BearingPoint client success story: Vorwerk achieves harmonized end-to-end processes with SAP S/4HANA

Vorwerk embarked on a digital transformation journey to support its growth and innovation goals with SAP S/4HANA as the backbone of its global operations. BearingPoint has been Vorwerk's trusted partner over the past five years in its quest to upgrade its end-to-end processes and leverage cutting-edge technologies.

Amsterdam, April 11, 2024 - Vorwerk is known for its innovative products, such as the Thermomix® kitchen appliance, the Kobold range of vacuum cleaners, and the JAFRA cosmetics line. With a presence in more than 60 countries, the company's mission is to offer high-quality products and services that improve the lives of customers and create value for stakeholders.

The combination of direct sales of premium products, which is at the core of its business model, with other sales approaches, such as online stores as well as conventional company-owned stores, has prompted Vorwerk to continually find smart solutions for greater efficiency and harmonized processes across its global network. Consequently, one of the company's strategic initiatives was to ensure a smooth transition from legacy systems and processes to SAP S/4HANA, especially as it wanted to avoid any potential disruption caused by the upcoming SAP Business Suite 7 maintenance outage announced for 2027.

Leveraging SAP S/4HANA and best practices across different divisions and countries

To ensure a consistent implementation of SAP S/4HANA in Vorwerk's existing SAP instance, BearingPoint adapted the previously developed B2C template to the current requirements of the company's B2B processes. The project team then designed and configured the SAP S/4HANA system based on the global template and Vorwerk's requirements while ensuring compliance with local regulations and standards. The addressed processes included the order-to-cash, features related to sales and distribution streams, purchase-to-pay, and financial and controlling workflows. It also covered master data governance, integrating data concerning governance, onboarding, and changing business partners. The historical and master data from the legacy systems to the SAP S/4HANA system data was migrated and validated, ensuring data consistency and accuracy. The Master Data Governance is also the single point of truth for master data delivering data to other systems.

BearingPoint first deployed the SAP S/4HANA solution in Vorwerk International Switzerland, which was soon followed by the central warehouse and other business operations in Germany. The team also managed the change management and communication among stakeholders, such as business users, IT teams, consultants, and partners. BearingPoint also trained and empowered Vorwerk's SAP S/4HANA users to adopt the new system and processes and leverage the new capabilities and insights. Currently, the eighth go-live release is being prepared.

Accelerating innovation and growth to enable new business models and opportunities

By leveraging SAP S/4HANA, Vorwerk has now achieved a good level of harmonized and standardized end-to-end processes for its holding entities. The solution provides Vorwerk with a single point of truth, gaining transparency and access to consistent information across the company.

Vorwerk can now increase productivity and leverage analytics to improve forecasting and optimize its business decisions. SAP S/4HANA also offers Vorwerk a user-friendly interface with Fiori apps, which makes it easier for the company's employees to navigate the system and all its processes smoothly and efficiently.

BearingPoint is a reliable and mature partner for all our FiCo and Supply Chain processes. With several successful go-lives, BearingPoint proofs to meet our expectations concerning quality, implementation lead time and cost sensitivity.

Oliver Freitag, Business Project & Product Manager at Vorwerk

About Vorwerk

Vorwerk is the number one direct sales company in Europe and the world leader in direct sales of premium household appliances. The family-owned company was founded in Wuppertal (Germany) in 1883. Vorwerk's core business is the production and sale of high-quality household products (Thermomix® kitchen appliance, Kobold vacuum cleaner). Vorwerk always seeks direct contact with its customers, whereby its advisors serve as the central point of contact. The akf group also belongs to the Vorwerk family. Vorwerk generated group sales of €3.2 billion in 2022 and is active in more than 60 countries.

About BearingPoint

BearingPoint is an independent management and technology consultancy with European roots and a global reach. The company operates in three business units: Consulting, Products, and Capital. Consulting covers the advisory business with a clear focus on selected business areas. Products provides IP-driven digital assets and managed services for business-critical processes. Capital delivers M&A and transaction services.

BearingPoint's clients include many of the world's leading companies and organizations. The firm has a global consulting network with more than 10,000 people and supports clients in over 70 countries, engaging with them to achieve measurable and sustainable success.

For more information, please visit:

• www.bearingpoint.com
• www.linkedin.com/company/bearingpoint
• @BearingPoint

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