Symposium on all aspects of the supply chain
ifm SUCCESS DAYS
AFTER the SUCCESS DAYS is BEFORE the SUCCESS DAYS...
...and so it is that many guests have already asked to register for 2025. Of course, we are very happy to fulfil this wish here and now:
What are the ifm SUCCESS DAYS?
Whether logistics, IT, purchasing, operations or SAP – the same applies to everyone in the supply chain environment: The ifm SUCCESS DAYS offer information on current topics, explain new trends and technologies, provide information on the latest SAP-certified developments of the ifm supply chain solutions, give users a chance to speak and are an important networking platform.
The topic of the ifm SUCCESS DAYS 2024
The global economy is going crazy: political crises, climate change and international dependencies are leading to rising prices for consumers and companies. To remain competitive, it is important to create new financial scope. But how? Are there opportunities to unlock savings potential by optimising our supply chain processes?
There are! And three of them were focussed on at ifm's SUCCESS DAYS 2024: planning, pricing and processing are important levers for making the supply chain smarter and more efficient. How exactly this works and what Supply Chain Excellence has to do with an excellent supply chain was discussed at this year's SCM symposium.
Here you can take another look in the rear-view mirror.
SCM symposium and networking event
The presenter duo Comisel and Awode lead through the programme
Authentic, spontaneous and relaxed – that's what our presenter Gerlinde Comisel stands for. Since 2020, she has been guiding guests at the ifm SUCCESS DAYS through the event with charm and enthusiasm. When she became part of the ifm family 18 years ago, it quickly became clear that she would remain loyal to sales. Today, as part of the Global Operations team, she specialises in the internal CRM system.
For the second time, Louis Awode will be co-hosting the event alongside Gerlinde Comisel. He started his career five years ago as a working student and is now an indispensable part of the SCM Knowledge Factory team. He is passionate about building and transferring knowledge at ifm business solutions gmbh and is paving the way for a future-orientated learning culture using AI.
At home on the main stage: Gerlinde Comisel and Louis Awode from ifm
Try out the software
Test track
30 minutes with the ifm experts to discuss the modules of the GIB Suite on SAP ECC 6.0 and Supply Chain Excellence on SAP S/4HANA. The test track offers space for questions about the functionality and possible applications of our software. You can also experience this exciting live introduction to our software on-site in Siegen in 2025, when we welcome you to the next ifm SUCCESS DAYS.
Guided software tour on the test track
REVIEW OF THE AGENDA DAY 1 – 2024
Welcome
Planning, Pricing, Processing – The 3 P's of Supply Chain Excellence
What current challenges do process owners face and how can we support them with our products and services? Where do we create transparency, how do we facilitate operational activities, and how do we contribute to the optimisation of processes or the early detection of problems?
- Apollo – The theatre
- DAY 1 – 09:45 to 10:15 a.m.
With a technical and commercial education, a wealth of expertise in strategic product development and gifted sales skills: Björn Dunkel cannot be categorised in any box – or at least not just one! The current managing director of ifm business solutions gmbh and top product manager of ifm's Supply Chain Software stands for the solutions and the division itself like no other.
21 years at GIB, 20 of them in sales – hardly any customer or prospective customer is unfamiliar with his face. What is unknown, however, is that Bilgin Kilic began his career in the company as an ABAP programmer and headed the ABAP programming templates division for almost ten years. For almost four years, the sales professional has been fully responsible for direct sales.
SCM symposium and networking event
Your presenter at Apollino
Kübra Ari has been part of the ifm SUCCESS DAYS moderation team since last year. She can be found in the Apollino on both days. In real life, she has been part of the internal sales team for five years, where she is valued as a competent contact person for our customers and interested parties.
Kübra Ari, GIB S&D GmbH
SCX Overview & Customer Presentation
Detect, optimise and control with Supply Chain Excellence
How do you assess the quality of your supply chain? Which objective key figures can be used in a meaningful way? What benefits do you derive from a qualitative assessment of the process areas of Demand Planning, Manufacturing, Procurement, Inventory Management and Sales & Distribution?
- Uncovering potential using indicators
- Drill through: Which KPIs are behind the indicators?
- What are the causes behind the KPIs?
