SAF-HOLLAND: Adopting cloud solutions to harmonize systems and data for near-real-time insights
Shedding light on data in the dark
In producing chassis-related assemblies and parts, SAF-HOLLAND SE wanted to merge its disparate systems following growth by acquisition. SAP Cloud ERP Private and SAP Business Data Cloud solutions provide the business with AI features, data visualization, and applications that allow it to shine a light on previously invisible data.
| Industry | Region | Company Size | Partner |
| Automotive | Bessenbach, Germany | 5,500 employees | CNT Management Consulting AG and INFOMOTION GmbH |
faster development processes for analytics dashboards.
data refresh, enabling near-real-time insights.
Vice President Global Business Applications, SAF-HOLLAND SE
Synchronizing systems and reporting post-acquisition
SAF-HOLLAND SE is a leading manufacturer of chassis-related components and systems, primarily for the trailer, semitrailer, truck, and bus markets. Its wide-ranging products include axles, suspensions, fifth wheels, couplings, and air controls. Following the acquisition of Haldex and other companies, the combined group has strengthened its position as a one-stop-shop product and solution provider, leveraging synergies in purchasing and integration and further strengthening its global aftermarket business. The Haldex acquisition has significantly increased the manufacturer’s staff number.
However, this growth resulted in multiple data warehouse solutions, several SAP and third-party ERP applications, different KPIs, and thousands of reports across the company. Employees spent significant time manually gathering information globally and creating reports, although they lacked an overview of which ones were readily available, what information or KPIs they contained, and how these KPIs were calculated. Jörg Wahl, senior vice president of group accounting, controlling, and tax at SAF-HOLLAND, highlights, “We had a limited view because we didn’t have a groupwide ERP system that could provide transparency and allow in-depth analysis into global customer sales or sourcing volumes, for example. Rather than having separate realities for how people look at data, we needed to create a common understanding of the data we use.” The business also struggled to support its on-premises applications in the database and operating system layers.
Within its IT transformation journey, SAF-HOLLAND wanted to simplify and integrate its ERP landscape to provide process efficiency and data security for its global IT environment. It sought to implement solutions that could provide value and underpin the company’s Drive 2030 strategy as well as deliver analytics that could advance the business and enable data-driven decisions.
Senior Vice President Group Accounting, Controlling, and Tax, SAF-HOLLAND SE
Using cloud solutions to consolidate data and harmonize reporting
As part of its cloud-first strategy, SAF-HOLLAND is rolling out an SAP Cloud ERP Private solution using the RISE with SAP journey in its project “Phoenix.” The company is deploying the new ERP solution with a greenfield approach in parallel to its existing landscape comprising SAP ERP Central Component. It has approved a global template that will be introduced to organizational units and countries in several waves and includes functions such as production, warehousing, quality, purchasing, sales, finance, and control. CNT Management Consulting AG successfully supported the go-live of SAP Cloud ERP Private in Hungary, while SAP Preferred Success services also assisted with the deployment.
Closely linked to this project is the implementation of the SAP Business Data Cloud solution, with capabilities including AI features, data visualization, and applications. SAF-HOLLAND can take advantage of preconfigured applications in the solution that enable it to consolidate disparate and localized reports while organizing and structuring them according to topic. It can create reports based on global standards, allowing its teams to focus on the core business. The company partnered with INFOMOTION GmbH due to its strong experience with SAP Business Data Cloud, in-depth strategic knowledge, and support while adopting the solution.
SAF-HOLLAND migrated more than 100 reports from on premises to the cloud, using the SAP Analytics Cloud solution to allow its business users to access these reports quickly. The company is also connecting its different SAP and third-party systems for a single data foundation. For example, it has built a data flow and dashboard for its internal IT ticketing system to view and analyze open tickets for different brands globally, with a data refresh every 15 minutes. Analytics dashboards are also being used in finance, HR, and several other departments for operational activities.
