First implementation of SAP Innovation Management in Ukraine

Metinvest Digital was the first in Ukraine to implement the SAP Innovation Management digital solution at 14 assets of Metinvest Group.

Metinvest's enterprises moved to an automated system for submitting proposals and collecting employee ideas in order to increase operational efficiency of the business. It took nine months to implement the project from drafting a requirement specification to putting into commercial operation. The IT solution was implemented by the project team consisting of specialists from Metinvest Group (business customer), technical experts from Metinvest Digital (IT business partner of Metinvest Group), and SAP consultants.

SAP Innovation Management is an automated cross-functional platform that enables employees to quickly come up with and submit ideas for continuous improvements and managers to provide a systematic and manageable process of their evaluation and implementation. The solution covers all phases of the proposal lifecycle, namely:

— Creation;

— Publication and classification;

— Joint cross-functional work;

— Analytics;

— Evaluation.

Furthermore, SAP Innovation Management can be easily integrated with project management systems.

Maxim Matyash, Director of SAP Ukraine: 

— “The continuous improvements principle is applied in almost all business units of Metinvest. This time, improvements related to the internal business innovation processes. Since September 2018, the company has been looking for a solution that will allow us to implement the ‘From Idea to Project’ business process. We appreciate the choice in favour of SAP Innovation Management that provides the users with both wide functionality and adaptability and opportunity to adapt the platform to the customer’s tasks. Only a few customers have implemented such a solution in Europe. Therefore, this project was both innovative and exciting for Metinvest and for us. To implement it, we involved SAP consultants with international experience, which, along with a high level of business customer involvement, became a critical factor in project success. The implemented project helped move to the paradigm of effective implementation of new business ideas based on an innovative IT tool. Everyone benefited from such a transformation: Metinvest Group as a whole - from optimized speed of new ideas implementation and employees-innovators - from automation and simplification of the process and quick rewards if their ideas have been reduced to practice.”

Sergey Detyuk, CIO of Metinvest Group and CEO of Metinvest Digital:

— “The system of continuous improvements has been used for a long time at Metinvest Group’s production sites and is an integral part of its operating activities. Our task as the Group’s IT business partner was to create and implement an innovative IT tool that would be user friendly and enable the business to effectively manage the ideas life cycle. SAP Innovation Management helped us create a unified knowledge base on continuous improvements in the Group, reduce the time from idea submission to its implementation, and improve efficiency of the continuous improvements management process. It is worth noting that the project was implemented in parallel at 14 enterprises of the Group.”

Kirill Makarov, Director of Continuous Improvements at Metinvest Group:

— “The implementation of SAP Innovation Management provided a common approach to and transparency in the proposal submission and evaluation process. Thanks to the new IT system, more than 75,000 employees from 14 enterprises of Metinvest Group can send their ideas and initiatives in electronic form. Since its launch into productive operation in March 2019, SAP Innovation Management has registered more than 10,000 ideas with an estimated economic effect of around 90 million UAH. The system enables you to analyze the submitted ideas online at various stages of their lifecycle, evaluate their uniqueness, compare them, and replicate the best of them. Along with proposals aimed at reducing costs, improving product quality, and increasing production, employees can send initiatives to improve health and safety and working conditions. In the long run, the SAP Innovation Management platform should become an electronic portal supporting the integration of external contractors into the company's continuous improvement program.

For SAP, this is another successful step towards a strategic partnership with Metinvest in its digital transformation program. Metinvest Group has been the largest SAP customer in Ukraine since 2012. It uses 17 SAP systems that automate the company's business processes practically in all areas of its operations. In 2014, Metinvest received primary SAP customer center of expertise certification. In 2017, it received advanced certification, making it the first company in Ukraine, the fourth company in the CIS and one of the top 50 global companies certified at this level.

SAP is one of the market leaders in enterprise application software, helping companies of all sizes and in all industries run at their best. Whether support services or a board of directors, a warehouse or a store, desktop or mobile applications - SAP solutions help make interaction between employees and companies more effective, gain deep understanding of the business, and create a competitive advantage. SAP solutions and services are used by more than 437,000 customers (including SuccessFactors systems). The cutting edge technologies of this company guarantee high profitability and contribute to continuous adaptation and sustainability.

SAP entered the Ukrainian market in 1995. In Ukraine, its customers include more than 250 state-run organizations and enterprises in the oil and gas and steelmaking sectors.

Read more about the company on website: https://www.sap.com/ukraine/about.html