Linking an Enterprise Portal with SAP for optimal material data management
Brenntag Schweizerhall AG is Switzerland's leading chemical trade and distribution company. The company offers a comprehensive range of products and services to a broad clientele from a wide range of industries.
Company
Brenntag Schweizerhall AG
www.brenntag.ch
Location
Headquarters in Basel, Switzerland; further sites in Avenches, Zurzach, Lohn/ Bätterkinden, Switzerland
Type of Industry
Chemicals/pharmaceuticals
Market position
Market leader
Employees
230
ERP-System
SAP
Programs and Services
Intrexx Professional
Business Adapter for SAP
United Planet technical literature
United Planet Consulting
Requirements
In 2007, the company wanted to simplify and accelerate the process of entering material master data. This process had previously been complicated and time-consuming as everything had to be filled in on paper. Brenntag Schweizerhall AG was looking for a software solution that could map this whole workflow electronically.
Solution
The company opted for the portal software Intrexx from the Freiburg-based software provider United Planet, which very quickly won over the company's IT managers with its comprehensive data management functions and favourable cost/performance ratio. In addition to that, the Intrexx Business Adapter for SAP enables connection between the enterprise portal and the SAP system. Within a very short time, Intrexx had helped to establish an Enterprise Portal which, in interacting with the SAP system, enabled employees to create and maintain material master data in a clearly structured way. Previously, each department had to enter data on individual materials in a paper form and fuse this data manually later; now, employees can create the material master directly on the Intrexx portal. The software's authorization system enables administrators to define precisely who is allowed to create what data. In addition to general material data, employees can also enter warehouse-specific data, inspection procedures and deadlines or hazardous substances information. At the end of the workflow, the data is exported to the company's SAP system. An SAP job that runs every evening writes the released data into the appropriate material master. A status display shows which data has already been entered and which has not. This guarantees the greatest possible transparency at all times and also ensures that all material master data is definitely recorded. The complete workflow was significantly accelerated and simplified in this way.
Benefits
- Clearly structured data entry and management
- Link between Enterprise Portal and SAP
- Faster and simpler workflows
- No disruption between media
- Portal system can be enhanced as needed
