The manufacturing industry is at a crossroads. Rising costs, increasing global competition, ever new legal requirements and the rapid development in the field of AI agents mean that new paths are being taken in the development, planning, manufacturing, delivery and maintenance of products. Volatility is no longer an exception, but rather a defining feature of today’s business environment.
In order for manufacturing companies to be successful in this difficult environment, it is no longer enough for them to gradually optimize their processes or simply make improvements in individual areas. They need to consistently coordinate their business operations with connected processes and trusted data to respond faster to changes, work more efficiently, comply with regulations and drive growth – even as conditions continue to change.
At Hannover Messe 2026, the world’s leading trade fair for industrial transformation, SAP will present the latest AI-powered innovations for manufacturing companies and supply chains. These innovations help companies ensure continuous business operations by coordinating people, processes and technologies across the extended enterprise. In this way, they can use volatility as an opportunity to strengthen their resilience, increase efficiency and better meet the needs of their customers.
From AI-powered insights to AI-powered processes
For many years, manufacturers have invested in analytics and dashboards to gain greater insight into their processes. However, this alone cannot prevent disruptions. What manufacturing companies now need is AI capabilities integrated directly into core business processes that can analyze alerts, draw conclusions about business impact, and provide real-time solutions to problems. With Agentic AI, companies can now go one step further and deploy agents that automatically take the right actions to achieve the best results. When it comes to critical decisions, control always lies with people.
SAP is deploying AI on an industrial scale, integrating AI agents directly into supply chain and manufacturing workflows, where they have access to contextual, trusted enterprise and network data. Based on harmonized industrial, transactional and network data, these agents not only perform analysis but also create real-time forecasts and control manufacturing processes. This means companies immediately benefit from greater resilience, are equipped to comply with regulations and can achieve concrete results for customers. For them, the most important thing is to create measurable ROI – both by reducing unplanned downtime, scrap and rework as well as by increasing quality and thus production performance.
End-to-end coordination of supply chains with AI
The End-to-end coordination of supply chains with AI is the main topic of SAP at this year’s Hannover Messe.
SAP helps manufacturing companies provide access to connected processes and data not only to internal teams, but also to their suppliers, logistics partners and service providers outside the company. AI agents link development, planning, procurement, manufacturing, logistics, service and asset management and can be seamlessly integrated into ERP and business area systems. As a result, SAP solutions eliminate silos that slow down decisions and increase operational risks.
This coordination of agents is enabled and controlled by a portfolio of intelligent applications that not only analyze but also act. This allows manufacturers to respond to new requirements more quickly and with coordinated actions without compromising quality, losing control or hindering growth.
New AI agents transform planning, service execution and operations
At the Hannover Messe 2026, SAP is presenting AI agents with which manufacturers and system operators can accelerate value creation, ensure stable operations and improve service even in the event of persistent disruptions. Ahead of the numerous announcements planned for SAP Sapphire, these agents offer a first look at how Agentic AI brings concrete benefits to all areas of the supply chain. Here are some examples:
production
- The Production Master Data Agent automates and optimizes the creation and maintenance of production master data. Based on the bill of materials, the agent creates production work plans including the associated operations and work centers and ensures that components in the production process are correctly assigned. This leads to less manual effort, enables faster production configuration and ensures precise production data even when requirements change. The agent is expected to be generally available in the second quarter of 2026.
- With the Production Planning and Operations Agent Planners can use natural language when releasing production orders. At the same time, the agent enables an automatic check of material availability, capacities and boundary conditions for scheduling. Joule makes recommendations, such as alternative components or rescheduling options, for planners to review and approve. This reduces manual effort and ensures that production always remains aligned with the real conditions in practice. The agent is expected to be generally available in the second quarter of 2026.
Asset management and services
- The Field Service Dispatcher Agent enables faster processing of service requests and ensures higher asset availability by dispatching appropriate service technicians based on required skills, location, asset condition and priority. This means that problems can be resolved more quickly and staff deployment can be optimized. The agent is expected to be generally available in the second quarter of 2026.
- The Alert Processing Agent Evaluates past incidents, resolutions, and contextual signals in system operations alerts to recommend clear, data-driven actions that help teams resolve issues more quickly and improve operational security. The agent is expected to be generally available in the third quarter of 2026.
- The Asset Health Agent analyzes time series-based asset health indicators to assess and summarize the current and forecast health of individual or multiple technical objects. The agent predicts when asset health will become critical and notifies users in real time. In this way, it supports condition-based maintenance and helps to minimize downtime and ensure system availability. The agent is expected to be generally available in the third quarter of 2026.
AI agents for logistics execution
- The Material reservation agent ensures needed materials are available at the right location by automatically creating and maintaining reservations based on business rules. This results in fewer delays while optimizing inventory accuracy and current assets. The agent is expected to be generally available in the second quarter of 2026.
- The Outbound Task Orchestration Agent Enables better compliance with customer service level agreements by identifying and resolving picking and packing issues in real time and supporting timely and accurate deliveries by coordinating corrective actions. The agent is expected to be generally available in the second quarter of 2026.
Coordinate personnel, logistics processes and systems in real time
In order to ensure resilient processes, companies must also be able to balance their personnel deployment with other resources when conditions change.
With SAP SuccessFactors Workforce Scheduling Qualifications, certifications, availability and labor laws can be tailored to operational needs in real time. This means that personnel planning can be automatically adjusted in the event of production changes.
In logistics, companies can use the AI-supported backlog processing of SAP S/4HANA Cloud Public Edition and the new solution SAP Logistics Management reduce your transportation costs, speed up warehouse execution and improve delivery reliability. Conversational interaction with Joule allows order managers to set priorities for order fulfillment, automatically taking into account availability and scheduling constraints.
Integrated AI functions also bring advantages for asset and quality management. Using AI-powered anomaly detection and alert processing SAP Asset Performance Management Teams can identify risks earlier, prioritize actions and reduce unplanned downtime. At the same time, SAP Document AI automates this Processing of incoming quality certificates ensuring higher throughput, better data quality and comprehensive compliance.
Optimally prepared for future regulations and requirements
In order to support customers in complying with increasingly strict legal requirements, SAP offers SAP Business Network now expanded support for digital product passports, which is based on the EU’s Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation (ESPR). These features enable manufacturers to create ESPR-compliant product records that include information on environmental impact, material composition, repairability, and recyclability. They are expected to be generally available in the second quarter of 2026.
SAP Business Network’s advanced capabilities also include built-in support for electronic invoicing and data location compliance. This enables secure collaboration with partners, the synchronization of logistics processes and higher delivery reliability in global networks.
Experience the latest innovations live at the Hannover Messe 2026
These innovations reflect the shift from reactive management to intelligent manufacturing control. AI is integrated directly into the business processes that ensure smooth production and uninterrupted processes in the supply chain. At the same time, they form the basis for the other innovations that will be presented at SAP Sapphire.
Visit SAP at Hannover Messe 2026 from April 20th to 24th at booth F08 in Hall 15. There we will show you how AI-powered coordination, integrated AI agents and end-to-end supply chain applications are transforming the manufacturing industry.
By Dominik Metzger, President and Chief Product Officer, SAP Supply Chain Management
