Sensors and measuring instruments are indispensable to industrial production. They record fill levels, flow rates, pressures or temperatures and relay the information to control systems. Endress + Hauser has been active in this core area of process technology for almost 60 years. The company group with its holding company in Reinach, Switzerland, supplies measuring instruments, automation solutions and services all over the world.
Improved customer service
In order to be able to supply customers in such diverse industries - chemicals, foodstuffs, power supplies or shipbuilding - quickly and flexibly, accuracy and transparency are important in the communication of master data. Material master data are a particularly important raw material. The data has to represent the wide range of products and their diverse uses.
Easily expand master data
Therefore, Endress + Hauser wanted to expand the existing product data for its measuring devices with additional information about their technical characteristics. The goal was to answer customer queries about specific product properties with less effort and in the best quality at short notice.
Consolidated product data
Endress + Hauser InfoServe took over the task. The company's IT service provider chose IBSolution to develop the right concept. For the award of the contract to the Heilbronner Beratungshaus, the experience from almost 20 projects for SAP-supported master data management spoke.
IBSolution is one of six Special Expertise Partners of SAP with particular expertise in SAP NetWeaver Master Data Management (MDM). The MDM training courses at SAP in Walldorf are also held by speakers from the consulting firm.
Already after 20 consulting days, the solution model was not only available in theory, but also worked in practice. Loren Heilig, Managing Director of IBSolution, emphasized: "We do not keep our clients with protracted surveys. Instead, we are able to build a prototype in the shortest possible time."
Endress + Hauser received a proof-of-concept (Proof of Concept), which describes in detail the extent to which the master data management of the company can be extended sustainably. At the same time, the consulting partner was able to present a functional pilot application which, for example, processes product data from real operation. The demonstration application allows the clients to try out the solution model themselves. "We leave the customer, so to speak, to the steering wheel himself to make a test drive," says Heilig.
In the Proof of Concept, the strengths of SAP master data management are fully utilized. The chosen modeling procedure allows product master data to be enriched as simply as possible and to keep the additions maintained. To this end, the consultants designed a maintenance interface with the Data Manager of SAP NetWeaver MDM. The solution convinced Endress + Hauser. It is refined with the support of IBSolution and introduced in individual distribution companies.
The company then has a central MDM application, which is used to maintain the standardized product data extensions worldwide. Up to now, the technical product data of sales personnel requested by customers were determined manually from technical documentation and prepared individually for each customer.
The process now found offers clear advantages for the entire Endress + Hauser Group. It makes the technical product information more transparent and accelerates the process of compiling accurate customer- and application-specific products.
A small central team is responsible for the maintenance work and the release. All employees have the same reliable product information. This particularly strengthens the productivity of new employees or new distribution companies.
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