With SAP S/4HANA Cloud, public edition customers across various industries and sizes can scale their business and stay agile. Three midsize companies show how that works in entrepreneurial practice and how GROW with SAP takes these capabilities to a new level.
Midsize companies are of enormous importance to economies worldwide, as they employ around 55% of all workers. They are also very important to SAP, comprising more than 80% of the company’s customer base. Midsize companies rely on rapid growth for their long-term success – but that is often easier said than done in view of the shortage of skilled workers and other challenges.
An ideal way to nurture that growth is SAP S/4HANA Cloud, public edition, an out-of-the-box cloud enterprise resource planning (ERP) solution that offers the latest industry-specific best practices and continuous innovation. And the recently launched GROW with SAP solution can provide a complete offering to help any size business adopt cloud ERP with speed and predictability. It offers SAP’s ready-to-run cloud ERP solution, SAP S/4HANA Cloud, public edition, together with adoption and acceleration services, as well as access to customers, partners, and SAP experts to allow businesses to thrive in the cloud.
Agility Is the New Currency
Midsize enterprises need the ability to scale without driving up costs and complexity. Agility, especially for midsize companies, is the new currency if they want to survive and thrive in the current market.
A look at three midsize companies with 3,500, 700, and 50 employees demonstrate how it all works and how other companies can also benefit. They met at the Growth Summit and have three things in common. First, they are on an exponential growth path. Second, they are undergoing a digital transformation. And third, they are all using SAP S/4HANA Cloud, public edition, which forms an integral part of GROW with SAP.
The key to success in any business is growth
Sustained growth requires the right blend of forward-thinking management; intelligent, cloud-based technology investments; and strategic financial planning. At the Growth Summit held earlier this year, top business and technology leaders came together to gain insights on how to achieve and manage sustainable growth across their organizations in a rapidly changing economic environment. In an inspiring panel discussion, Eric van Rossum, chief marketing and solutions officer for Cloud ERP at SAP, joined Christoph Lienhard, VP Global IT, Komax, Alessio Maso, CFO, VP Solar, and Carl-Fredrik Rindebro, CFO, WirelessCar, to discuss how organizations can continue to grow regardless of external factors by adopting a sound strategy and employing the right cloud-based technology solutions.
Watch an on-demand version of the customer interview here.
Foster Innovation Through a Rock-Solid ERP Environment
The Swiss-based Komax Group, which has approximately 3,500 employees worldwide, is the market and technology leader in automated wire processing. Its growth path over the last few years included the acquisition of multiple subsidiaries. SAP S/4HANA Cloud, public edition offered the ability to quickly deliver an ERP solution to the new entities. “And there is the added advantage of regular new releases,” said Christoph Lienhard, VP of Global IT at Komax. “I don’t want to go back to tailor-made, customized ERP solutions. Forget all those long and drawn-out ERP upgrade projects.”
The company’s vision is the Smart Factory by Komax, which, among other things, provides innovative digital services for customers, connecting machines via cloud services and the Internet of Things to SAP S/4HANA Cloud, public edition. “To achieve this vision, we need to have a rock-solid ERP environment, a solution that is aligned with our cloud, software-as-a-service (SaaS)-first strategy and that we can roll out across the company as quickly as possible,” said Lienhard. “Innovation is key for us.”
Although Komax’s innovation vision relies heavily on technology, Lienhard is quick to point out that managing innovation and leading the company’s vision is more of a people-centric job than a technology-centric one. “It’s a change for the people indeed. Some of our employees go through this transition to cloud ERP once in their lifetime. And while they were used to getting everything they ever wanted in their on-premise ERP system, we now have a SaaS cloud ERP system that comes with a certain degree of standardization we acknowledge and appreciate to ultimately realize our vision of a Smart Factory. Get your people involved early, not at the end,” he said.
“Get People Involved at the Beginning!”
Alessio Maso, CFO at VP Solar, completely agreed. “Get the people involved at the beginning, not at the end. That’s the key,” he said. With 50 employees, VP Solar is a fully integrated system distributor for renewable energy, serving Italian and European markets with electric vehicle (EV) chargers, photovoltaic panels, batteries, storage, and other solutions.
Last year, VP Solar implemented the new release of SAP S/4HANA Cloud, public edition. “We are working in a very flexible way,” said Maso. “The team members want to improve their skills and learn as much as possible.”
“No Business Is Too Small for SAP”
Carl-Fredrik Rindebro, the third participant in the Growth Summit, is the CFO of WirelessCar, a Swedish company with more than 700 employees around the globe. It delivers smart, safe, and sustainable solutions for connected cars. Its systems run on more than 10 million vehicles in over 100 countries.
WirelessCar has been wholly owned by Volvo since 2007. In 2019, Volkswagen Group acquired a major stake in the company, presenting the perfect opportunity for WirelessCar to build a new software landscape using cloud solutions from SAP. Looking to drive end-to-end operational visibility and speedy, cohesive financial reporting, the company made the decision to transform its operations through high-performance cloud solutions like SAP S/4HANA Cloud, public edition.
“Our growth path was perfectly supported by the SAP landscape,” said Rindebro. “We have also implemented SAP Analytics Cloud so that we can continue to learn and benefit in the future.”
When asked why he chose SAP, Rindebro had a clear answer: “I think with SAP S/4HANA Cloud, public edition we have massively reduced the complexity that we previously had both in the ERP implementation and in terms of maintenance. The experience we had over the past few years is proof that no business is too small for SAP.”
A Pathway of Possibilities
VP Solar’s Maso said there were many reasons for choosing SAP S/4HANA Cloud, public edition. “One key reason is that it’s really important to control all data internally, to manage all information in the company. I think SAP understands how important this aspect is.”
Rindebro is fascinated by the possibilities that cloud technology offers. “We were the first company in the Nordic region to roll out the public cloud for both SAP S/4HANA Cloud, public edition and SAP SuccessFactors solutions at the same time, and that was back in 2020,” he said. “Having that flexibility with all the different systems working as one, that’s fantastic for us.”
Lienhard from Komax pointed out the reliability of the solution: “SAP S/4HANA Cloud, public edition offers us stability and reliability. The regular releases, the reduced complexity, the customer orientation, and the quick start make it easy. We have other things we need to take care of. So, if this one is running smooth, it gives me a great benefit.”
The three examples demonstrate the possibilities offered by the leading ERP cloud solution. GROW with SAP takes these possibilities to a new level. It was designed to emphasize speed, predictability, and continuous innovation – three areas relevant to the business and technology needs of midsize companies.
