Closing the IT–OT Data Gap: SAP-Ignition Integration for Real-Time Production Intelligence

Manufacturing | IT–OT Integration | Production Intelligence

The Challenge

A process manufacturer operating multiple production facilities was running SAP as its enterprise backbone but had no real-time data connection to the shop floor. Labour attendance, supply chain events, and production output were reconciled manually at end-of-shift, creating a persistent lag between operational reality and business systems. This caused planning errors, inventory discrepancies, and constrained leadership's ability to respond to production deviations in time to matter.

Our Approach

• Architected a bidirectional integration between SAP ERP and the Ignition platform, enabling real-time data flow across the IT–OT boundary without compromising operational network integrity

• Configured labour on/off tracking at the machine level, feeding operator attendance events from the plant floor directly into SAP in real time

• Built supply chain detection triggers surfacing material shortage and delivery events within the production execution layer as they occurred

• Established a unified production visibility layer giving planners and operations managers a single live view of output versus plan across all connected lines

Outcomes

• Shop floor to SAP data latency reduced from 8–24 hours to under 60 seconds

• Labour tracking accuracy improved to >98%, eliminating manual timekeeping discrepancies

• Supply chain events surfaced same-shift, enabling planners to re-sequence jobs and reduce idle line time

• ERP reconciliation workload reduced by an estimated 30% through automated production order confirmation

"The plant floor and the boardroom were finally looking at the same numbers, at the same time."