As our latest study on SAP S/4HANA transformations in practice shows, most companies struggle to stay on schedule and within budget during the transformation. Not so for the E.G.O. Group: in an ambitious project, the supplier of household appliances successfully migrated its operations, including 23 sales and production companies in 19 countries, to the new ERP system. In this interview, Dr. Karlheinz Hörsting, CEO of the E.G.O. Group, shares the secret behind their project discipline. He also explains why a shift in approach is not a “deal-breaker” and highlights the critical importance of early, professional change management in such a large-scale project.
The E.G.O. Group has already successfully transformed to the new ERP system SAP S/4HANA. What were the main objectives of the transformation?
HÖRSTING With the introduction of SAP S/4HANA in 2024, we pursued two key goals for the E.G.O. Group (E.G.O.) at 23 development, production and sales locations in 19 countries. Firstly, with the new ERP software solution, we created a future-proof, technical system basis that will serve as the foundation for all digital expansions and future technical developments. Secondly, we aimed to implement standardization in SAP processes to the greatest possible extent.
What is your initial assessment, what expectations have been met or not met?
HÖRSTING The initial assessment is very positive. We successfully implemented SAP S/4HANA within the specified timeframe and budget, and were fully operational at the go-live. I have to commend our employees and everyone involved in the project for their outstanding efforts. We are still diligently working on the standardization measures. The risk simply would have been too high to introduce SAP S/4HANA across 20 company codes simultaneously while changing all processes and workflows at the same time.
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