DATAGROUP took over the IT carve-out from the former American parent company for the internationally active SME Balcke-Dürr and subsequently the operation of the entire IT. S/4HANA was also introduced using the greenfield approach.
Balcke-Dürr GmbH is a German SME with around 500 employees at locations in Germany, Italy, Poland, China and India. It is a project manufacturer for power plant components, filter systems and services.
IT carve-out and subsequent operation
The aim of the carve-out was to separate the IT system landscape from the former American parent company and then operate it as a managed service.
To this end, the new system landscape was planned and set up and interfaces and subsystems were integrated. DATAGROUP took over the operation of the complete IT infrastructure for 500 users at 12 locations and in the DATAGROUP data centers.
Results of the IT outsourcing:
- Secure and scalable hosting operation
- Fast response times to business-critical incidents
- Guaranteed service level
- Flexible adaptation of IT to developments
- Reduction of IT costs
Introduction of S/4HANA with the greenfield approach
The SAP system landscape taken over as part of the outsourcing was not being used optimally:
- The standard was heavily modified
- Weak degree of automation and low efficiency in the processes
- Figures from various sources
- No management reporting based on SAP key figures
As part of the project, the DATAGROUP Value Check method including an ROI analysis was carried out, which came to the conclusion that the introduction of S/4HANA using the greenfield approach was best suited for the company.
Redesign workshops were held to optimize all core company processes according to the SAP standard. On this basis, the new processes for commercial functions (FI, CO, PS), purchasing and inventory management (MM), sales order processing (SD) with integration into project processing and personnel scheduling (PS and MRS) were set up in the form of rapid prototyping.
In addition to mapping the processes in the S/4HANA standard, the aim was to simplify and digitalize the company's business processes. The project for the introduction in Germany ran for 8 months, while the rollout to Italy in phase 2 was completed within three months.
Results of the S/4HANA transformation:
- Ease of use
- Process optimization and increase in process efficiency
- Strict orientation towards the standard
- Cost savings
"We had a well-coordinated team and were able to map the processes to the SAP standard as far as possible. We were able to keep to our ambitious schedule: There were only eight months between kick-off and go-live. We even achieved the introduction in the second country, Italy, in just three months. A real partnership has developed between DATAGROUP and Balcke-Dürr over the last year and a half."
The project in figures
 8months for implementation in Germany |
30%Process time reduction |
 500+employees |
 12Locations worldwide |
About Balcke-Dürr
Balcke-Dürr is one of the leading manufacturers of components for increasing energy efficiency and reducing emissions for industry with over 130 years of experience in the fields of
- Heat exchangers and apparatus for applications in chemical processes and power plants
- Filter systems for flue gas cleaning
- Services for boilers, heat exchangers, chemical apparatus/reactors, regenerative heat exchangers, wet cooling towers and filter systems
Further information on
Services
" S/4HANA transformation
" Carve out
" IT Outsourcing
" S@PPORT 7-8/2019: Switching to S/4HANA with the greenfield approach
