Fiori UX · SAP ECC · Shop-Floor Modernization
Manufacturing SAP ECC SAP Fiori SAP Integration Suite
How a global foundry manufacturer turned multi-screen SAP chores into single-screen shop-floor tools
Delivered 2019–2026
Mindset applied design thinking to a complex SAP ECC estate and delivered a series of targeted Fiori apps that cut clicks on scrap notification by 75%, eliminated manual inventory entry from plant floors, and kept workers returning to the tools every day across multiple global locations.
By the numbers
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Fewer clicks on the scrap notification process
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Reduction in data entry errors through automation
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4–5 transactions
Collapsed into one screen for scrap notification
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7+ years
Active engagement across shop-floor SAP domains
Before
Multi-screen SAP on the plant floor
- Scrap notification required four to five separate SAP ECC transactions per record.
- Physical inventory relied on paper registers and manual ECC re-keying, with significant error risk.
- Pour confirmation, core creation, and plant-maintenance tasks each needed workers to navigate multiple SAP screens.
After
Single-screen Fiori tools workers actually use
- Scrap notification consolidated into one interface, with 75% fewer clicks and automated error prevention.
- Physical inventory validated from an iPad on the floor and posted back to SAP ECC in real time.
- A growing suite of purpose-built Fiori apps covering scrap, inventory, pour confirmation, core creation, heat treating, maintenance, and more.
Why this matters
A decade-long series of focused SAP ECC Fiori apps for a global foundry manufacturer: each one small, each one used daily. Design thinking identified the right targets, and the pattern proved repeatable across the shop floor.
The challenge
The company engineers and manufactures steel castings used in large mining mills, running production across plants in the US, Chile, and China on SAP ECC 6.0. Standard SAP GUI was working against the shop floor.
Scrap notification required navigating four to five separate transactions. Physical inventory was done manually: workers validated each serialized part from pallets, entered counts by hand into paper registers, then re-keyed every record into ECC one by one. The risk of error was high, and the process was slow.
Pour confirmation, core creation, and plant-maintenance tasks each demanded the same kind of multi-screen maneuvering. The company wanted simpler, device-agnostic tools that any plant worker could pick up without heavy training.
What we did
Mindset ran design thinking workshops to identify the highest-value Fiori targets: processes with high transaction frequency, cross-module complexity, GUI pain, and internal champions ready to see the work through.
The Scrap Notification app came first. It combined four to five transactions into a single interface, with automation to catch data errors at entry. The Physical Inventory app followed, integrating Warehouse Management and Inventory Management so workers could validate counts as 'Counted' or 'Zero Stock' from an iPad on the plant floor, with updates posting directly back to ECC. The work ran on the client's older SAP UI5 v1.53 runtime, which required custom-built table controls and a shift from Cloud WebIDE to local tooling when the license expired.
Over the following years, the relationship grew into additional shop-floor apps: Pour Confirmation, Core Creation, Heat Treating scheduling, an R&D scrap extension, an Assembly Improvement project, and a series of plant-maintenance Fiori apps. Mindset also delivered on-site SAP training in Phoenix and an Integration Suite engagement. A lean model kept delivery moving: a US technical architect provided direction and quality, with India-based developers building in parallel.
The outcomes
The Scrap Notification app cut clicks by 75% and reduced data entry errors by 50% through automation. It collapsed four to five separate SAP transactions into one screen and rolled out across multiple plant locations, with measurably better record-keeping and improved worker satisfaction.
Physical inventory moved from paper registers and manual ECC re-keying to a portable, device-agnostic app that any worker could run from an iPad. Each inventory count posts back to ECC in real time.
The apps stayed in active daily use. Workers adopted them and kept using them. The team delivered a second and third app with the same confidence, and the engagement continued for years across multiple shop-floor domains.
If we built this today
Concept · not delivered scopeSingle-screen shop-floor work, now with Joule.
This is a forward-looking concept, not the scope we delivered on this engagement. It is the build we would reach for now, grounded in SAP that ships today.
This was a decade of small Fiori apps that collapsed scrap, pour confirmation, and physical inventory from multi-screen ECC chores into single-screen tools workers actually use, and the 2026 version starts from the same instinct.
The data product
Cloud ERP Intelligence
Grounds the agent in real production, inventory, and quality data from your manufacturing operations, so a scrap or count proposal reflects what is actually happening on the floor across plants, not a stale snapshot. The SAP Knowledge Graph gives it the business meaning behind each material, order, and movement.
Intelligent Application on SAP Business Data Cloud
The Joule agent
Production Order Healer
Reads the open production and scrap notifications across PP, QM, and MM, watches for the same shop-floor friction the old multi-screen GUI created, and drafts the scrap confirmation, defect coding, and goods movement in one pass for an operator to approve. It keeps the production order, inventory, and quality records moving together instead of one transaction at a time.
SAP PP, SAP QM, SAP MM, SAP WM · PROPOSE · Confirmation cycle time and shop-floor data-error rate
The Fiori app
Production order confirmation apps (Joule-embedded)
The OOTB S/4HANA production-order confirmation and scrap-recording apps with Joule sitting in the launchpad, so a worker can confirm a pour, log scrap, or record a count by asking in plain language instead of stepping through screens. SAP Digital Manufacturing adds AI-assisted defect and production analytics on top.
Embedded in the Fiori launchpad.
We would mine the real scrap, pour, and count flows in SAP Signavio first, map the ECC-to-S/4HANA gap in SAP LeanIX, and let MIND accelerators carry the well-loved old apps into the new world.
What we built
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75% fewer clicks, 50% reduction in data entry errors
Scrap Notification Fiori app
Consolidated four to five separate SAP ECC transactions into a single interface, with automated validation at entry to prevent data errors. Deployed across multiple plant locations.
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Manual paper-and-rekeying process replaced end to end
Physical Inventory app
Device-agnostic iPad app integrating Warehouse Management and Inventory Management. Workers validate counts as 'Counted' or 'Zero Stock' on the floor, with updates posting directly to SAP ECC.
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Extended the UX model to two additional high-frequency processes
Pour Confirmation and Core Creation apps
Follow-on shop-floor Fiori apps that applied the same single-screen pattern to foundry production confirmation and core creation workflows.
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Covered additional plant domains on the same platform
Heat Treating and R&D scrap apps
Scheduling and scrap-tracking extensions covering heat treating operations and the R&D department's scrap workflow.
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PM transactions simplified for maintenance technicians
Plant-maintenance Fiori apps
A set of Fiori applications supporting plant-maintenance tasks, reducing the multi-screen SAP PM workflow to purpose-built single-screen tools.
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Incremental UX improvement for the assembly process
Assembly Improvement project
SAP UI5 and Fiori enhancements targeting assembly workflow improvements identified through the ongoing design-thinking engagement.
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Clear, business-backed prioritization for every build cycle
Design thinking workshops
Structured workshops to prioritize Fiori targets by transaction frequency, cross-module complexity, and business-champion readiness. High-res prototypes validated the design before build.
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Integration work added to the long-term SAP roadmap
Integration Suite engagement
An SAP Integration Suite project extending the relationship beyond Fiori into integration modernization on the SAP BTP platform.
A look at the work
