BRITA Waterfilter Systems improves customer service

BRITA Water Filter Systems Ltd., Bicester/ Great Britain (BRITA UK), a wholly owned subsidiary of BRITA GmbH, Taunusstein, Germany, has introduced SAP CRM in its Professional Products division in order to map service processes in particular in an integrated manner and improve customer service on the basis of a future-proof solution.

In the "Managed End User Business" area at BRITA UK, customer contracts are managed and the replacement of BRITA filters is controlled. Previously, the service business was handled using database-based individual software that was connected to the local ERP and reporting systems and managed externally. However, the aging individual software was becoming increasingly difficult to maintain and expand. Since BRITA UK also plans to replace its existing ERP software with SAP ERP in the medium term, SAP CRM with an initial connection to the existing ERP system was the first choice. Future SAP ERP integration was already taken into account during the planning and development phase. For example, product master data is already synchronized with SAP CRM for BRITA UK via BRITA GmbH's central SAP ERP.

"The implementation partner was the consulting firm ORBIS AG, because the company has been working professionally in the SAP CRM environment for a long time and also has close relationships with SAP," explained Dr. Frank Nittka, Head of IT at BRITA GmbH. "The deciding factor in favor of the SAP CRM solution was not only the software's comprehensive functionalities, but also the company's IT strategy of a uniform, group-wide SAP platform."

For BRITA UK, the new CRM system has resulted in improvements since March of this year, particularly in the user interface and process support. The complete integration of order entry, warehousing and service, among other things, has made it possible to make processes more transparent and accelerate them together with external partners. The so-called iBase is highly appreciated by users - an overview that displays all installed products and their status for a location (e.g., Heathrow Airport) hierarchically by means of color codes and from which associated service processes can be triggered directly.

The introduction of SAP ERP at BRITA Waterfilters Systems in an expected two years will complete the full integration of the CRM solution into the group-wide ERP system.

About BRITA
With Sales of 282.8 million euros in fiscal 2009 and around 960 employees, the BRITA Group is one of the leading companies in its segment, drinking water optimization. Its traditional BRITA brand - synonymous in many countries with the table water filter - holds a leading position in the global water filter market. Headquartered in Taunusstein (near Wiesbaden), the company is represented by subsidiaries, sales and industry partners, and a joint venture in more than 60 countries on all five continents and operates production facilities in Germany, the United Kingdom, Switzerland, and India (joint venture). Founded in 1966, the inventor of the household table water filter develops, manufactures and markets innovative drinking water filters for domestic and commercial use. For more information, visit brita.de.

Company profile ORBIS
ORBIS is an internationally active business consulting company. ORBIS advises and supports international corporations and medium-sized companies - from IT strategy and system selection to business process optimization, system implementation and system integration. In doing so, ORBIS relies on the solutions of the market leaders SAP and Microsoft. Its core competencies include classic Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), Supply Chain Management (SCM), Logistics (LES/EWM), Manufacturing Execution Systems (MES), Variant Management, Customer Relationship Management (CRM), Business Intelligence (BI) and Product Lifecycle Management (PLM). ORBIS supports its customers as a reliable partner in the worldwide rollouts of their ERP solutions and processes. Own products for e-Learning and Business Intelligence, MES as well as numerous add-ons based on SAP and Microsoft complete the service portfolio. More than 1,000 successfully implemented customer projects are proof of the business consulting company's many years of experience in the manufacturing industry, mechanical and plant engineering, the automotive supply and consumer goods industries, and the retail sector. Long-standing customers include the Behr Group, Eberspächer, Hager Group, Hörmann KG, hülsta, HYDAC International, Jungheinrich, KSB, Linde Hydraulics, Paul Hartmann, Pilz, Rittal, Schott, Trelleborg Automotive AVS, Villeroy & Boch, Wagner Tiefkühlprodukte and the ZF Group.

Contact for the press
ORBIS AG
Bettina Gassen
Head of Marketing
Nell-Breuning-Allee 3 - 5
66115 Saarbrücken

Tel.: +49 (0)681/99 24-692
Fax: +49 (0)681/99 24-489
E-Mail: bettina.gassen(at)orbis.de
Web: orbis.de