Topcon Positioning Systems: Building a customer-first experience with a truly integrated enterprise
Positioned for success with greater data visibility
Precision positioning equipment manufacturer Topcon Positioning Systems Inc. gained real-time data across its global operations by rolling out SAP S/4HANA Cloud Public Edition and SAP Customer Experience solutions integrated with the SAP ERP application based on a two-tier approach. This technology setup is now delivering stellar customer experiences and accelerating innovations to meet evolving market demands.
| Industries | Region | Company Size |
| Agribusiness and construction | Livermore, California | ~2,000 employees |
less time for month-end closing, from seven days down to five.
of sales orders automated in one country, up from 18%.
for monthly inventory reporting, down from between six and eight hours.
Senior Project Manager, Topcon Positioning Systems Inc.
Seeking a unified view of global operations to serve customers better
Topcon Positioning Systems Inc. is on a mission to help close the infrastructure gap caused by a growing world population. Its state-of-the-art precision measurement and workflow solutions for construction, geospatial, and agriculture markets make large-scale infrastructure projects smarter and more efficient.
To make more of an impact worldwide, Topcon needed an efficient way to scale and expand its international business. Its global ecosystem of subsidiaries was neither standardized nor integrated, making growth slow and expensive. Ten different ERP systems in 12 countries made IT support and legal compliance a huge challenge. As Robert Schmitz, Director Information Systems at Topcon, explains, “The main hurdle from a business point of view was all these different ways of working. We needed both our systems and our processes standardized.”
With different systems producing different, nonaligned data points, Topcon lacked a real-time overview of global operational data across areas such as production and buying. It also needed to streamline and automate related processes. For example, each country had to create and send customer invoices manually. And tasks such as establishing global inventory levels were time-consuming. Integrating sales and marketing operations with Topcon’s ERP infrastructure would enable the cross-business visibility required to automate such tasks and serve customers in a consistent and efficient way.
Integrating solutions for a real-time view of its go-to-market channel
Topcon consolidated 10 ERP systems into one solution, based on SAP S/4HANA Cloud Public Edition, integrating it with the SAP ERP application. With one, scalable, standardized, and cloud-based system connected to core ERP, Topcon now had access to real-time data across the whole enterprise for the first time. This two-tier model helped subsidiaries stay agile without being dependent on headquarters and enabled Topcon to introduce new business practices quickly and with lower risk.
Topcon then began to deploy SAP Customer Experience solutions, including the SAP Sales Cloud and SAP Commerce Cloud solutions. One key advantage was that it was able to use standard integrations with cloud ERP. This enabled a smooth and efficient rollout and reduced the resource burden on IT teams.
These changes have enabled a more streamlined and harmonized experience for customers. Before its digital transformation, Topcon was not in control of many systems. Now, the company can see all documents across the company and share the latest content in a consistent way at the same time. The overall effect is that customers in one region receive the same experience as those in another, strengthening the brand considerably.
Having SAP Customer Experience solutions integrated with SAP S/4HANA Cloud Public Edition enables substantial efficiencies from a process flow standpoint. For example, a sales lead is transitioned to SAP Sales Cloud solutions, where the sales team can then create a quote. If the quote is accepted, it flows automatically to cloud ERP.
And if the item is not in stock locally, integration between the regional office and the distribution hub based on SAP S/4HANA Cloud Public Edition and the SAP ERP application helps Topcon fulfill the order by locating it quickly in another subsidiary.
Centralized master data is the foundation of an efficient and robust customer experience. Whereas previously there were multiple marketing systems containing information on customers, now SAP S/4HANA Cloud Public Edition maintains a single entry for each customer, with one address and one customer number. Everyone, from sales to support, is using the same high-quality data, enabling enhanced analytics, automation, and insights. And marketing teams have a much clearer process to help them follow up and develop relationships with future customers.
Customers receive the right information too, because SAP Customer Experience solutions are populated with catalog data from SAP S/4HANA Cloud Public Edition. Salespeople who previously may have relied on manual processes to manage data are confident that the product and pricing information they see is correct. So, customers have a better experience thanks to accurate, fast, and more consistent communication.