Janke Grebe shows you what is possible with Supply Chain Excellence on SAP S/4HANA, how you can control and manage more conveniently and clearly with Fiori and what benefits you can derive from this in management.
Then dive into the depths of SCX for Procurement with Variosystems and find out how Supply Chain Excellence works in practice. Global procurement from North America to Europe and Asia, with 5,500 assemblies and more than 35,000 active materials – this is no problem for the electronics manufacturing service provider Variosystems. André Bättig and Toni Gantenbein are up to date at the touch of a button, can pull individual status reports at any time and control all procurement processes from a centralised system. Critical materials, assemblies and sub-assemblies are displayed transparently and up-to-date, and even components with multiple uses remain in view.
Find out how the two professionals achieved this and what they have planned next in this top-class keynote speech.
- Apollo – The theatre
- DAY 1 – 10:20 to 11:05 a.m.
Having joined the company in 2007, Toni Gantenbein has already held numerous positions at Variosystems. Today, the trained electronics engineer is at home in the "Process & Tools Procurement" department, where he contributes his extensive technical expertise. He pioneered the ifm software, was the driving force behind the in-house procurement solution and is the professional responsible for setting up and expanding the formula system, for which he has developed numerous company-specific formulas that now form an important basis for strategic planning and operational material requirements planning.
More than 20 years of experience in IT and 25 years in the electronics sector are a testament to André Bättig's in-depth industry knowledge and technological expertise. As CIO, he was a pioneer in the implementation of SAP solutions and played a key role in driving the switch to S/4HANA. In 2019, he was the first SME to successfully implement the switch to S/4. His areas of responsibility include IT Operations, IT Business Excellence and IT Business Applications. His focus here is on implementing the strategic corporate vision and ensuring operational excellence. He aims to position the IT department not just as a support function, but as a strategic business partner and to actively contribute to the company's value creation and growth.
Janek Grebe knows how to successfully use his many years of experience as an in-house consultant for PP and PLM in the industry and his expertise in the standardisation of supply chain processes as a process owner for international SAP rollouts in his consulting projects. He has been working as a process consultant for ifm for three years. In this role, he optimises supply chain processes together with his customers, identifies synergies, supports implementation and thus ensures greater efficiency.
Partner presentation
Targeted implementation of a plan-for-every-part using controlling from ifm
With the support of Emporias Management GmbH, network specialist Hirschmann Automation has optimised its inventory planning:
By introducing a differentiated scheduling strategy and redefining a material class concept, and not least by using ifm's controlling solution, impressive successes were achieved. The "Plan-For-Every-Part", or PFEP for short, led to a significant reduction in stocks at Hirschmann while at the same time increasing material availability. In addition, the planning effort was effectively reduced. This presentation will provide you with first-hand details of the successful "PFEP" concept.
Uli Deutschman, Hirschmann Automation & Control GmbH (a Beldon Brand) & Christopher Schreiner, EMPORIAS Management Consulting GmbH
Demand Planning
Predicting sales: recognising sales trends and developing growth strategies
Magic, crystal balls or sound stochastics – there are many ways to create a demand plan. We swear by maths and facts! Find out which forecasting models are suitable for which scenario and why you can trust the software's automated recommendations. What makes demand planning accurate and how can you assess the accuracy of your forecast ex-post? "Getting better" is only possible by setting goals and monitoring. Jay Ganesh will show you how you can use our demand planning software to improve your forecast and thus your entire process chain. Learn about the highlights of the current Release 24.0 and find out what roadmap planning for ifm's Demand Planning Software looks like.
- Recognising sales trends through targeted forecasting
- Build growth strategies on accurate forecasts
- Compare demand planning with actual values and learn from them
The next generation of demand planning
- Apollo – The theatre
- DAY 1 – 11:35 am to 12:20 pm
Jayantth Ganesh has been working as a consultant for ifm since 2020. He specialises in demand and sales planning, including the creation of accurate forecasts. In addition to his native Indian, Jay Ganesh speaks four other languages fluently. He is therefore deployed by ifm worldwide in demand planning.
Partner presentation
Planning is dead, long live planning!
