Stadtwerke Tübingen - aka swt- almost always focuses on the big picture, but sometimes only on the little things on the doorstep. They have a passion for sustainable energy, love buses and swimming pools and drive innovation within the company and the region. And they have been doing so for over 160 years. In addition to changes in their industry, swt's IT also has to adapt in order to stay up to date. This was possible with DATAGROUP at its side, as the company already has a wealth of experience in working with municipal utilities and other public sector clients.
A green field for the green municipal utilities in Tübingen
As the SAP systems of the SAP ECC generation currently in use will only be maintained until 2027 and the highest security standards are of great importance to Stadtwerke Tübingen, an upgrade was a matter of course: the new SAP S/4HANA was to be implemented in a greenfield approach.
DATAGROUP set up the new S/4HANA system from scratch based on SAP best practice processes like a green, wide meadow. 70 - 80 % of swt's business processes were already covered by the SAP standard. The remaining 20 - 30 % were completed by the DATAGROUP team through additional customizing. The greenfield approach was perfect for Stadtwerke Tübingen, as the existing processes of their SAP ECC were to be streamlined and the SAP S/4HANA system enabled a fresh start and modernization.
Before the implementation could begin, our team carried out a fit-to-standard analysis. This six-month, process-oriented preliminary project served to assess the percentage coverage of the SAP best practices delivered by SAP in relation to swt's business processes. A twelve-month SAP S/4HANA implementation project was then commissioned with the following processes:
- Source-to-Pay - procurement and merchandise management
- Order-to-Cash - Sales
- Enterprise Asset Management EAM - Maintenance
- Project system for project management
- Record-to-Report - Finance
- Plan-to-Perform - Controlling
The use of new, flexible workflows from SAP was also defined as part of the project. In addition, DATAGROUP's own Lobster solution for sending X-invoices was implemented. This is the Germany-wide standard for electronic invoicing for public clients, which complies with Directive 2014/55/EU.
DATAGROUP's expertise leads to maximum satisfaction
With almost 60 company codes within Stadtwerke Tübingen, it was necessary to work very carefully.
Numerous stakeholders and their procedural interests had to be reconciled with the new introduction of the SAP project system, corresponding budgeting, SAP investment management and maintenance as well as the creation of new ad hoc reports. Thanks to comprehensive coordination, DATAGROUP was able to successfully merge all integrative processes. After this challenge, the smooth go-live was a great success for the DATAGROUP and swt project team.
This is not only due to the very good test execution and cut-over planning, but also to the ONE-TEAM concept practiced by swt and DATAGROUP right from the start. Throughout the entire project, there was a regular exchange with the entire project team of around 25 people, as well as a very close cooperation in the project management that was positive and constructive on both sides.
DATAGROUP was also able to score points thanks to its extensive experience with public clients and their security standards.
"Our employees manage all commercial business processes from their workstations, so reliable IT is very important, even if it is constantly changing. We felt we were in very good hands with DATAGROUP. Thank you for the trusting and close cooperation."
The project in figures
 Over 160 years of company history |
 around 600 employees |
 Almost 60 company codes |
About Stadtwerke Tübingen
As an innovative and 100% municipal company, Stadtwerke Tübingen and the 600 or so people behind it have been providing a reliable supply of electricity, natural gas, heat and, of course, drinking water for over 160 years. Fast Internet via fiber optics for companies. A dense bus network day and night. Fun, sport and recreation in three swimming pools. Services that make life more pleasant for the people of Tübingen, that are indispensable and yet usually run inconspicuously in the background. In short: their hobbyhorse is public services. Around 75% of Tübingen's electricity consumption is generated from renewable energies in its own plants and further solar and wind parks are being planned. The basis for this sustainable growth is strong roots in the region.