As Topcon continued its rollout of cloud ERP to other geographies, it seized the opportunity to maximize the employee experience by providing users with step-by-step contextual guidance and automated workflows with WalkMe Digital Adoption Platform. In fewer than 45 days, Topcon developed and implemented solutions that guide users to complete fields correctly and accurately, reducing rework, preventing downstream corrections, and boosting efficiency.
Senior Project Manager, Topcon Positioning Systems Inc.
Increasing sales with a user-friendly business-to-business website
With the move to SAP S/4HANA Cloud Public Edition, Topcon started experimenting with SAP Build solutions on SAP Business Technology Platform, allowing its business users to build low-code apps on their own, without writing code. Schmitz says that SAP Build solutions enable the company to kick-start required extensibility of its cloud ERP journey without starting from scratch, and the ready-to-use extensions unlocked immediate value, saving time and budget while meeting its schedule.
He adds, “SAP Build solutions are giving us the confidence to extend our SAP ecosystem to meet evolving market demands.”
Meanwhile, SAP Commerce Cloud solutions, another offering from the SAP Customer Experience portfolio, support Topcon’s digital transformation by enabling an omnichannel business with unified customer processes.
Whereas Topcon previously had a very basic e-commerce site for external dealer purchasers, it now has a modern business-to-business website offering full dealer functionality. Aided by SAP Commerce Cloud solutions, Topcon has expanded its user base by 500%, boosted Google conversion rates, and significantly increased website functionality. This new functionality includes solution building and kit content comparison tools, improved access levels and order approvals, and expanded product pages featuring multiple images, documentation, related products, and accessories.
These changes have not only improved the experience of customers when creating sales orders but also provide a supplementary sales tool that helps improve the selling experience for both internal and external salespeople.
Topcon built an offline mobile app for salespeople to use in the field and at trade shows. The company’s previous stand-alone mobile app often displayed incorrect, out-of-date information and required constant maintenance. The sales app is iOS based and integrated with SAP Commerce Cloud solutions through a third-party cloud service. This supports up-to-date, accurate product and pricing data, helping salespeople create quotes and capture leads to import into SAP Sales Cloud solutions.
In terms of its success with WalkMe solutions, employees now receive prompts to fix invalid entries in real time. Contextual guidance automatically takes users to the next relevant step in a process, based on what’s been completed on the current page. These validation measures, combined with step-by-step guidance, help ensure users don’t miss important fields and that one-off tasks, such as registering a credit card to an order, are completed quickly and effectively.
Executive Vice President and CIO, Topcon Positioning Systems Inc.
Building a smarter, more agile sales and marketing organization
Topcon’s digital transformation has enabled real-time visibility across not just sales and marketing but also the broader enterprise, based on consistent and accurate data points. With one consolidated, two-tier ERP system comprising SAP S/4HANA Cloud Public Edition and SAP ERP, total cost of ownership is down, productivity is up, and processes are smoother and more streamlined.
Supported by the SAP Analytics Cloud solution, a single source of information enables smoother compliance with legal and audit obligations based on accurate, real-time data for all subsidiaries. SAP S/4HANA Cloud Public Edition helps Topcon satisfy local governments’ e-invoicing requirements efficiently, aiding scalability in the face of an increasingly complex localization environment. And financial consolidation and reconciliation processes for month-end close across all nine countries are fast and efficient.
Topcon’s implementation of intelligent ERP solutions has transformed the customer experience. Customers are presented with a more consistent brand across the global enterprise, and automation enables great service. For example, all countries can now send automated invoices to customers at the push of a button through SAP S/4HANA Cloud Public Edition and SAP Customer Experience solutions, and customers can opt to receive these by e-mail. Finance can close out sales more quickly. These improvements and many more have enhanced the productivity and experience of both sales and operational teams.
Topcon is now exploring how to manage services contracts, service orders, and in-house repairs in the new system. And with opportunities for further integration, for example, between SAP ERP, finance tools, and SAP Commerce Cloud solutions, the future looks bright for this intelligent enterprise.