SAP ERP Success Story: Boehringer Ingelheim

Pharmaceutical company Boehringer Ingelheim was facing a challenging problem: the batch recording process across all 15 German production units was paper based and manual. As a result, data analysis was slow. The company wanted to automate its processes and enhance control so as to allow for faster data analysis and needed a powerful partner.

Boehringer’s objectives included digitizing records to reduce the manual effort involved, as well as associated errors. The company also wanted to raise the speed and efficiency of all processes through automation and enable timely analysis of production data through statistical process control. It was imperative for Boehringer to increase the transparency of all solutions and service. To do so, the company partnered with SAP to leverage its ERP application and manufacturing solution.

To implement the SAP ERP and manufacturing solution, Boehringer conducted a pilot run at its aerosol manufacturing and packaging plant. In the process, company leaders received expert advice on change management from SAP Consulting. The solutions were then rolled out at four production facilities, with full implementation across the entire enterprise slated for 2009.

SAP became the preferred ERP and manufacturing solution vendor for Boehringer Ingelheim as a result of favorable results in a feasibility study. In addition, SAP also offered the functionality necessary to meet all key requirements, delivering a positive experience with all SAP solutions. With full implementation, the company expects to enjoy all the benefits built into the SAP platform.

As a result of the SAP implementation, a completely electronic and more comprehensive documentation process was put in place. This helped to improve accuracy, speed and efficiency, and helped the company to achieve significant time savings across the documentation process. By establishing the basis for powerful reporting and analysis, the company was also able to deliver greater visibility for all users.