The first stop for many visitors to the SAP booth at Hannover Messe was the freshly produced ginger shots. But the real takeaway was seeing the AI in action. From mixing ginger shots to packaging and shipping them to warehouses, visitors witnessed how SAP is turning AI ambitions into real-world manufacturing execution, delivering end-to-end supply chain management processes and building the resilience that all manufacturers need.
Hannover Messe, which runs from April 20th to 24th, is one of the world’s leading industrial trade fairs.
On day one, SAP SE CEO Christian Klein stopped by the SAP booth and then joined German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and other industry leaders center stage to discuss the importance of moving from AI ambition to real-world execution.
And visitors to the SAP booth experienced the transformation firsthand after the ginger shots were made.
The ginger shot, presented in a neat blue box, was refreshing, but the fun didn’t end there. The key takeaway was how SAP’s new AI-powered manufacturing and supply chain innovations can leverage AI to enable connected end-to-end supply chain business processes.
Supply chain orchestration
Visitors saw what supply chain orchestration actually looks like using AI and data, as well as SAP’s agent AI. SAP helps manufacturers sense, analyze, and act in real-time with agent AI, trusted data, and applications.
At the booth, visitors witnessed human operators interact with ANYbotics robots using natural language through Joule to perform live remote field service inspections. Uhlmann’s high-tech glass-front packing machine PacXplorer operates opposite a DMG MORI CNC machine that was making spare parts for the PacXplorer. And at the end of the production cycle, AIMBO’s robots pick and pack the ginger shots. Both AIMBO and ANYbotics are part of SAP’s growing network of physical AI partnerships.
In addition to the many tours held in German and English, there were also tours in Japanese, Chinese and Portuguese on the first day. Brazil was a partner country for Hannover Messe 2026.
Equipped with headphones to block out the booth crowd noise, attendees heard how SAP’s AI can deliver trusted orchestration and smarter execution for manufacturing and supply chain management.
Demonstrate functionality and benefits with live AI use cases
Operations and insights use cases
Here, visitors experienced SAP’s vision of supply chain orchestration. In this vision, supply chain orchestration serves as the backbone of the enterprise. Optimize your company’s logistics and planning with agents using external alerts such as natural disasters, port congestion, and supplier routes.
Benefit from AI-assisted monitoring and automated alerts for faster response times. Improve decision-making with data-driven operational decisions powered by integrated business AI capabilities. Seamless integration with end-to-end connectivity from supply chain planning to manufacturing execution to quality control.
Top AI features
- Production planning and operations agents assist with order release and real-time monitoring.
- Physical AI robots inspect hazardous areas and analyze inspection data to identify root causes.
- Supply optimization analysis helps you summarize, analyze, and explain insights about the execution of time series optimization plans.
Smart production use cases
DMG MORI demonstrated production on a CNC machine as part of an end-to-end process from engineering to planning to production.
As the CNC machine’s white robotic arm silently moved the pusher’s spare parts after the milling process, visitors learned about the benefits of integration from design to tool management, CNC programs and SAP Digital Manufacturing as part of a seamless integration process. The Production Operator Dashboard provides operators with insight into machine AI capabilities and operational and maintenance information.
This process continues until the execution of logistics using SAP Logistics Management. SAP Logistics Management helps small warehouses combine warehousing and transportation functions. It features an AI-powered logistics assistant that cuts through the noise and can automatically collect, summarize, and prioritize critical shipping information. It can also provide real-time shipping prices, enabling reliable orchestration and smarter execution.
Top AI features
Intelligent packaging use cases
Woolman’s PacXplorer and SAP highlighted a fully integrated high-speed packaging line, from SAP S/4HANA to SAP Digital Manufacturing and Woolman’s automation layers to produce packaged ginger shots. Gingershot was moved away from the line by Symovo’s mobile autonomous robot. This use case showed visitors how SAP supports regulated industries such as pharmaceuticals and life sciences.
Benefits highlighted include increased operational speed and throughput through reduced order processing times, built-in regulatory compliance, reduced manual intervention, inventory transparency, and data integrity across the production chain.
Top AI features
- Condition monitoring-driven services can improve asset uptime and service efficiency by combining AI-driven insights and seamless collaboration across the service ecosystem.
- AI-powered flow analysis enables rapid process modeling and engineering optimization.
- Intelligent exception handling is built into agent-driven processes.
- Joule’s integrated AI agent can support decision-making throughout your workflow.
- Joule helps with power order and line insights.
Examples of humanoid usage
In their final stop before drinking ginger shots, visitors observed how intelligent humanoid robots perform physical tasks at the end of the packaging line, bridging the gap between digital planning and physical execution, highlighting the AI embedded in SAP’s projects.
Advantages of humanoids include faster processing speeds and increased throughput by reducing order processing time. Increase business uptime and cost efficiency, especially in areas that are dangerous or difficult for humans. Inventory transparency with real-time data consistency across warehouses. Eliminate the gap between planning and execution by coordinating physical and digital.
Top AI features
- Joule and Joule Studio enable robots to understand the physical world, make decisions autonomously, and learn from their environments to perform smarter operations.
More than just a quick refuel
At the end of the visit, visitors got more than just a quick energy boost to quench their thirst. After creating a ginger shot from recipe development to manufacturing with planning, mixing, filling, and packaging, visitors were able to clearly understand how SAP connects insights to execution with reliable orchestration and smarter execution. And it’s this trusted orchestration and smarter execution that builds the resiliency that every manufacturer needs in today’s world.
