Flender and KNAPP intensify SAP^® EWM partnership

The German company Flender GmbH, a leading international manufacturer of mechanical and electrical drive systems, and KNAPP IT Solutions GmbH, the SAP^® competence center of the KNAPP group, intensify their collaboration. Flender has been using KNAPP’s SAP^® EWM support for the locations in Mussum and Voerde in Germany since March 2022. With the implementation of automated guided vehicles in Mussum and further planned SAP^® EWM S/4HANA rollouts, the strategic partnership is now expanding to include a new chapter.

For 125 years, Flender has been manufacturing and offering a wide range of gearboxes, couplings, generators, and associated services for various industrial applications. The focus is on shipping, rail vehicles, environmental technology, crane and conveyor technology, the paper and plastics industry, and wind energy. The company is represented in 33 countries and employs around 9,000 people.

Over 10 years ago, Flender made the strategic decision to implement SAP^® EWM as part of the construction of a fully automated high-bay warehouse at their location in Mussum, Germany. The company currently runs SAP^® EWM 9.5 and SAP^® EWM for S/4HANA in an on-premise version for its logistics processes. “In 2020, we started our SAP^® EWM S/4HANA transformation project with a pilot project at the location in Penig, Germany. After the successful Go-Live, we were looking for external development support for our in-house SAP^® team for further rollouts. KNAPP IT Solutions impressed us right from the initial discussions with their broad expertise. The realization of the missing adaptations in our existing SAP^® EWM solution as well as the support during the Go-Live and Hypercare phase were executed with an equally high level of quality. Over the entire duration of the project, it was an outstanding team effort in which KNAPP supported us with great flexibility and comprehensive know-how. In the end, we found more than just a “stopgap”, namely a strategic partner,” states Stefan Hüging, Teamlead SAP Warehouse & Production Execution and QM, Flender GmbH.

From an external development resource to a strategic SAP^® EWM service partner

Based on this successful initial project to close some development gaps for the S/4HANA migration at the location in Voerde, Flender decided to enter into a direct service contract with KNAPP. Since 2022, KNAPP has continuously supported the Flender team in the realization of various change requests and incident handling as part of the SAP^® EWM Service Desk. In addition to development services, this also includes consulting activities in various SAP^® EWM projects.

“The demands we place on our customer service are more than just support. Although we always start with classic support activities, our aim is always to build a strategic partnership with the customer that generates added value for their business. This is exactly the path we have taken with Flender. In addition to our current service contract for Flender’s existing SAP^® EWM solutions, we are now implementing automated guided vehicles from a third-party provider directly in SAP^® EWM for their location in Mussum, including the mapping of order management. We are also planning SAP^® EWM migrations with Flender for other locations worldwide,” says Thomas Kovacec, Head of SAP^® EWM Customer Service, KNAPP IT Solutions GmbH, giving an insight into the growing partnership with Flender.

About KNAPP

KNAPP is your technology partner for intelligent value chain management. Headquartered in Austria, the KNAPP group provides all-in-one solutions for automation and digitalization, from production and distribution to the point of sale. Excellent service and long-term collaboration make KNAPP the strong partner behind the success of their customers in the sectors healthcare, retail, food retail, fashion, wholesale and industry.

KNAPP IT Solutions GmbH has been the KNAPP group’s SAP^® EWM (Extended Warehouse Management) expert since 2012. As an official SAP partner, over 120 SAP^® EWM specialists at KNAPP provide all the services involved in the conception, implementation, testing, installation and support (including 24/7 Service Desk) of SAP^® EWM. This also includes MFS for greenfield and retrofit projects, integrating automation solutions by KNAPP and third-party suppliers. Find out more at knapp.com/kis.