Full Digitization at SHERPA Robotics

SHERPA and CERTAINCE identified various areas for digital transformation:

The first challenge was an improvevement of SHERPA’s digital sales process. Their sales process was largely limited to cold calling, which was time-consuming and had a low hit rate.

They further needed to automate their complex commercial processes: from manufacturing, purchasing, and logistics, to finance and accounting. This could only be achieved by implementing a complete ERP system to supercede their scattered Excel-based approach. They further needed a barcode-based stocktaking process.

Finally, SHERPA wanted to provide its customers with an analysis dashboard to show the productivity of the installed robots at any time.

To improve its digital sales process,  SHERPA needed to convey the technical advantages of a camera-based automation vs. conventional mechanics via digital channels. Their target audience, CNC contract manufacturers and OEMs, was too small for social media advertising. To find these prospects in their buying window, SHERPA needed visibility for prospects that are actively researching CNC automation. A new website was developed and visitors attracted via targeted search ads. Granular conversion tracking allowed the Google algorithm to optimize these ads automatically. More details can be found here.

To digitize its commercial processes, SHERPA needed an ERP system that that could be implemented quickly, but would not become a bottleneck with the company’s rapid growth down the road. Together with CERTAINCE, they decided for Microsoft Business Central. A quick overview of all existing and needed data tables was established, and SHERPA’s processes were quickly compared to standard processes in Business Central. A key challenge was the company’s complex product configuration, which depended on various interdependent factors. The system has then been implemented and is generating considerable cost savings through automation and higher transparency.  More details can be found here.

Due to its exploding amount of stock keeping units, SHERPA needed a digitized way to manage inventory and stocktaking. What was needed was an app can could be used to scan barcodes in the workshop and feed this information right back into relevant tables (initially Excel). They also wanted this app to be flexible and low-cost at the same time. CERTAINCE achieved all this by developing a Inventory Management App on Microsoft’s low-code platform Power Apps. More details can be found here.

To improve existing customer relationships, SHERPA wanted to provide an analysis dashboard that shows the productivity of installed robots at any time. Together with CERTAINCE they developed formulas for KPIs that customers care about, and that could be derived from data is the robots’ log files. CERTAINCE then programmed an AWS Lambda Function that reads log file values into to an AWS RDS database. It then set up a React / NodesJS web app that queried the database and calculated the KPI based on customer input (by machine, date, time, and shift). More details can be found here.

Thanks to its comprehensive digitization efforts, SHERPA has only generated hundreds of sales inquiries and new orders worth millions. It is also achieving significant cost-savings from process automation: from reduced efforts of their staff and tax advisor. SHERPA is now able to make smarter decision on productivity and profitability of their machines and departments. Finally, they can prove their value to customers via a web interface that shows the productivity of their robotic solutions. Together with their already innovative robotics solution, SHERPA is now one of the most digitized and effective companies of their size and industry.