The family business Mahr GmbH uses SAP FI to change its financial accounting processes successfully, and thus adjusts strategically to the current market requirements. This ensures faster and more efficient work.
Mahr GmbH is a medium-sized family business that operates worldwide; its headquarters are in Göttingen, Lower Saxony (Germany). Mahr is traditionally associated with production measurement technology, quality and innovation. Aside from high-quality measuring devices to check workpiece geometry, its product range also includes high-precision gear and metering pumps, as well as high-precision ball bearings as a universal component in mechanical construction. Being an application specialist in the field of production measurement technology, Mahr solves measurement technology tasks for its customers, and is the go-to point for matters related to quality. Mahr provides high-precision metering solutions for manufacturers of synthetic fiber, elastomers and fiber composites, as well as for their suppliers and, generally, for the plastics industry. The company has around 1,600 employees, and has representations not only in Germany, but also in the Czech Republic, the United States of America, and China. Since the previous financial accounting software was no longer capable of meeting the requirements of this growing and globally active company, Mahr was faced with the challenge of introducing a new system. In its search for a modern alternative program, Mahr opted for SAP.
The main reasons for implementing new accounting software were primarily the complex administrative process and the enormous time expenditure. „Our accounting staff needed a new system that would allow them to work more efficiently and faster, thus generating good results with little effort. User-friendliness, flexibility and transparency were the factors that sold us in the end on the SAP solution,“ says Eckhard Hengst, head of accounting at Mahr GmbH. The new financial accounting system comes with substantially more evaluation options regarding actual and target data than the old solution. The Controlling and Accounting departments also saw their administrative expenditure drastically reduced after the introduction of the new system. Sycor was the obvious implementation partner: „Given its regional proximity and tremendous industrial expertise, as well as its convincing approach to projects, Sycor is the perfect partner for us,“ adds Mr. Hengst. Apart from the initial consultation, planning and realization with respect to the SAP FI introduction, Sycor also provides support for the solution.
The introduction of the new system affected all processes in financial accounting, i.e., main accounts, period-end closing, accounts payable/receivable, fixed assets, and cash management. The integration of the financial accounting system was very organized; legacy data were imported quickly and without complications. One challenge in the implementation was the interface connection to the logistics ERP system PSI Penta. Necessary change requests, particularly concerning overhead controlling, were also implemented as part of the project. The implementation, including adaptations, legacy data import and training, was completed within the shortest amount of time possible: „The new system was originally planned to be taken live on April 1, 2015, but it was all done three months ahead of time. This successful and fast introduction of SAP FI was made possible only by the excellent cooperation between our employees and the Mahr staff,“ stresses Heiko Schneemann, Sycor project manager. The next step is an international rollout of the solution by 2018 to include France, the Czech Republic, the U.S., and China.