Beutlhauser – consistent transformation to become an intelligent enterprise
In 2017, the Beutlhauser Group started a comprehensive transformation. The starting point was a program to transform corporate culture, streamlining the organization and its processes as a prerequisite for a successful IT transformation project. All processes were harmonized across more than 20 company locations. In 2019, a project was launched to implement a tailored industry solution based on SAP S/4HANA. Targets include not only “classic” ERP areas such as finance and controlling, sales and materials management, but various industry and cloud solutions were also envisaged to drive digitalization of the core business.
Beutlhauser has been working successfully with the new solutions since August 2021.
About Beutlhauser
The Beutlhauser Group offers a wide range of industries high-quality analogue and digital solutions in order to be able to professionally cover as many requirements as possible in the process chains of their customers. Our main suppliers include the premium manufacturers Liebherr construction machinery, Linde industrial trucks and Mercedes-Benz Unimog.
1,400 employees at 28 locations provide the absolutely crucial added value for customers: personal, competent, fast and solution-oriented. Exactly what neither artificial intelligence nor algorithms can do.
With innovation and creativity at all levels of the company, Beutlhauser is driving corporate culture transformation at all levels, as well as digital transformation of complex business processes.
“The consistent transformation to becoming an intelligent enterprise leads to efficient and transparent processes as well as satisfied employees and customers, which supports our growth course.”
Oliver Sowa, Managing Director, Beutlhauser Gruppe
Business challenges and opportunities
- Growing business with various business models (sales, rentals and service) and a broad range of complex products (construction machinery, construction equipment, industrial trucks and municipal technology)
- 28 company sites with various business processes and numerous interfaces
- Highly complex process landscape, broken processes
- High potential for improvement through company-wide process harmonization and digital transformation
Why SAP S/4HANA, proaxia VSS, and Industry Cloud Solutions?
A single integrated platform
- Most advanced ERP system on the market – SAP S/4HANA
- Comprehensive industry solution portfolio
- Outstanding vehicle-centric processes – SAP Vehicle Sales Management (VMS) and proaxia Vehicle Sales and Service (VSS)
- Integrated solution for service staff – SAP Field Service Management (FSM)
- Broad functionality covering industry specifics
- Modular and open approach
- Superior technical and industry competence among proaxia consultants
Business benefits realized through the transformation
Beutlhauser transformed the complex IT and process landscape into an intelligent enterprise for vehicle retail, thereby benefiting from new technologies that allow flexible adaption to future market requirements.
- Strong positioning as a professional and future-oriented dealer, as seen by the various manufacturers
- Ready to respond to manufacturers’ initiatives for distributed data and integrated processes, also within the business network
- Customer-oriented, integrated offerings (sales, rentals and service) supported by the sales workplace
- Shortened order-to-cash process through field service integration
- Reduced financing costs for a dynamic fleet business
- Increased fleet utilization through cross-group rental fleet management
- Transparent costs and revenues throughout the entire vehicle lifecycle
Featured solutions
- SAP S/4HANA – covers all ERP processes such as logistics, financing and controlling
- SAP Vehicle Management System (VMS) – as part of the SAP S/4HANA automotive solution, forms the cockpit or process engine for orchestrating the vehicle-centric processes of procurement, sale, conversion, returns processing, trade-in, and service processing of machinery
- SAP Warranty (WTY) for warranty processing
- Beutlhauser Sales Workplace – developed specifically for the project on SAP Fiori, covers the industry-specific requirements for the sale of fleets, with complex, configurable products and in the context of sales, long-term rental and financing
- proaxia Vehicle Sales and Service (VSS) – maps all processes in service and spare parts sales
- proaxia VSS Rental – maps the processes related to the short-term rental of machinery and construction equipment, including rental contract management and rental fleet management (vehicle inventory management)
- SAP Field Service Management (FSM) and
SAP Workforce Management (WFM) – support deployment planning of service staff as well as schedule confirmation and material use
Industrialization of service with proaxia Vehicle Sales and Service (VSS)
Beutlhauser deploys 350 service technicians who provide services such as repairs, maintenance, spare parts supply and other services around the clock.
All processes related to repairs, maintenance, workshop and spare parts logistics are implemented with proaxia VSS. The integrated dealer management system based on SAP S/4HANA creates digitalized and automated end-to-end processes for maximum efficiency.
proaxia Vehicle Sales and Service (VSS)
proaxia VSS is a complete integrated solution for the comprehensive support of business processes in automotive sales and service, based on SAP S/4HANA.
proaxia VSS is developed under the Co-innovated with SAP program, thus meeting the same quality standards as an original SAP product. proaxia VSS is already SAP Premium Certified, and it is part of the SAP Automotive Industry Cloud. The common strategy followed by SAP and proaxia and a mutually agreed roadmap ensure ongoing innovation for vehicle dealers and service providers.
Solution support is guaranteed via the SAP support infrastructure.
Joining forces with our partner FIS
proaxia, as general contractor and owner of the VSS solution, partnered with FIS Informationssysteme und Consulting GmbH in the project.
FIS is one of the leading value-added SAP resellers in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. As subcontractor FIS was responsible for implementation of financial accounting, controlling, human capital management and interface middleware.
proaxia was responsible for implementation of all logistics processes.