Intelligent process automation in life sciences

Drive innovation with SAP BTP services

Companies in the life sciences industry are in the midst of digital transformation and face the challenge of making their processes more efficient, secure, and future-proof. In addition to the continuous pursuit of innovation, optimizing internal processes to improve efficiency is becoming increasingly important. Intelligent process automation in particular offers enormous potential for saving time and costs and making digital transformation more successful.

In this blog post, we discuss how intelligent automation can be successfully implemented in the life sciences industry with the SAP Business Technology Platform (SAP BTP) – and what direct benefits companies can derive from it.

SAP BTP as the technological foundation for intelligent automation

The SAP Business Technology Platform is SAP's Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) offering for innovation in the cloud. Numerous BTP services enable companies to develop modern applications, integrate SAP and non-SAP systems, and automate business-critical processes. In addition, SAP BTP is the foundation for all SAP Business AI deployments.

Many life sciences companies use SAP, especially as an ERP system. Regardless of whether these systems are on-premise or in the cloud, it is advantageous to use SAP BTP as an innovation platform and accelerate digital transformation. In particular, the possibilities for intelligent, cross-system automation open up opportunities to improve efficiency and save costs within the company.

Selected process automation options with SAP BTP services in life sciences

1. SAP Build Process Automation: Low-code workflows for digital and automated processes

With the SAP BTP service “SAP Build Process Automation (SAP BPA),” users can create automated workflows with little or no programming effort. This enables business departments to digitize and automate processes independently. With the help of an SAP BPA application, for example, the process for approving production batches can be automated.

The advantages

• Faster batch release means time savings.
• Fewer manual errors mean cost savings.
• Complete traceability means greater transparency.

2. SAP Workflow Management: Intelligent workflows for controlling end-to-end processes

SAP Workflow Management is an SAP BTP service that enables the execution and monitoring of business processes. It ensures that tasks can be orchestrated across different systems and users. Life sciences companies can, among other things, set up a workflow for quality management to respond quickly to deviation reports.

The advantages

• Faster response times to quality issues and fewer production downtimes increase productivity.
• Seamless documentation and traceability of all process steps means transparency.
• Less scrap and rework mean cost savings.

3. SAP Integration Suite: API-based process automation in near real time

The SAP Integration Suite – the toolbox on SAP BTP for integration services – enables any SAP and non-SAP systems to be efficiently connected with each other. This means that business-critical processes can be automated across different applications in near real time. By linking SAP S/4HANA (ERP) and a laboratory information management system (LIMS), a certificate can be automatically generated in the ERP system after a test has been completed in the LIMS, and the goods can be released for delivery.

The advantages

• Avoiding manual data entry reduces transmission errors, which means higher productivity.
• Faster quality approvals improve efficiency.
• Real-time data availability means transparency.

4. SAP AI Business Services: AI-powered process automation

Artificial intelligence (AI) takes process automation to a new level and makes it even smarter – especially in the SAP environment. After all, SAP is where business-critical processes take place, and these processes can always be faster, better, and simpler.

By using AI services on SAP BTP, recurring tasks such as document processing, classification, and predictions can be intelligently automated. For example, the Document Information Extraction Service on SAP BTP can be used to extract and process information from structured and unstructured documents such as invoices, purchase orders, and deliveries. This leads to a high degree of automation in document-intensive processes and can significantly improve efficiency in finance, purchasing, and logistics.

The advantages

• Reducing manual document checks improves efficiency.
• Lower error rates increase productivity.
• Faster workflows mean time savings.

Conclusion: Intelligent process automation as the key to sustainable innovation and increased efficiency

Life sciences companies that rely on intelligent process automation with SAP BTP services benefit primarily from improved efficiency in their business-critical processes, increased productivity through the reduction of repetitive tasks, and reduced error rates, as manual intervention in systems is minimized.

Those who explore the possibilities now and take advantage of them in a timely manner will not only achieve efficiency gains, but also ensure sustainable success in their digital transformation.

Start your journey to intelligent process automation with SAP together with adesso. In one of our practice-oriented workshops, you will discover the specific possibilities and potential – from workflows and API-based process automation to AI-supported automation. Together, we will analyze your existing processes, identify automation potential, and show you how you can make your processes faster, better, and easier with SAP BTP services.