Southco Inc., a global manufacturer of engineered access solutions, faced mounting inefficiencies in production scheduling and capacity planning. Despite running SAP, their teams were overwhelmed by manual workarounds, disconnected systems, and limited visibility across operations. By partnering with Reveal and leveraging our oVo® methodology, Southco unlocked the untapped value in their existing SAP system—standardizing planning processes, increasing scheduling accuracy, and aligning capacity with demand. The result? Realistic, efficient production plans, improved on-time delivery, and a more connected, responsive supply chain.

The Challenge

Despite significant investment in SAP, Southco's production environment lacked cohesion. Orders arrived unpredictably, often requiring same-day turnaround with no capacity evaluation. Key pain points included:

• No end-to-end visibility across shop floor, labor capacity, and tool room.
• Misalignment between SAP and MES master data.
• Inefficient sequencing and manual order adjustments.
• Lack of a single source of truth for production decisions and customer commitments.
• Limited ability to support strategic growth and prepare for S/4HANA migration.

These issues were costing time, reducing efficiency, and obscuring Southco’s ability to make confident, forward-looking decisions.

The Decision

Southco chose Reveal for one reason: transformation that sticks. Rather than another system reconfiguration, they wanted to unlock the profit already hidden in their operations and SAP investment. Reveal’s oVo® methodology offered a proven path to drive behavioral change, build internal capability, and close the gap between SAP’s built-in potential and actual day-to-day usage.

The Transformation

Reveal led a focused initiative to reimagine Southco’s planning and scheduling processes using only standard SAP functionality. The transformation included:

• Hands-on education for planners, schedulers, shop floor, and management teams.
• Establishing ownership of master data to align business rules with system behavior.
• Implementing realistic, finite scheduling aligned with actual capacity—including labor and tooling.
• Integrating short-, medium-, and long-term visibility to support proactive planning.
• Daily monitoring of exceptions and continuous improvement through plan-schedule-actual reporting.
• Collaboratively building a cross-functional cadence that empowered teams to solve problems in real time.

What changed wasn't just the system—it was how people used it.

The Results

Southco’s transformation delivered measurable, sustainable improvements:

• Realistic, leveled production schedules that match available labor and machine capacity.
• On-time delivery confidence with accurate ship/availability dates.
• Integrated procurement and capacity planning, reducing waste and overproduction.
• Improved decision-making driven by actual work center and resource data.
• Proactive exception management and team alignment across supply chain functions.
• Scalable foundation to support S/4HANA readiness and long-term digital growth.

By maximizing their existing SAP investment, Southco turned inefficiency into opportunity.

Southco’s success proves what’s possible when SAP becomes a true business asset—not an underutilized expense. With Reveal, they didn’t just improve capacity planning—they created a sustainable, scalable operations model that drives value every day.

If you're ready to unlock hidden profit in your supply chain and turn SAP into a performance engine, let’s talk.