Klepper Lifestyle GmbH
Traditional company focuses on digitization
„We needed a partner who understood us and our business, was also structured as a medium-sized company and could implement our requirements internationally.“
Michael Müller, CEO at Compass Logistics International AG
Company profile
In 1907, the sporting goods merchant Johann Klepper from Rosenheim started the world's first folding boat series production, which became a real success story in the following decades. After several name changes, the main assets of Klepper Faltbootwerft AG were taken over in 2020 by Klepper Lifestyle GmbH, a company of Compass Logistics International AG, Hamburg, which CEO Michael Müller founded specifically for this purpose.
New ERP-system in shortest time possible
In order to be up to date technologically, like the other companies in the Compass Group, the decision was made to go digital. To do this, they looked for a partner who, for situational reasons, had to set up a new system with Klepper Lifestyle in a very short time. "In doing so, we always rely on systems that are scalable, quick to implement, secure and easy to use," Müller explains. The Compass Group had already been working successfully for five years with one of the world's leading Microsoft partners for digitization and business software, the COSMO CONSULT Group. "At that time, we needed a partner who understood us and our business, was also structured as a medium-sized company and could implement our requirements internationally," says Müller. Thus, the proven software and consulting house was also the first choice for Klepper Lifestyle GmbH to standardize and simplify its business processes. As in the Compass Group with its international branches in 15 countries, Dynamics 365 Business Central based on Microsoft Azure was implemented as the software.
Turn three into one
Until then, the folding boat manufacturer had been using an online store, Excel tables and SAP Business One. This fragmented data landscape resulted in high costs and low transparency. However, if a company does not want to lose track of its own large range of products, the data must be well organized and clearly presented. In addition to products and product data, there are also extensive data records in the form of dealer orders and accounting documents. This is where Klepper had identified great potential for optimization. "In the past, there were the three different stand-alone solutions for managing this enormous amount of data. All of them were managed independently by different people. That's why, among other things, no one knew the entire inventory of the good 3,000 articles," knows Compass CIO Rolf Stukenbrock and explains: "Dealer orders were managed in a separate local database, whereas articles and their data could be found in the online store and an incomplete Excel table."
Thus, the task was to create a unified IT environment from a complex data landscape with three different systems. "Together with our long-term IT partner, we therefore developed a strategy paper for Klepper Lifestyle for the next few years. Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central was successfully implemented in the Microsoft Azure Cloud - and in just six weeks, designed as a remote project via Microsoft Teams," Stukenbrock summarizes the project and sums up: "When you work with IT professionals, you also manage challenges like this."
Solution with immediate effect
By merging the stand-alone solutions with the new system, Dynamics 365 BC now fully maps data and processes. These processes include invoice approval, which now takes place digitally, without haptic documents and transparently. Incoming invoices are automatically transcribed into a posting text, checked and then digitally archived. The system then displays not only the invoice, but also all the relevant associated information. In purchasing, it is possible to work with scanned documents and without paper, and to access all information from the various locations.
With production planning, scenarios for the coming year can be run through and seasonal business can be planned much better. In production and purchasing, the exact inventory was never known, and there were no corresponding planning options in SAP. If you wanted to know what was missing for production and had to be ordered, you could only record it physically in the warehouse. In addition, it was not possible to create and maintain the articles correctly, which meant that the inventories were often not declared correctly. Today, the communication channels are shorter, and one can work in a more structured and productive manner. "We know what is in stock and what is not. So we can give our customers concrete and reliable delivery times," says Sales Manager Lucas Marquardt. The collaboration of ERP and CRM has also led to significant improvements. The mobile connection of the CRM system has been implemented and, on the one hand, it is possible to access the mobile devices of field colleagues who, on the other hand, can retrieve information from the CRM system with their smartphones or tablets and enter notes or agreements directly into the system.
Successfully completed, but still no end
After this first phase with the introduction of Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central, a second phase will follow with the introduction of Dynamics 365 Sales and PowerBI. The online store is also to be fully docked onto Business Central. Where customer orders have to be entered manually today, Klepper will in future set up a web store automatically integrated into the ERP. The sales process is also to be automated and made clearer for sales staff with Dynamics 365 Sales. "We want to further improve the customer experience in the store: a 3-D model will help to get a better impression of the boats. And our online presence is to become more international by offering everything in English as well," announces the CIO. Of course, COSMO CONSULT is on board again, because "We are extremely satisfied with the cooperation and with the implementation of the new projects," affirms CEO Michael Müller, adding, "I see us in an extreme process of digitalization and change. We are changing together with our customers and need a strong partner like COSMO CONSULT to accompany us on this journey."
Share this page