New technologies are encountering old problems at ever shorter intervals. To understand where the journey is likely to take us, let's take a brief look back at the origins of supply chain planning and focus on the key development steps. But where do we go from here, what potential do new, disruptive tools such as machine learning and artificial intelligence have and what is the next big step? Will planning and planners still be needed or will the supply chain manage itself autonomously? Let's make a prediction together!
Martin Pesch, aflexio – Gesellschaft für Management- und Prozessberatung mbh
Customer presentation
Supply Chain Excellence (SCX) under S/4HANA at the FUCHS Group
The Mannheim-based FUCHS Group is planning to migrate its existing SAP ECC landscape to SAP S4/HANA. As part of a greenfield approach, the use of SCX as a seamless extension of the SAP Core is being examined. Strategic considerations regarding the integration of the solution will be made during the template definition phase.
- Greenfield challenge – migration to SAP S/4HANA
- Supply Chain Excellence – a seamless extension of the SAP system?
- Strategic planning – for smooth solution integration
With over 6,000 employees worldwide, the FUCHS Group is the leading independent supplier of lubricants. FUCHS stands for the promise of "MOVING YOUR WORLD". More than 100,000 satisfied customers worldwide confirm this.
- Apollo – The theatre
- DAY 1 – 13:20 to 13:50 p.m.
As Head of Operations Research, Ann-Kathrin Müller has been working in Global Operations at the company for four years. She is responsible for the global standardisation and reporting of supply chain KPIs as well as the development of harmonised tactical and strategic planning processes along the entire value chain. Her areas of responsibility include S&OP and network planning projects. As a result, she is also the Global Process Owner for the end-to-end processes of Inventory-to-Deliver and Plan-to-Manufacture.
As Head of Global ERP Logistics, Thomas Engelhardt is responsible for all global ERP projects relating to logistics. In addition to the typical supply chain management processes, this also includes the areas of environment, health & safety, sustainability and master data management. After 25 years at FUCHS, Thomas Engelhardt knows the company and its SAP systems like no other.
Breakout Session
How do you actually plan your production? And why?
Production planning specialist Björn Knabe and AI expert Daniel Schneider discuss with you whether and to what extent AI can help in production planning. What are the benefits, where are the dangers and why shouldn't everything just stay as it is?
What are your reasons for sticking to your approach? Is the use of AI too complex? Are you afraid of black box results? Is the master data not OK?
Create the optimiser of the future with the ifm experts!
Björn Knabe, ifm business solutions gmbh & Daniel Schneider, ifm statmath gmbh
External keynote
The world is watching Siegen and the super quantum computer
The FAZ speaks of the "quantum supercomputer", the Industrieanzeiger of the "world's first modular supercomputer" and NRW Minister President Hendrik Wüst says: "This pioneering project will make a significant contribution to ensuring that our state remains at the forefront of research and innovation." The whole world has been researching a practical quantum computer for years, and Siegen has now succeeded. Dr Michael Johanning presents the status, challenges and prospects of the technology and shows what is possible with quantum physics made in Siegen.
- Apollo – The theatre
- DAY 1 – 13:55 to 14:40 p.m.
Physicist Dr Michael Johanning is co-founder and CTO of eleQtron. In addition to his successful involvement in a large number of third-party-funded projects, he has published numerous research articles on quantum information technology. Dr Johanning can look back on a career with Prof. Dr William Phillips (Nobel Prize 1997 for laser cooling) and was a lecturer at the University of Siegen for many years.
Partner presentation
Software testing made easy...
A new release, a new module or an update: time and again, key users are faced with the challenge of testing all transactions and functionalities.
The test automation software from suxxesso offers ground-breaking relief here. The key user saves time, the company saves costs and the test quality is automatically increased.
Christian Gaiser explains how the software works and Anke Baier describes her experiences in practical use, according to the motto "...if you have to change a running system!"
Christian Gaiser, suxxesso gmbh & Anke Baier, ifm business solutions gmbh
Manufacturing
Infinity – not an option for production planning
Infinity is reserved for outer space, this presentation is about finite capacities, intuitive planning using drag-and-drop, knowledge about the availability of tools and much more. Dirk Fritz will show beginners and advanced users how modern production planning works, what refinements the current release has in store for you and where the roadmap will take you.
