VOSS strengthens Competitiveness with Global Finance System
Successfully transitioning to S/4HANA in a big bang for the entire group provides the foundation.
VOSS Automotive has successfully carried out a comprehensive S/4HANA transformation with CONSILIO – on schedule, within budget and within the planned scope of the project.
In this project video, Sacha Dannewitz, Vice President IT & Digitalisation at VOSS, explains the reasons for choosing the cross-field approach, the biggest challenges during implementation and the factors that contributed to the smooth collaboration with CONSILIO.
VOSS Automotive, a company belonging to VOSS Holding and the Hans Hermann Voss Foundation, develops integrated system solutions for vehicle construction. These include, for example, solutions from the field of tubing and connection technology for fuel cells, SCR, pneumatics, and thermal management. Founded in 1931, this long-established company guarantees its customers the fastest possible service with a total of 19 subsidiaries and production sites worldwide. This includes technical support, customer-specific product development, sampling, production, and logistics according to the same standards.
VOSS is responding to the challenges facing the automotive industry – supply chain crises, raw material shortages, and high investments in new technologies – with the introduction of SAP S/4HANA. The aim is to modernize processes, increase efficiency, and enable data-driven decisions.
Core of the project is the “Global Finance” program, which is driving the digital transformation of finance. This is developing finance from a pure administrator to a strategic partner, providing impetus for logistics and the S/4HANA transformation in particular, and thus creating the basis for sustainable corporate management.
The switch to S/4HANA is essential if you want to strengthen your long-term competitiveness—especially in the financial sector. With its automotive expertise, CONSILIO is the perfect partner for us in this transition.
Global Transformation with a Downtime of only 4 Days
Project Organization
The project was internationally and cross-functionally designed, with CONSILIO as the lead partner, supplemented by Deloitte and SNP as supporters.
The transformation followed CONSILIO‘s cross-field strategy: greenfield in finance and controlling and brownfield in logistics. The organization followed the SAP Activate methodology (Explore → Realize) with clear roles: analysis and concept development in workshops, FIT/GAP comparison with best practices, creation of a backlog for quick wins and their prioritized implementation.
Project Scope
As a general principle, finance and controlling and logistics must always be considered together in the context of an S/4HANA transformation, as business processes are organized end-to-end and run across all areas. It was therefore not possible to redesign finance and controlling without adjusting the logistics processes.
Nevertheless, the project did not involve a comprehensive redesign, particularly for the logistics processes. However, during the Explore phase, CONSILIO identified so-called “low-hanging fruits” (quick wins) through a process check and recorded them in a backlog. This gave VOSS Automotive the opportunity to decide at the end of the Explore phase which quick wins should also be implemented during the Realize phase or, if necessary, at a later date. These included, for example, PP/DS, which was rolled out in advance during the project and implemented at the locations when they went live.
VOSS‘s “Global Finance” program thus deliberately set guidelines for all areas of the company.
The final Transition
VOSS decided to switch to S/4HANA in a big bang approach, i.e., converting the entire system to a uniform system, including finance and controlling for the entire group. Implementation over several phases would have meant having to maintain and service multiple ERP systems in parallel over many years, and that in different countries. This would have had a very negative impact on efficiency and costs.
With a downtime of only four days – including the weekend – VOSS went back online worldwide and resumed production at 100 percent capacity.
SAP PP/DS was rolled out in advance during the project and implemented at all locations when the system went live.
Project Benefits for VOSS Automotive
- Increased efficiency and utilization of innovations with S/4HANA
- Reduced support costs through globally standardized processes
- Modern basis for modules such as PP/DS, ECTR, or HCM
