Closer integration of departments and processes with SAP S/4HANA 

Plastic is an extremely versatile material. With more than 40 years of experience, Fried Kunststofftechnik GmbH based in Urbach in southern Germany is a leader in plastics technology and surface finishing. Today the third-generation family business has over 250 employees. All of the products made by Fried Kunststofftechnik GmbH for its customers are custom solutions. They range from small to large series, from low to high quantities, and from small dimensions to components several meters large. The necessary special tools are also fabricated by experts at Fried. Components are coated and assembled on site in the factory.

Combining traditional values with modern technologies is one of the company’s guiding principles. In order to offer custom solutions of the highest quality to its customers at fair prices, Fried continuously invests in state-of-the-art production equipment. Efficient machine planning along with consistent digitalization and automation result in economical production. The company’s future viability also depends on a high-performance IT infrastructure.

Stable yet adaptable basis for digitalization

The ERP system is typically the digital hub for a production company such as Fried Kunststofftechnik GmbH. The demands placed on such a system are always growing. It has to reliably record what is happening within the company and must also have the flexibility to meet the new Industry 4.0 requirements. “Our ERP system had become outmoded and was reaching its limits more and more frequently with regard to capacity as well as functionality,” says Johannes Thomas, Head of IT and Controlling at Fried Kunststofftechnik GmbH. “We did adapt the system to our special needs with various third-party solutions. But all in all, we nevertheless wanted to integrate the various departments more closely.”

After a comprehensive functional analysis, Fried decided to implement SAP S/4HANA as the basis for increasingly digital business processes. SAP S/4HANA is an intelligent, integrated ERP system based on the high-performance SAP HANA in-memory database. “SAP S/4HANA is the market leader for the further automation of industry-specific processes and the integration of various departments,” explains Dietmar Lohr, Sycor Project Manager responsible for the implementation of SAP S/4HANA at Fried. “Medium-sized enterprises in particular such as Fried Kunststofftechnik GmbH need an ERP system that supports further development and special processes, such as the component assembly.”

In the search for an IT service provider to assist Fried Kunststofftechnik GmbH with the implementation of the new system, the project team headed by Johannes Thomas found Sycor GmbH. Sycor scored points with its industry-specific experience in particular. The IT service provider was able to provide references in the plastics industry and had previously implemented ERP systems for companies engaged in series production. Sycor is a proven SAP specialist and uses a methodology developed in-house called Sycor Model Company. With preconfigured end-to-end processes and predefined business content for various industries and business areas, the project cost and implementation time for SAP S/4HANA can be considerably reduced.

Full process integration across all departments

Based on this experience, Sycor took on the implementation of SAP S/4HANA at Fried Kunststofftechnik GmbH with the modules Finance & Controlling (FI), Sales & Distribution (SD), Material Management (MM), Project Systems (PS), Production Planning (PP), Plant Maintenance (PM), Human Capital Management (HCM) and Extended Warehouse Management (EWM). Some of the existing third-party solutions were also migrated. Sycor Project Manager Dietmar Lohr describes some of the special project challenges: “The requirements that have to be met by the ERP system are highly individual for each company. At Fried Kunststofftechnik GmbH, it was important to implement series production with sometimes smaller, sometimes larger quantities as well as component assembly. Then there is the entire development department, which involves project-specific individual production. We worked with the customer and found an optimal solution.”

“Thanks to SAP S/4HANA, our business processes now work together even more effectively,” says Johannes Thomas in conclusion. “All departments from Purchasing and Scheduling to Sales and Accounting to Warehousing and Production are largely integrated. We can now live up to our claim of consistently delivering premium quality and driving innovations with the help of reliable, modern digital IT solutions.” The SAP support specialists at Sycor ensure smooth operation in day-to-day business: With SAP Application Management and Support Services, the IT service provider minimizes downtime and ensures that errors are eliminated quickly when they do occur. After all, the performance and availability of the SAP system are crucial to the business success of Fried Kunststofftechnik GmbH.