WAGO GmbH & Co. KG, based in Minden (North Rhine-Westphalia), is a leading global family-owned company in electrical connection technology and automation. Founded in 1951 by Heinrich Nagel and Friedrich Hohorst, they acquired patent 838778 for screwless spring clamps from inventors Wagner and Olbricht. The company started as WAGO Klemmenwerk GmbH and successfully presented its first terminals at the Hannover Messe trade fair in 1951.
In the mid-1960s, Wolfgang Hohorst, Friedrich's son, optimized the materials by switching from thermoset plastic to polyamide 6.6. This was followed by further developments such as connectors and solderable terminals for printed circuit boards, which enabled the company to enter the lighting industry. Other innovations included VDE approval for spring-cage terminals and the 273 box terminal for electrical installations. At the end of the 1970s, WAGO established the industry standard for electrical connections with its Cage Clamp technology—vibration-proof cage clamps without additional parts.
Today, WAGO is a leading global supplier of components for electrical connection technology and electronic components for automation technology. The company is active worldwide with approximately 9,000 employees, €1.24 billion in sales and around 80 locations.
Decentralized planning processes in Excel and BI
Until recently, WAGO still managed its global planning in BI and local Excel files. However, it became increasingly apparent that these planning tools were reaching their limits—especially when it came to scalability. To keep pace with the company's growth, a uniform, integrated solution for all sales and demand planning processes was needed.
The combination of technical expertise, high process competence, and the exceptionally constructive collaboration between CONSILIO and us has led to the successful global harmonization of budget, demand, and sales planning—on time and within budget.
Due to the limitations of the tools used to date and because WAGO had agreed to take planning to a new level, those responsible attended a CONSILIO Summit. The aim of the multi-day event was to help decision-makers from various departments and divisions of the company to find the right path for digital transformation. In addition to technical presentations by SAP and its own SAP specialists, CONSILIO presented roadmaps and solutions, and well-known customers such as Follmann Chemie, Rehau, Rudolf Chemie, Packsys Global, and Getzner reported exclusively on transformation projects that had already been completed, were underway, or were still planned.
Impressed by the high quality of the presentations, the WAGO experts followed up with CONSILIO and, after in-depth discussions, commissioned workshops with CONSILIO in January/February and early summer 2023. In these workshops, the teams from supply chain, sales, and financial management identified the need for globally integrated planning. The goal: to introduce SAP IBP as a native tool to harmonize demand and supply processes and make them fit for the future.
Monetary sales and volume-based demand processes in harmony – for maximum efficiency and transparency
In the demand area, parallel processes in volume-based demand planning and monetary sales planning were first integrated into SAP IBP—including budget planning—and these areas have already gone live. The monthly rolling sales planning process is scheduled to follow in February 2026. This is a continuous process that integrates rolling demand forecasting and sales planning with production planning, includes successes, and enables the comparability of sales and volume demand data. This allows for improved coordination between sales and planning as well as seamless ERP integration for the transfer of preliminary planning requirements.
WAGO is already benefiting from the advantages of IBP for Demand. The IBP algorithms alone (e.g., automatic forecast optimization) and the inclusion of an externally determined AI forecast have led to improved forecast accuracy. The introduction of IBP also contributes significantly to promoting cross-departmental collaboration and transparency and enables a significant increase in planning efficiency through modern task and process management.
The IBP modules were rolled out simultaneously in all countries with around 900 to 1,000 users across 48 plants – no small feat, as the CONSILIO experts note.
With its necessary process, IT, and statistical expertise, CONSILIO helps to improve demand planning in the long term, thereby mastering demanding customer requirements and seasonal fluctuations.
Step by step towards an integrated supply chain
The next milestones are the go-live of rolling sales planning in February 2026, after which supply chain planning will be completed with additional modules (IBP for Response & Supply). The total project duration is around two years, with the demand part having been in progress for a year and now almost complete.