Trans-border Implementation of an SAP Asset Management Module

S&T has designed and implemented SAP Asset Management (AM) Module for Knauf Insulation – one of the largest insulation manufacturers in the world. The project was commissioned and coordinated by Knauf Insulation Slovakia and was successfully realized by both S&T Slovakia and S&T Hungary for the Hungarian Knauf Insulation subsidiary in Zalaegerszeg. Knauf Insulation can now benefit from a flexible and future-oriented system with reliable maintenance service for reasonable fee.

Knauf Insulation as part of the family-owned Knauf Group is the fastest growing insulation manufacturer in the world, offering a wide range of insulation materials to meet the growing demand for energy efficiency and acoustic performance in homes, commercial buildings and industrial applications. The company employs 5000 employees in more than 50 countries around the world with 30 manufacturing sites for the production of glass wool, stone wool, wood wool, extruded polystyrene (XPS) and expanded polystyrene (EPS).

Knauf Insulation is present in Slovakia since 2006 after the take-over of the stone mineral wool plant in Nova Bana. In Hungary in the plant in Zalaegerszeg are produced wood wool insulation materials and a central office in Budapest has been established in 2008 to cover commercial activities in the country.

S&T Slovakia helped the company to implement financial modules (legal aspects, user training) back in 2007 and, in 2008, S&T was awarded SAP service contract by Knauf Insulation in Novб Baňa. In addition, in 2008 new contract was signed for the implementation of an SAP Asset Management Module in Hungary, which was to be completed by the end of 2008.

“Company Knauf Insulation appreciates the cooperation with S&T Group, S&T is a reliable and flexible business partner that understands our needs”, says Alexander Йcsi, Financial Director, Knauf Insulation s.r.o.

Rapid Implementation

Until the beginning of the implementation project, Knauf Insulation worked with an external system (SCALA) that was connected to SAP via an interface. In addition to system consolidation, the aim of the implementation project was to reduce costs and minimize maintenance and administration effort. The experts from S&T Slovakia and S&T Hungary first carried out a requirements analysis and then drew up the system design. Once the SAP system had been prepared, user training was provided, user documentation was created and the final task consisted of migrating the old system to SAP, which included the final integration tests. Furthermore Knauf now has an ERP system that permits the flexible implementation of regulatory changes and facilitates a greater degree of precision in asset records and accounting depreciations, as well as allowing centralized asset records at a group level. Christian Rosner, CEO S&T: “SAP Application Management, in other words the consistent progression of SAP applications for customers, is becoming increasingly important. The Knauf Insulation order clearly illustrates one of the greatest advantages we can offer – the provision of top quality services across borders for customers that are internationally active, just as we are.” In addition to the project carried out for Knauf Insulation, S&T has already implemented application management projects for a range of customers, such as ABB Turbo Systems Switzerland, the automotive supplier Plastal in Poland, Compass Group Schweiz AG and Horiba Japan, a specialist in measurement and testing appliances which S&T also provides services for in China, Germany and Great Britain.

Application Management – Growth Market

Market research analysts Pierre Audin Consultants (PAC) consider Application Management to be one of the most active fields in today’s IT services market. In its “Applications Management in Europe – A Buyer’s Guide” study, published at the end of November 2008, PAC predicted that Application Management could become one of the largest areas of investment during the next three years. According to the study, expenditure on Application Management will exceed 9 billion euros in Western Europe in 2009. The demand for Application Management will be driven primarily by cost pressure, as customers seek to reduce their operational costs, rationalize their application systems and improve their software processes.