Who uses SAP? Look at the work behind it.

A company can use SAP to move parts through a factory, register a supplier, or keep its finances in order. The name alone tells you surprisingly little about the work.

BMW, Smith+Nephew, EY, and South32 all appear in published SAP-related customer stories. Their projects illustrate different choices: standardizing a core process, improving procurement, adding automation, and moving an existing system to the cloud.

These are vendor-published accounts, not independent audits. The useful question is what changed in each workflow—and which part of the technology actually did it.

At BMW, the story follows the parts.

SAP’s July 2025 account describes Regensburg’s move to SAP S/4HANA Cloud Private Edition. The project connects steps from ordering a component to supplying the production line.

That is why an ERP project cannot be understood only as a software installation. A missing item, a late receipt, or an incorrect stock record can affect the next person in the chain.

At Smith+Nephew, less time to bring suppliers in.

In SAP’s customer story, Smith+Nephew reports cutting supplier-onboarding cycle time in half with its procurement transformation. The case concerns SAP Ariba solutions rather than an interchangeable “SAP system.”

For someone waiting on a supplier, the practical question is where the waiting happens: gathering information, checking records, approving the relationship, or passing it to another team. That is the process a useful implementation has to address.

At EY, automation worked around the existing ERP.

EY’s PowerMatch case describes a finance workflow using Microsoft Power Platform alongside SAP. The system helps match incoming payments to invoices and clear them, while leaving exceptions for people.

The reported change is from 30% to 80% of payments being both matched and cleared automatically. Another 15% were automatically matched but still needed manual clearing. It would be misleading to put those groups together and call the entire 95% fully automated.

At South32, the infrastructure needed attention first.

Microsoft’s January 2024 story describes moving South32’s SAP environment to Azure and simplifying its estate. The account separates a completed migration phase from further consolidation and a planned full move to SAP S/4HANA with RISE on Azure.

That distinction matters. A cloud migration, an ERP replacement, and a process redesign can be related projects, but finishing one does not mean all three are done.

What should you take from these examples?

Begin with a problem you can describe without naming software. Suppliers take too long to approve. Staff repeatedly reconcile payments. A fragile system slows down month-end work.

Then map the handoffs, the information each person needs, and the exceptions they handle. Sometimes the answer is a core-system change. Sometimes it is a smaller integration around a system you already have.

The brand list tells you who uses SAP. The workflow tells you whether their experience has anything useful to teach your team.