CompanyVorwerk
BranchHigh-quality household appliances, electronics, textiles, cosmetics, services, trade
ProductsFood processors, vacuum cleaners, cosmetics, carpets, floor coverings and much more
Number of employees12,319
Turnover2.9 billion €
HeadquartersWuppertal, Germany
Challenges
Challenges
  • Introduction of SAP Ariba Cloud with integration to SAP S/4HANA and three SAP legacy systems and replacement of an old solution
  • Establishment of a largely uniform purchasing process for indirect materials for key business areas
  • As part of project phase 1, introduction in various country subsidiaries in Germany and Switzerland as a template version for further rollouts
  • Coordination and alignment with parallel projects and programs as well as different release cycles
Solutions
Solutions
  • Ariba Network
  • SAP Ariba Supply Chain Collaboration
  • SAP Ariba Buying
  • SAP Ariba Spend Analysis
  • SAP CIG and SAP CPI interfaces
  • Single Point of Contact-Support
  • Incident Management
  • Incident coordination of service teams of other departments
  • Daily monitoring
  • Technical account management
Advantages
Advantages
  • Uniform processes across the entire corporate group
  • High process and cost transparency
  • Transparency leads to higher delivery reliability
  • Faster processes
  • Higher employee satisfaction through simplified processes and intuitive user interfaces
  • Avoidance of media breaks
Why Apsolut
Why apsolut
  • Extensive and detailed experience with SAP Ariba
  • High degree of solution and customer orientation
  • International positioning
  • Flexible function
  • Broad range of services beyond the actual scope of the project

Vorwerk digitalises its purchasing processes with SAP ARIBA

Digitization does not ask about how a company traditionally operates. A company that constantly adds innovations to the know-how it has acquired over the years will always be at the cutting edge. Without a doubt, the Vorwerk family business is a perfect example of the intelligent combination of tradition and innovation. The Thermomix has not only revolutionised food preparation but has also been enhanced over the years with numerous digital features, such as Cookidoo, the official recipe portal of Vorwerk with recipes for all Thermomix models.

When Vorwerk was faced with the question of how the group’s purchasing processes could be digitized, optimized, and intelligently integrated into the existing IT infrastructure, a detailed selection process led to the choice of SAP Ariba and the three-time SAP Ariba Partner of the Year apsolut for the implementation.

In the end, the comparatively high level of adaptability that the cloud tool gives Vorwerk was also a decisive factor. The tool passed an initial endurance test directly with the go-live, as Armin Kaczmarek, Senior Vice President Corporate Purchasing confirmed:

"Being able to design our purchasing processes flexibly, digitally and above all efficiently offers great added value. We will therefore continue to expand our system in the direction of SAP Ariba."

The system solution includes the Ariba modules Supply Chain Collaboration, Buying and Spend Analysis (see Page 1 for a complete list), architecturally the integration with four SAP ERP systems via SAP Cloud Process Integration (SAP CPI) and the establishment of a unified approval workflow for seven different business units.

In Phase 2, another SAP legacy system and a central master data management system (MDG-S) will be integrated. In addition, the country organizations Italy and Austria were included with the scope from Phase 1. Vorwerk plans to implement further Ariba modules in the next few years, as the enormous efficiency potential of the unified eProcurement solution is already visible a few months after the first go-live.

In this context, the transparent cost flows, the ever-present currentness and availability of the data as well as the satisfaction of the users with the intuitive user interface should be emphasized.

ADDITIONAL ADDED VALUE THROUGH SOLUTION MANAGEMENT SERVICES

On the basis of a service contract, apsolut is also in use for Vorwerk far beyond the go-live period. For example, a single point of contact employee is available as a contact person and problem solver for five full working days per week. The employee is directly networked with Vorwerk’s service providers, coordinates or resolves the incidents he or she receives within an existing service structure and incorporates specialist topics that go beyond apsolut’s central focus. The mandate also includes daily system monitoring and a regular, detailed service report to enable the company to assess and continuously improve service quality together with the customer.

“Due to numerous parallel running projects, which extend over our entire group of companies, we currently have to process and coordinate highly complex issues. The apsolut team supports us in this task with its experience and its unbureaucratic, hands-on approach”, explains Gero Catania, Vice President Projects & Portfolio Business Application Coporate IT at Vorwerk.

At apsolut, the services described above fall under the heading of Solution Management Services, or SMS for short. These are individually designed service packages that are put together according to the needs of the respective customer. The services include incident management and technical account management, as well as competence coaching and supplier enablement programs.

Connection of four productive ERP system landscapes to SAP Ariba at the same time

The scope and timeline were influenced by parallel IT projects during the project. The adjustments were made by the project team and successfully implemented by apsolut.

