contractors.
Explore more supply chain management and spend assistants
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Planning Assistant
Enable faster, more accurate planning by coordinating agents that help planners create, adjust, and review.
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Sourcing Assistant
Orchestrate end-to-end sourcing from supplier discovery to bid analysis and supplier negotiations.
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Requisition Assistant
Simplify purchasing with proactive buying channel guidance and supplier and item recommendations.
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Move your supply chain management forward
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