SAP Datasphere as a central cloud DWH: GEBHARDT Group provides a clear view of current KPIs for incoming orders and orders booked

Smart and robust intralogistics that efficiently manage internal material and goods flows from goods received to production and dispatch and make the best possible use of storage space is a business-critical factor in many industries.

When it comes to digitalizing and sustainably optimizing intralogistics, leading companies such as STIHL, Miele, BMW, MERCK, Ravensburger Spieleverlag and the online retailer Flaconi rely on the facilities, systems and digital Industry 4.0 and IoT services of the GEBHARDT Intralogistics Group. The family-run company from Sinsheim offers innovative solutions for in-house logistics. It has over 1,000 employees at ten locations worldwide and generated a turnover of around 200 million euros in 2023.

Tailor-made services from planning to production, which takes place exclusively in its own factories, through to implementation come from a single source - this is the cornerstone for commercial success. GEBHARDT also supports its customers in the digitalization and networking of intralogistics as part of Industry 4.0 with the Galileo cloud IoT platform developed in-house and in the linking of intralogistics systems and the direct coupling of their controls with SAP software.

In order to continue to operate successfully on the market in the future, GEBHARDT primarily needs efficient and transparent business processes in all areas and forward-looking corporate management based on key performance indicators (KPIs) such as incoming orders and orders booked.

„Like many other companies, we use these KPIs to forecast how our business will develop so that we can adjust sales and production at an early stage.“

Kevin Stadler, CFO of the GEBHARDT Intralogistics Group

There was therefore no way around the use of a modern, centralized data warehousing solution (DWH), especially as the economic growth of the GEBHARDT Group means that the amount and complexity of the data required for reporting is constantly increasing. Recently, the cloud solution SAP Datasphere (formerly SAP Data Warehouse Cloud) has been consolidating daily figures on incoming orders and orders booked from the entire group of companies in a single environment and providing them at a detailed level and in high quality for KPI reporting in SAP Analytics Cloud.

Management and authorized end users in controlling and sales can call up the key figures at any time with just a few mouse clicks. They are displayed graphically on a dashboard in a clear and easy-to-understand manner and can be refined and further evaluated by drilling down to the desired level of detail, if necessary down to the level of individual customer order items.

„This provides the transparency needed to recognize at an early stage how incoming orders and orders booked are developing and to react quickly to changes with well-founded decisions. This allows us to manage our business activities even more targetedly and with greater foresight – a clear added value.“

Hugo Ferreira da Silva, Project Manager

As SAP Datasphere automatically extracts and harmonizes the data from the source systems, there is no need to prepare and provide it manually, leaving more time for analysis and interpretation of the figures. And because the data is enriched with additional information such as geolocalization, its quality and informative value – and therefore also that of the KPI reports – have noticeably improved.

For the introduction, ORBIS SE was brought on board as a consulting and implementation partner with business analytics expertise in the SAP environment, although the internal IT department was able to independently implement reports in SAP Analytics Cloud and Cloud DWH, as well as some transformations. Together with the internal project team, ORBIS first created a proof of concept (PoC) for testing purposes, after which it set up and implemented a customized KPI reporting system for incoming orders and orders booked.

ORBIS also supported the internal team with the technical design of the solution and the connection of the source systems – SAP ERP, SAP Sales Cloud – as well as with the extraction, import and transformation of the data. An important aspect was the transfer of knowledge from ORBIS to GEBHARDT. As SAP Datasphere is a low-code solution, the development of many work areas can be carried out by specialist users, while internal IT focuses on the technical operation of the cloud DWH and the connection of other source systems.

Thanks to the trusting cooperation between the internal project team and the consultants from ORBIS, the implementation was completed on time and within budget.

KPI reporting based on the cloud DWH is now gradually being extended to other user groups and specialist departments. In the near future, cost center managers and project managers will also receive corresponding dashboards. And in finance, a universal journal for financial and controlling data is currently being set up as part of a follow-up project with the support of ORBIS.