Implemented tools

Ariba Network
Ariba Network
SAP Ariba Supply Chain Collaboration
SAP Ariba Supply Chain Collaboration
SAP Ariba Buying
SAP Ariba Buying
SAP Ariba Spend Analysis
SAP Ariba Spend Analysis
Schnittstellen SAP CIG
Schnittstellen SAP CIG & SAP CPI
Single Point of Contact
Single Point of Contact
Incident Management
Incident Management
Daily Monitoring
Daily Monitoring & Quality Reviews
Technisches Account Management
Technisches Account Management

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"apsolut led us in a very cooperative and super-competent manner throughout all phases of the project! Above all, the open collaboration between all project members kept motivation high throughout. The project team gets on very well with each other. We were also impressed by the solution-oriented approach and the ability of the entire project team to make quick decisions!"

Hubert Buchsteiner, Group Vice President Purchasing, ZKW Group
Success Story

"apsolut demonstrated a high degree of flexibility and commitment during the project. The structured working methods and the dedicated team enabled us to meet the urgently needed go-live deadlines."

Paul Trautmann, Manager Procurement Processes & Projects, Röhm GmbH
Success Story

"Together with apsolut, we started as a pioneer in Central Procurement and we are very pleased that we were able to reap the first fruits of this pioneering work so early on.”

Stefan Ehrhardt, Head of SAP Governance Purchasing, MAHLE
Success Story

“With a partner like apsolut, not even a pandemic is able to stop us! When the project started, we were a little skeptical, due to the fact that the project team was unable to meet face-to-face. But we are now delighted to say that all our concerns have proven to be unfounded.“

Chandrashekhar Saldur, AGM - Global Procurement & Projects, ETG Group
Success Story

"As our experiences with apsolut were so positive across all national companies, we have already doubled the number of monthly support days twice. Thanks to apsolut, we now have the resources we need to implement rollouts in other national companies. At the moment, they are ongoing in Spain, Portugal, Italy, and France.”

Sandra Mancino, Application Consultant, C&A

Success Story

"With apsolut, we have gained a partner who has implemented our requirements effectively and efficiently in the configuration of Ariba in a practical manner and in a breathtaking amount of time. The customer-oriented approach was one of the main reasons why we also chose apsolut for the implementation of SLP and Contract Management."

Frank Unfried, Director Digitalization Purchasing & Indirect Spend bei Pfleiderer
Success Story

“We had many specific requirements and together with apsolut we found a solution for each one of them. We used to search for supplier information, now we do find it. We are really very satisfied!”

Tanja Sefrin, Project Manager, KUKA
Success Story

“apsolut impressed us in the project work with McKesson above all through the open and cooperative partnership. The project team gets on very well with each other. But we were also impressed by the solution-oriented approach and the fast and efficient enablement of our support staff.”

Annette Römer, Project Manager, McKesson Europe AG
Success Story

"When selecting our implementation partner, apsolut was able to prevail over internationally active competitors thanks to its excellent understanding of our requirements, openness in partnership, and great flexibility. Thanks to the very good cooperation with the apsolut team, we successfully completed the project and signed a support agreement for future developments."

Julia Graubner, Senior Procurement Project Manager, K+S
Success Story

‘We’re on the right track to being able to take full advantage of the potential that this transformation offers, as apsolut not only gives us the expertise that we need, but also has an incredibly agile and committed approach. apsolut no longer feels like an external partner to me, but more like an internal department, with whom I hope we can continue to work well into the future.’

Dr. Bei Mortensen, IT Business Service Owner – SCM & Manufacturing, GEA Group
Success Story

„apsolut not only guided us through the project with utmost professionalism and a proactive approach – decisive was the fact that apsolut enabled us to operate the new tool independently and to control the next steps ourselves. In addition, thanks to apsolut, we have been able to establish the right network, including with the right contacts at SAP Austria. The project has been an overwhelming success and we have managed to foster an almost friend-to-friend relationship with the apsolut team."

Gerald Goldgruber, Strategic Manager for Process Management and SAP, Frutura
Success Story

"From the beginning of the project, we have made a remarkable change together with apsolut. The Döhler employees find their way through the easy user interface without any prior knowledge of SAP. As a result, our purchasing department is no longer an operational procurement office, but a team of in-house consultants."

Shibu Palakalodil, Projektleiter SAP Ariba-Implementierung
Success Story

"Being able to design our purchasing processes flexibly, digitally and above all efficiently offers great added value. We will therefore continue to expand our system in the direction of SAP Ariba."

Armin Kaczmarek, Senior Vice President Corporate Purchasing, Vorwerk
Success Story

“The cooperation with the international apsolut project team from Germany and India was very effective despite the tough schedule. Due to the high degree of standardisation and automation, we were already able to realise potential savings and, in particular reduce process costs.”

Markus Ortlieb, Director Global Procurement, ProMinent GmbH
Success Story

"We have never regretted our decision to rely on apsolut as our implementation partner. The preparation, support, and transparent project progress at all times convinced us. We are delighted to have apsolut as our partner for all questions relating to our SAP Ariba tool."

