New processes, new growth: Standard ERP creates structure

What motivates a flourishing, successful company like Schweitzer Chemie GmbH to break up current processes, rethink the entire IT process and part with established structures? What is it like to gradually phase out the ERP system developed in-house and then switch to the modern Microsoft Dynamics NAV standard? Wolfgang Eggerl, Managing Director at Schweitzer Chemie, sums it up quite simply: "Imagine you want to build a house. If you want to aim high, the foundations have to be right. Building this can sometimes be exhausting and you have to knock down walls that have already been erected. But it's worth it. Because once the foundation is in place, you can finally build load-bearing walls." Schweitzer Chemie GmbH works mainly in the industrial sector, where water is used for a variety of purposes: Cooling systems, ventilation systems, drinking water. The company treats water to destroy pathogenic germs or stabilize its hardness. Schweitzer Chemie also supplies plant technology for water treatment.

Finally, the Swabian company offers Germany's largest service in the field of water purification and treatment. Behind these three pillars are around 180 employees, countless processes and an enormous array of technology. All of this has to be recorded and optimized in a functioning ERP system. Until now, the self-programmed IT solution "Kaktus" provided support here. When the decision was made to introduce the NAV standard together with Yaveon, it was clear that this project would be a mammoth task. One elementary point was the networking of the employees. Around a third of them work in the field, so it is important to connect them technically - especially to strengthen communication. The management also wanted new, standardized structures, which Yaveon is providing intensive support in developing. "We finally had to actively think about processes," explains Wolfgang Eggerl. The declared goal: to make Schweitzer Chemie fit for digitalization and other innovations.

In the beginning, there was a step backwards: "Previously, everything was programmed for us in a bite-sized format, but the established structures and processes were simply no longer comprehensible and we were also not at the cutting edge of technology. The master plan here is to use this standardization as a tool for complete process modelling." With more than 180 employees, this definition of processes is the quintessence for growth, speed and success.

The IT infrastructure must therefore be reset, so to speak, in order to remain fit for the future. Initially, the change caused some problems, which presented the management of Schweitzer Chemie with the challenge of motivating the employees. Adapting a completely new ERP system to the requirements of the respective company in a targeted manner is not something that can be done in the blink of an eye. Schweitzer Chemie also had to contend with a few setbacks after the introduction. Why did the company take on this complex project together with Yaveon? The overarching goal is to reduce costs, remain competitive and promote efficiency. At Schweitzer Chemie, the networking of the three company divisions plays a fundamental role here. As a result, the same team should work more effectively, costs per result should fall and growth opportunities should be exploited. Using NAV, processes are to be optimized so profitably that instead of 30 orders, in future 50 orders can be carried out by the same team in the same period of time.

The old structures and the old software are gradually disappearing from people's minds and the new NAV software is becoming more and more familiar - because nobody at Schweitzer Chemie would want to go back to the old, specially developed ERP. Wolfgang Eggerl describes the status quo as the "wild teenage years of change". Even though the Swabian company still has hurdles to overcome with regard to the ERP system, particularly in the service area, some processes have already improved considerably: documents and invoices can be processed more efficiently in financial accounting and logistics is already working twice as fast thanks to Microsoft Dynamics NAV.

The introduction of the ProMobile scanner solution also ensures that the batch management for the cleaning chemicals can be tracked. Wolfgang Eggerl expects further significant improvements in the coming year. And above all through the interaction between software and people. Mr. Eggerl, hand on heart: would you do it again? "You always have too little time for a project, there are always people who are against it. But the basis on which we build would never have changed, so we just got started and I would do it again."