Nico van der Merwe’s Post

Accelerating Tomorrow….

The #BestRun organizations run SAP. For serious performance, there is #Formula1. Read more about how to Accelerate Tomorrow with #S4HanaFinance and #SAPBusinessAI. The F1 team will take advantage of the latest cloud-first technology (SAP S4HANA Cloud, private edition), and other components of the SAP Business Technology Platform (#SAPBTP). "Innovation thrives under pressure, and the F1 cost cap pushes us to develop cutting-edge technologies that redefine the limits of performance. We must monitor the cost cap down to the last screw." -- Toto Wolff Team Principal & CEO, Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS Formula One Team

Amazing and thrilling partnership!!! 🔥🏎️ As a SAP Employee and a crazy F1 Fan, specially for Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS Formula One Team, I can’t hide the excitement for this. Every F1 season represents new challenges to overcome, as new cost cap limitations were introduced in 2021, a new car design and, for the first time, 18-inch tyres in 2022, power unit freeze until 2026 and more… Changes to return competitivenes and making efficiency the principal standard. With every change, comes different challenges but also different opportunities too as the recent season schedule, allow teams and drivers to have more races to improve and fight for the championships, were they need to adapt fast week by week, depend on a lot of data to analyze and decide the proper steps to have the best performance that will provide key results on and off the track and determine your fate at the end of the season and the future. Can’t wait to see what 2024 will bring!!

“The best is yet to come” Business software giant SAP is proud to partner with the Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team to make sure its operations are as fine-tuned as its cars. This partnership aims to use SAP S/4HANA Cloud, private edition, which will help it “to explore how artificial intelligence, and cloud solutions from SAP can inform and predict decisions, optimise resources, and future-proof their IT infrastructure”. Undoubtedly automotive industry could not think of a better partner to improve their efficiencies in 2024 and beyond.” #sap #mercedes #automotiveindustry #petronas #sap #saphana #hana #erp #sapbusinessbydesign #sapabap #business #abap #saperp #sapconsultant #lifeatsap #digitaltransformation #softwaresolutions

[Global News 🌐] Gearing Up for the Austrian GP! 🏎️🏁 Join us as we gear up for the thrilling Austrian Grand Prix. Known for its high altitude and compact layout, this track presents unique challenges, from razor-thin qualifying margins to intricate fuel and tire strategies. Dive into our analysis and see what makes this track a thrilling test for teams and drivers. Cheering for Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS Formula One Team to conquer these challenges! 🚀 #Akkodis #MercedesF1 #F1 #DataAnalytics #AustrianGP

Exciting times ahead

Agile and effective continuous improvement is a key success driver for any organisation:

After Airton Senna died in a tragic car accident, I — like a lot of Brazilians — stopped following F1. Now the collaboration between Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS Formula One Team and SAP is making me interested again. “Efficient resource planning is the key to coping with the F1 cost cap and to providing the team with a foundation for success. This is why the collection of all necessary data, including the validation and optimization of the inventory, as well as the reporting process, are mission-critical for the Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS Formula One Team. To navigate the complex F1 cost cap framework, the team will use SAP S/4HANA Finance to allocate, save and use resources more efficiently. By leveraging the power of SAP Business AI, the Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS Formula One Team will be able to forecast costs, predict the final budget needs, and optimize stocked items in seconds”

I’ve been imagining how my old colleagues at Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS Formula One Team are feeling as they arrive at work today. Nothing beats the atmosphere around the factory the day after a race win. For the most part, working at an F1 team is just like any other job; you turn up, do your work and go home again. However, there are very few jobs where the impact of your work is played out to a global audience, where a tenth of a second can mean the difference between winning and losing, and the emotional highs and lows have such intensity. There is no hiding in F1, no waiting until the end of the quarter to see how the results have gone, no wondering if what you are doing is making a difference – everyone in a Formula 1 team knows that their work matters. So today in Brackley, team members will be arriving with a feeling of satisfaction of a job well done. The exhilaration of the win yesterday will have subsided to be replaced by a confidence, a spring in the step and a smile as they congratulate each other when they see their colleagues. The race debrief in the race bays, a sea of PETRONAS green race-winners t-shirts, with a glass of bubbly in hand, won’t be triumphalist. Yes, this is the second win in a row, but the first was down to luck when Max and Lando collided. Lewis’ win yesterday was balanced by the DNF for George. There will be an honest analysis of what went well and what went wrong, with an understanding of just how narrow the margins of victory were for Lewis; a couple more laps and Max would have had a fighting chance of taking first place. Above all, there will be a sense of humility because this is not the end of the season; it is just one result, albeit a great one. As they leave the debrief, their minds will already be focussed on the next race, eager to do what they can individually and collectively to perform at the highest level at the Hungaroring in two weeks time, in the hope that the Racing Gods allow them to taste the sweetness of victory again.

Last night, I had the incredible opportunity to listen to and meet Formula 1 Team Principal of Williams Racing. I've long admired James Vowles and the strategy work he was responsible for at Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS Formula One Team. Having worked in such a complex sport for over 20 years, his key words of wisdom were surprisingly simple: Mistakes. Own them eternally, but let go of them immediately. The second mistake is often the worst one, because in trying to rectify the first mistake, we take our eye off the ball. Boundaries. Define them with crystal clarity. Focussing solely on the task at hand by compartmentalising decisions and tasks is crucial for entering a flow state under pressure. Change. Embrace it fearlessly. Letting go of the old way of doing things is often the only way for an organisation to innovate and succeed. At the core of this effective change lies two things; people and culture. #FormulaOne #MBAJourney #CambridgeMBA