Marcel Krischer, Zentis GmbH & Co. KG
Success Story

"A transformation program of this scale needs a strong internal team from Procurement and Internal IT, but of course also experienced and committed external partners. The most important aspect is that everyone then works together with passion and conviction towards the common goal. In addition to the strong know-how of the consulting implementation partner – in our case apsolut – a strong line of communication from the partner to the software supplier SAP is also necessary."

Martin Traxl, Head of Strategy & Digitalization, OMV

"apsolut impressed us in our project , particularly because of the open and cooperative partnership. The project team gets on very well with each other. But we were also impressed by the solution-oriented approach and the fast and efficient enablement of our support staff!"

Annette Römer, Project Manager at McKesson Europe
Success Story

We were able to roll out Ariba very quickly, because we established a pragmatic and open culture of cooperation with the apsolut team from the very beginning, and we were prepared to systematically align ourselves with the standard“,

Sarah Eve Wiedemann-Geiß, who oversees purchasing and supplier management at Bausparkasse Schwäbisch Hall
Success Story

“In addition to the high level of expertise, what impressed me most about the apsolut team was the enormous commitment. We were very well supported throughout all stages and overcame all difficulties together”,

Anne Otto, Business Process Expert, Digital Solutions, JOYNEXT
Success Story

“We knew that this was apsolut’s first project for a health insurance company, but that didn’t matter. Because apsolut always listened to us, understood our requirements and finally delivered solutions. We could design different processes for direct and indirect purchasing. Together we work professionally in state-of-the-art mode.”

Michael Spiess, Chief Procurement Officer, Sanitas Krankenversicherung
Success Story

"apsolut has been supporting us in the ope-ration of our SRM system for 10 years. It does not matter whether we report a problem in the production system or want to discuss change requests. We are contacted by apsolut in a timely manner to resolve our concerns or discuss our requirements in detail. apsolut always provides the important piece of securi-ty in the background - if anything goes wrong, they always help quickly and straightforwardly."

Torsten Enseroth, SAP S/4HANA Solution Architect, Friedhelm Loh Group
Success Story

"When selecting a partner for our procurement transformation, a high level of technical know-how was of course also important to us. Here, apsolut was able to convince us with best practices from customers of a comparable size. The decisive factor in the end was the experience in change management! Only in this way were we able to introduce a fully-fledged procurement system that is also accepted by all employees."

Göktürk Simsekol, Digital Transformation Director, Flint Group
Success Story

"Although personal contact was very limited due to Corona, a strong team formed during the intensive project phase. The decision-making paths at BITZER and apsolut were always short so that issues could be dealt with promptly and the planned go-live date achieved. The home office was not an obstacle, but also gave us the necessary flexibility for a project of this size.

All team members have done a great job, I have rarely worked so well with a consulting firm!"

Steffen Bauer, Project Manager, BITZER
Success Story

"The mix of virtual design discussions, system demonstrations and break-out sessions, supported by best-in-class tools that allowed us to annotate and track tasks and decisions during screen sharing, enabled us to work closely with apsolut even though distances of up to 12,000 kilometres had to be bridged. We were very pleased that both our projects could be successfully implemented with the help of apsolut."

Alina Aftene, Procurement Solutions Specialist, Delivery Hero

“For the new Ariba system, wewere able to onboard more than 1,400 users in three national subsidiaries with only little training effort. With regard to our Procurement processes, we have gained significant transparency and control.“

Jane Wanger, Global Procurement Systems & Support bei KSB
Success Story
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Webinar in Cooperation with SAP: Digitalisation of Direct Procurement in Medium-sized Companies – The Example of Festool

Find out first-hand how Festool was able to significantly increase efficiency in procurement and digitalise the exchange of documents with their suppliers. In addition, we will show you how you can introduce the SAP solution in medium-sized businesses in a cost-efficient and plannable way.

Language: German

2023-09-28 Online

Webinar in Cooperation with SAP: Digitalisation of Direct Procurement in Medium-sized Companies – The Example of Festool

SAP Spend Connect Live

The SAP Spend Connect Live event brings together a community of procurement and supply chain leaders from businesses and industries across the world to share ideas, learn from each other's success, and discuss best practices. Listen to various apsolut customers like Porsche, OMV, Frutura and Heidelberg Materials, sharing their procurement transformation stories and meet us on site in Vienna.

2023-10-09 Vienna

SAP Spend Connect Live

apsolut Global Procurement eConvention 2023

Our successful event series is finally going international: Join us for exciting customer sessions and news from SAP on procurement transformation and intelligent spend. Gain invaluable knowledge directly from industry experts to elevate your procurement strategy. Experience some insightful hours with us, where you decide which topic you want to dive deeper into.

2023-10-26 Online

apsolut Global Procurement eConvention 2023

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