SAP Business ByDesign for LIGANOVA

Why LIGANOVA relies on SAP Business ByDesign and how the company benefits from it

LIGANOVA is one of the leading agencies in the field of brand and retail marketing. The company, which has more than 400 employees at four locations around the world, works primarily for major brands and global players, helping them to achieve modern appearances in order to remain successful in retail in the future.

Companies operating at this level have to keep an eye on their own digital infrastructure and, if necessary, update it to keep up with the times. This was also the case for the LIGANOVA agency, which wanted to update its ERP system in particular.

What was the challenge?

Working in an agency is characterized by great dynamism. In a constantly growing company, the existing IT landscape must also keep pace with developments and cover legal requirements. What was needed was a standardized SAP product that met the requirements of an agency, i.e., that enabled flexible processes. In addition, the front end had to meet modern requirements and the ERP basically had to contain open interfaces. Before the project began, LIGANOVA chose all4cloud as its partner for the ERP relaunch.

The biggest challenge in this project was to adapt the standardized processes of the SAP solution to the requirements of an agency. In particular, processes based on best practices came to the fore.

And what did the solution look like?

LIGANOVA chose SAP Business ByDesign as its new ERP system. In addition, together with its subsidiary LIGADIGITAL, the company developed a special front end for this ERP in order to adapt the handling of the system to the requirements of an agency.
In particular, the combination of standardized cloud ERP, individual front end and flexible external access to relevant data and processes spoke in favor of SAP Business ByDesign.

The new Cloud ERP system covers all operational business processes involved in projects via a single software. These include project creation, ordering of goods and services, order processing, invoicing and accounting.

In addition, there were a few special developments, such as a separate time recording system, separate costing models for special customer projects, a 3PL logistics module for the worldwide shipment of goods, and an internal bulletin board with jump-off options. These solutions were connected to the entire IT landscape via middleware.

However, the highlight is certainly the customized frontend LIGAOSxSAP developed by LIGANOVA, which enables an intuitive and user-friendly control of the SAP project even for inexperienced users. For example, customer projects can be set up by means of questionnaires instead of complicated input masks. The middleware (CPI), with which all data and processes are synchronized, comes from all4cloud, which also implemented the Cloud ERP system.

With our new SAP cloud ERP, we are dovetailing and harmonizing SAP’s order and production way of thinking with a project-centric business model. – Matthias Gölz, Executive Board LIGADIGITAL AG

What success does the new ERP system imply?

To prepare all users for the new system landscape, training was provided for all employees. In addition, digital instructions and FAQ pages were created to provide quick help when needed.

During the development process, key users from various areas were also selected who were responsible for developing and designing the individual solution, as well as for implementing SAP Business ByDesign. In addition, these key users were specially trained to act as multipliers in their respective teams.

With SAP Business ByDesign, LIGANOVA has received a modern and future-proof cloud ERP system. An impressive price-performance ratio, the open interfaces as well as the individual frontend based on them are essential advantages of this solution. Most importantly, however, it has enabled the company to establish a coherent value creation or business process across the course of each individual project.

All in all, the company has gained more efficiency and – thanks to standardization – more legal certainty as a result. In the future, the new Cloud ERP will be optimized in individual areas. However, larger follow-up projects are not necessary.

We have developed an individual, intelligent, intuitive and humane operating system for the profit-oriented management of service companies. – Torsten Dietz, Managing Director LIGANOVA GmbH

LIGANOVA is one of the leading agencies in the field of brand and retail marketing.  They wanted a standardized SAP product that would meet the requirements of an agency, i.e. enable flexible processes. Before the project began, LIGANOVA chose all4cloud as its partner for the ERP reboot.