Everyone within SNCB will at some time or another come into contact with the SNCB SAP applications which ensure that all the tasks of our collaborators are planned, executed and registered so that reports on these tasks can also be issued. The SAP applications are the supporting layer of many SNCB business processes. or example, SAP is used for ticket sales via ticket vending machines, for planning in the maintenance workshops, for the management of fines for travellers, for staff administration as well as for all purchasing, warehouse and transport processes between SNCB sites. That is why Ypto supports a large number of SAP applications, the oldest of which were launched just over 10 years ago within SNCB.
We are therefore continuously working on innovations and, recently, we started putting a strong focus on improvements to the user interface. For example, a number of HR processes were implemented in SAP SuccessFactors, a cloud-based solution that has the major advantage of providing a quick and secure access to new HR functions via handy web pages. But we are also working on updates and innovations for other divisions.
Overview:
For the SNCB Marketing department, the SAP CDC (Customer Data Cloud) applications and the Adobe Experience platform, which are both in the cloud, are implemented together and linked to each other so that the marketing department can use all customer data from the SAP and non-SAP applications.
In that project, specialists from Ypto work together with different companies such as SAP, Adobe and TCS in a true multicultural collaboration. The new functionality allows SNCB to learn more about the travel behaviour of train passengers (e.g. which season tickets they buy, when and how much they travel, whether they buy tickets online or via the mobile app, etc.). This enables SNCB’s marketing specialists to better understand their customers and to communicate in a more targeted way. Besides, the travellers themselves also benefit from this new functionality because, after creating an account, they can check and modify their data (including their consent for the use of their data) as well as gain insight into all their interactions with SNCB (purchases, complaints, etc.).
Our SAP teams also work hard in the Technics division, in which SNCB collaborators work on trains or train parts. This notably means that, since 2018, several applications have been launched to support SNCB collaborators in their work. For example, the Chronos and AREA51 apps are used in traction workshops for the time registration of tasks. In 2021, other applications should be developed for both logistical support and the further digitisation of the various maintenance processes.
In addition, Ypto is working on an e-logbook that will be used by different divisions’ collaborators: if a train driver or a train manager notices a technical problem during a trip,during the trip, they can immediately register it on their mobile phone and the solution to the problem can immediately be planned in the next maintenance of the vehicle. Until now, this has been done through a paper book, which is only consulted at the end of the trip. The e-logbook allows technical problems to be solved much more quickly.
Within the Business Intelligence and Analytics department, we are simplifying and renewing the SAP data warehouse (SAP BW) and the front-end tools that make it possible to view data from SAP BW.
For the choice of that visualisation tool, we rely on a comparison study that we conducted. Based on that research, we decided to go further with SAP Analytics Cloud in order to visualise the data from SAP BW/4HANA and, in a later phase, from the SAP ERP system as well.
Via a greenfield approach, we will rebuild all the underlying data models so that, through the application of SAP best practices, we can centralise the logic, avoid redundancy and guarantee better performance.
All existing (SAP BW) reports are thereby rebuilt in SAP Analytics Cloud to provide the end users with a modern business intelligence tool. This new tool allows for reports and dashboards to be accessed through a browser or the mobile apps. SAP Analysis for Microsoft Office is also made available to consult reports in Microsoft Office.
Our SAP teams are therefore constantly looking for ways in which they can make SNCB processes and the users’ work even more efficient. To ensure that SNCB trains can continue to run in the forthcoming competitive landscape, we at Ypto conduct regular research and continue to innovate.
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