Yongxin: Streamlining complex manufacturing processes for rapid delivery with SAP Build Process Automation
Explore Yongxin’s journey with SAP
Ningbo Yongxin Optics Co. Ltd. is China’s top optical instrument manufacturing company. With almost 200 product configurations, its complex customization and materials management resulted in manufacturing bottlenecks. Using the SAP Build Process Automation solution, it reduced manual data maintenance and sped up delivery cycles.
| Industry | Region | Company Size |
| Industrial manufacturing | Zhejiang, China | 1,200 employees |
hours of manual labor saved.
data accuracy.
CIO, Ningbo Yongxin Optics Co. Ltd.
Seeking an innovative solution for a complex manufacturing problem
Established in 1997, Ningbo Yongxin Optics Co. Ltd. is the Chinese leader in life science instruments and core optical components. The company is a pioneer in the country’s ISO9345 microscope international standards and known for its high-quality precision products. It’s the trusted supplier for China’s elite universities and medical facilities, top companies such as Nikon and Carl Zeiss, and the Chinese space station’s first space microscope.
With ¥790 million (US$106 million) in revenue, 1,200 employees, 190 microscope models, and three production facilities, the company has been on a growth trajectory. To gain more manufacturing productivity, Yongxin wanted to transition from its one-part-one-order model to a streamlined customization approach for its extensive microscope lineup. The challenge? Maintaining a super bill of materials (super BOM) – which is a planning BOM for configurable materials – for all these products is time-consuming and cumbersome.
The complex series of steps for its highly sophisticated microscope manufacturing process involved three configuration levels and more than 10 component types. Yongxin set out to simplify the super BOM configuration and order creation process, which could ultimately reduce costs, boost sales efficiency, improve inventory management, and speed up customer delivery times.
Adopting a comprehensive manufacturing technology approach
Yongxin engaged with SAP to implement a software as a service (SaaS) solution to resolve its manufacturing challenges. Two products were used as the foundation for this ambitious goal.
SAP Build Process Automation would manage early-stage maintenance of its super BOM for numerous microscope models, creating new materials and configuring product features and variants. Yongxin used SAP Build Process Automation to integrate the super BOM on SAP S/4HANA with the company’s CRM solution. This streamlined solution enabled the company’s developers to automate and manage related tasks with a user-friendly low-code approach.
SAP Build Process Automation offered a variety of plug-ins tailored to different SAP product scenarios. It included prepackaged functionalities that offer the possibility to develop further features for SAP Build Process Automation.
Given the scope and complexity of this program, Yongxin collaborated with SAP Services and Support. Partnering with SAP experts from planning to implementation helped the company achieve faster and more-effective solution deployment.
Shortening the delivery cycle by integrating CRM with SAP solutions
Yongxin’s adoption of SAP Build Process Automation and the content catalog for SAP Build Process Automation has enabled the company to move from one-part-one-order operations to a model configuration workflow. At the top level, it’s simplified and created a precision super BOM, overcoming its long-standing manufacturing bottlenecks.
Because the super BOM is maintained by SAP Build Process Automation and integrates with Yongxin’s CRM system, sales efficiency is also boosted considerably. The product can be easily configured in its CRM, speeding order placement to delivery time, and it also virtually eliminates duplicative communication, spreadsheets, and manual errors.
Yongxin also expanded the scope of SAP Build Process Automation after the initial super BOM deployment. Now procurement, accounting, and verification processes are more efficient.
Building on super BOM success to innovate with SAP solutions
Now that the super BOM process is in full production, the company is exploring how it can use the application for other process automation projects. The company has already used the store for SAP Intelligent Robotic Process Automation technology for project demos, and it will continue to use the store to develop straightforward new business scenarios.
For more-complex automation projects, Yongxin will continue collaborating with SAP Services and Support, including developing a direct connection with China’s Golden Tax System.