BASF is the world’s leading chemical company. Its product portfolio ranges from chemicals, plastics, and agricultural products to oil and gas. Headquartered in Ludwigshafen, Germany, the BASF Group employs some 95,000 people in 200 countries, and operates approximately 100 large and many smaller production sites. In 2007, the BASF Group posted sales of nearly €58 billion. Its association with SAP began in the mid-70s.

There is hardly an industry as diverse as the chemical industry, which is responsible for manufacturing thousands of different products. In Europe alone, there are some 35,000 chemical companies. The figure for the United States is similar. Taken together, the ten largest chemical companies command a market share of almost 20%. And the industry is a dynamic one: New suppliers enter the market regularly; and acquisitions and divestments form part of a business model that chemical companies use to continuously optimize their product portfolios for profitable and sustainable growth.

BASF’s strategy is to invest in existing fields of business and make targeted acquisitions. Essential to the process of efficiently integrating or divesting companies is BASF’s IT system: A global, integrated and standardized system landscape based on SAP ERP. BASF operates its IT environment according to the same integrated network concept (known in German as a „Verbund”) that it applies to its production facilities – and with notable success.

www.basf.com