New processes, new growth: standard ERP creates structure

What drives a thriving, successful company like Schweitzer Chemie GmbH to break open current processes, rethink the entire IT process, and part with established structures? What is it like to gradually phase out its own ERP system in favor of moving to the modern Microsoft Dynamics NAV standard? Wolfgang Eggerl, Managing Director at Schweitzer Chemie, puts it quite simply:
“Imagine you want to build a house. If you want to build high, the foundation has to be right. Creating it can be exhausting, and you may even have to tear down walls you have already put up. But it’s worth it. Because once the base is solid, you can finally build durable walls.”

Schweitzer Chemie GmbH works mainly in the industrial sector, where water is used for a variety of purposes: cooling, ventilation, drinking water. The company treats water to eliminate pathogens or stabilize hardness. Additionally, Schweitzer Chemie supplies system technology for water treatment.

As another core offering, the Swabian company provides the largest nationwide service in the field of water treatment and processing. Behind these three pillars are around 180 employees, countless processes, and an enormous array of technology. All of this must be recorded and optimized in a functioning ERP system. Until now, the self-developed IT solution “Kaktus” supported this. When the decision was made to introduce the NAV standard together with Yaveon, it was clear that this would be a mammoth project. One key point was connecting employees. Around a third of the workforce works in the field, making it vital to integrate them technically—especially to strengthen communication. In addition, management wanted new standardized structures, which Yaveon actively supported in developing. “We finally had to start thinking proactively about processes,” explains Wolfgang Eggerl. The declared goal: to prepare Schweitzer Chemie for digitalization and other innovations.

At first, there was a step back: “Up until now, everything had been custom-developed for us, but the entrenched structures and processes were no longer transparent, and we weren’t up to date with technology. The master plan now is to use this standardization as a tool for complete process modeling.” With more than 180 employees, this definition of processes is the essence of growth, speed, and success.

The IT infrastructure, in other words, had to be reset in order to remain future-proof. At the beginning, the change caused some problems, challenging Schweitzer Chemie’s leadership to motivate employees. Tailoring an entirely new ERP system to a company’s specific requirements is not something that happens overnight. Schweitzer Chemie also faced setbacks after the introduction. Why did the company take on such a demanding project with Yaveon? The overarching goals were to cut costs, remain competitive, and drive efficiency. At Schweitzer Chemie, networking the three business units plays a key role. The result should be that the same workforce operates more effectively, the cost per outcome decreases, and growth opportunities are leveraged. Using NAV, workflows are to be optimized so efficiently that instead of 30 orders, 50 orders can be processed in the same timeframe with the same team.

The old structures and legacy software are gradually fading from memory, and the new NAV software is becoming more familiar—because no one at Schweitzer Chemie would want to go back to the old, proprietary ERP. Wolfgang Eggerl describes the status quo as “the turbulent teenage years of change.” Although the Swabian company still faces hurdles in the ERP system, particularly in the service area, several workflows have already improved significantly: in finance, records and invoices can now be processed more efficiently, and logistics already works twice as fast with Microsoft Dynamics NAV.

The introduction of the ProMobile scanner solution also ensures lot tracking for cleaning chemicals. Wolfgang Eggerl anticipates further significant improvements in the coming year—primarily thanks to the interaction between software and people. Mr. Eggerl, hand on heart: Would you do it again?
“You never have enough time for a project, there are always people who are against it. But the foundation we are building on would never have changed, so we just got started—and yes, I would do it again.”