Inside Molex and SAP's Fruitful Supply Chain Collaboration

As global electronics manufacturer Molex continues its digital supply chain journey, it has overhauled its supplier collaboration processes through the adoption of SAP Business Network Supply Chain Collaboration.

It's a shift that replaces the company's legacy supplier portal with a more intelligent, scalable solution capable of supporting Molex’s operations in 38 countries and a global, multitiered supply chain that includes thousands of suppliers and more than 70,000 component parts.

Building a smarter supplier network through intelligent collaboration

Molex has long focused on product quality and manufacturing consistency across sectors such as automotive, healthcare, cloud, industrial automation and consumer devices.

But, with a growing need for accurate, reliable and timely information on purchase orders, inventory, defects and invoicing, it sought a digital transformation that would go beyond basic transactions.

Tony Gainsford, Director of Supply Chain at Molex, explains: "We wanted to shift beyond just the tactical side of collaboration and move into using an intelligent collaboration tool so that we were not just passing information back and forth but enriching it with intelligence."

SAP Business Network forms the backbone of this effort, enabling Molex to automate routine tasks and connect suppliers more efficiently. The platform ensures suppliers confirm part quantities and delivery schedules, so Molex’s teams can issue “clear to build” directives with confidence. This level of visibility supports timely production and on-schedule customer deliveries.

To unify its digital transformation effort, Molex set up KPIs and a steering committee drawn from across its supply chain organisation. Asia was chosen as the launch region, due to the its strategic importance in Molex’s supply operations. Deployment was structured around several workstreams, including stock, consignment, subcontracting and discrete POs.

Meanwhile, a new supplier onboarding strategy combined agile learning with localised content. Molex replaced large volumes of training manuals with short, native-language videos tailored for both buyers and suppliers, as well as introducing a digital scorecard to track progress and resolve obstacles quickly.

"Another significant benefit of SAP Business Network Supply Chain Collaboration is that it creates value for our buyers by actually adding value for suppliers," Tony continues. 

"So, rather than our buyers taking ownership of suppliers’ responsibilities and creating confirmations, suppliers now own those confirmations, saving our buyers many hours a week."

Achieving scale and automation

Within 18 months of adopting SAP Business Network, Molex had onboarded more than 900 suppliers and processed in excess of US$1bn in transactions.

This pool of suppliers now has access to a variety of connection methods. While lower-volume suppliers can use a portal and spreadsheet tools, high-volume B2B suppliers benefit from direct integration for sharing demand forecasts, inventory data and quality updates.

Previously, many of Molex’s procurement tasks were handled manually. Buyers would spend several minutes creating each PO and up to nine hours weekly processing confirmations.

SAP Business Network now automates these tasks: once a buyer finalises a PO, clicking “save” sends it straight to the supplier. Confirmation processing has also shifted from buyers to suppliers.

The results are measurable: PO confirmation rates have jumped from 30% to 90%, while the average time for suppliers to respond has improved by a third. This reduction in PO changes and faster confirmation turnaround times strengthens Molex’s ability to meet delivery commitments.

Moreover, a key feature added during deployment was a purchase order reconfirmation process, created in response to fluctuating production needs. This enables better alignment between supplier schedules and actual material demand.

Molex also ran a supplier satisfaction survey to evaluate the user experience and received overwhelmingly positive feedback on the modern platform.

"Before we used SAP Business Network Supply Chain Collaboration, we were sending purchase order emails to thousands of supplier users every day," Tony notes. "Now, we have one single connection to SAP Business Network, saving us from having to keep thousands of email addresses accurate in the system."

Looking ahead with adoption and advanced planning tools

Following successful deployment of SAP Business Network Supply Chain Collaboration, Molex is focused on deeper platform adoption and advanced use cases.

The company recently completed a pilot for scheduling agreements and is exploring support for multitier POs, return orders and supply forecasting with contract manufacturers.

Molex is also considering planning collaboration capabilities to cover long-range production needs beyond the typical eight-week PO window, forming part of a roadmap aimed at continued automation and standardisation of supply chain activity on a global scale.

"The future is about driving adoption," concludes Tony. "We’ve got to make sure our parts are here on time to fulfil our customer commitments.

"It’s one thing to get suppliers enabled; but you have to get suppliers to use the platform and the application in the way you want them to use it. So, we’ve retained an expert from SAP Business Network to help us master the solution and drive adoption."

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