The component manufacturer has integrated SAP Business Data Cloud with its cloud ERP to create custom reports that enable its business users to analyze behavior in operational processes in detail. And linking its separate ERP systems enables global sales reporting and revenue tracking by plant. SAF-HOLLAND is also adopting SAP SuccessFactors HCM to manage its HR processes. The diagram below shows the company’s desired data and analytics architecture.
Business Intelligence and Data Analytics Manager, SAF-HOLLAND SE
Accelerating development processes and advancing groupwide partnership
The company now has a clear road map defining where it wants to be and what’s possible in the future. David Gund, business intelligence and data analytics manager at SAF-HOLLAND, explains, “Compared to two years ago, people in our organization know exactly which team they should go to for help when they have questions.”
SAF-HOLLAND can create analytics dashboards two to three times faster than before. It also appreciates the standard core data services capabilities for data modeling views in the ERP solution and simplicity of modeling in SAP Business Data Cloud. Integrating data warehousing, preparation, and visualization in one application means that authorizations don’t have to be extracted and maintained in separate systems, as they’re loaded three times daily. So, when a user is granted access to a new plant, they can automatically see the associated reporting data. This also saves time that can be invested elsewhere. For each new analytical data model, SAF-HOLLAND is creating an entry in a data catalog with a short business description and KPI explanations. Business users can access the catalog and open a data model in Microsoft Excel or dependent user stories.
A global project with the sales and aftermarket teams will allow them to gain granular detail about their customers’ behavior over previous months and years and act accordingly. The finance team can serve as a business partner for the sales and sourcing organizations due to increased reporting visibility generated from a single location. As well as improved transparency into customer and supplier behavior, the finance team hopes to better analyze its product-group reporting to identify high-runner products globally. It also intends to use the centralized data lake to automate reporting, which would help managers in both headquarters and subsidiaries improve efficiency, meet new reporting requirements, and shorten the time to compile figures.
Senior Vice President Group Accounting, Controlling, and Tax, SAF-HOLLAND SE
Using AI to reveal and predict business behaviors
SAF-HOLLAND believes that AI can help it understand the root cause of business behavior and enable data-driven decisions. Gund concludes, “We look forward to doing more AI-enabled data preparation and cleansing. We can identify the sources we use and the outcome we need to request a data flow to be built. With logic that can be described by text or speech, the system can then do the mapping.” The IT team realizes how fast the market is changing and that internal departments still need support. It must establish where data is stored and develop data flows and dashboards faster than before, effectively increasing its time to market. As a result, the team has started to use the SAP Joule for Consultants solution and AI features in SAP Analytics Cloud to speed up implementation processes.
The business wants to be able to predict and model what could happen in the future based on past learnings, with this predictive forecasting information available in dashboards. Acknowledging that in five years’ time AI agents will likely be able to identify its top 10 customers and their commonalities, it hopes to explore this use case with SAP. SAF-HOLLAND may also employ the SAP Databricks capability in SAP Business Data Cloud to analyze and gain insights from its data.
SAF-HOLLAND would like to shift its focus from the ERP system to getting more data from its machines to optimize its development and production processes in different plants. The company is also considering deploying the planning capabilities in SAP Analytics Cloud to use in corporate planning for its cost centers. In addition, it is looking into using the SAP Integrated Business Planning solution.
Want to know more about SAF-HOLLAND?
SAF-HOLLAND Project Phoenix [Using] RISE with SAP (SAP Video)
Featured partners
CNT Management Consulting AG is a leading international consulting firm with more than 500 experts in SAP solutions across 14 locations. For 26 years, CNT has helped its clients drive digital transformation through more than 100 ERP implementations and 200 cloud projects. The company has a strong presence in Europe, the United States, and Brazil.
INFOMOTION GmbH is an award-winning consulting company founded in 2004 that specializes in data management, digital transformation, and data analytics in the DACH (Germany, Austria, and Switzerland) region. The company’s 580 employees deliver expertise in areas including finance and performance management, people analytics, data-value exploration and strategy, and project management.