- Planning finite capacities in production
- Efficient order planning with the planning board
- Availability of production resources
- Display capacity utilisation transparently in the dashboard
Newcomer, NewFunctions and Roadmap presentation in one
- Apollo – The theatre
- DAY 1 – 15:10 to 15:55 p.m.
Learned from the ground up: Dirk Fritz has decades of experience as a manufacturing process manager, production manager and head of production planning. The trained tool mechanic spent several years travelling the world with the international introduction of SAP PP for a company in the metalworking industry until he found his new home at ifm two years ago.
Breakout Session
Target Workbench & Rule Workbench
The goal is clearly in sight!
Together with process consultant Carla Lochte and manager Marc Bertelmann, you will find your way through the jungle of key figures and optimise your scheduling in a targeted manner.
HANDS-ON IS THE ORDER OF THE DAY HERE!
Carla Lochte, GIB S&D GmbH & Marc Bertelmann, ifm business solutions gmbh
Customer presentation
Manufacturing at Bizerba SE & Co. KG: "Road to Planning"
As a globally operating group, Bizerba is active in 120 countries and is one of the heavyweights in the industry with over 4,500 skilled employees and an annual turnover of around 850 million euros. The presentation deals with the introduction of ifm Planning in several plants, the cooperation with ifm, the challenges that had to be overcome and the successes that could be celebrated.
- Project preparation
- Implementation phase
- Results from the implementation project
- Conclusion & outlook
Bizerba's path to capacity planning
- Apollo – The Theatre
- DAY 1 – 16:00 to 16:30 p.m.
The industrial engineering graduate has been working for Bizerba in various positions since 2012. Whether in operational purchasing, production control or project and process coordination, Carmelo Truisi has a wealth of practical experience. He has been responsible for global material and production planning since 2023.
Award ceremony & honours
Happy winners: presentation of the ifm Supply Chain Management Award
From left to right: Frank Beyer (Rotkäppchen-Mumm), Thomas Engelhardt (FUCHS Group), Bilgin Kilic (ifm), Dr Ann-Kathrin Müller (FUCHS Group), André Bättig & Toni Gantenbein (Variosystems), Björn Dunkel (ifm)
The ifm SCM Award has had a new face since 2023.
ifm SCM Award
Since 2012, the award has been presented to ifm customers who have excelled with special projects in the field of the ifm supply chain software.
Special cost savings, particularly fast implementation projects, participation in the expansion of the software or the particularly sustainable and long-term use of the optimisation software.
Although the face of the award has changed with the name change from GIB to ifm, the message remains the same: "If you want the award, you have to prove your success in units, euros and minutes."
Thank you for many years of appreciation, reference and sympathy
Bilgin Kilic also prepared the big stage for this year's guests of honour. The most loyal contacts, best advisors and advocates of the ifm Supply Chain division were given a well-deserved retirement.
From left to right: Michael Schuster (ifm), Gunnar Clavey (Airbus), Clemens Körber (Gropper), Bilgin Kilic (ifm), Gerhard Zierlein (ebm-pabst), Björn Dunkel (ifm)
Well-deserved applause
There was much applause for the winners of the ifm SCM Awards 2024 and the guests of honour.
REVIEW OF THE AGENDA DAY 2 – 2024
Racing driver Tim Zimmermann: "Life at the limit!"
Being a racing driver not only means delivering first-class performance on the track, but also motivating, steering and driving the team of technicians, designers and mechanics. Tim Zimmermann gives an impressive account of the strategies and measures he uses for this purpose and the special challenges he faces in racing. He shows life at the limit, the dazzling aspects, but also everyday life in the team.
- Apollo – The theatre
- DAY 2 – 09:35 to 10:35 a.m.
Tim Zimmermann has been an active racing driver since he was eight years old. In his presentation, he will talk about the highs and lows of his motorsport career and share interesting insights from his extensive network. He has been sponsored by ifm for eleven years.
Procurement
Better management with the right procurement strategy!
Newcomer, NewFunctions and Roadmap presentation in one
- Apollo – The theatre
- DAY 2 – 11:05 to 11:50 a.m.
Director Technical Management Procurement, ifm business solutions gmbh
Head of S&OP Business Process Consulting Department, GIB S&D GmbH
Industry 4.0 in SMEs: Know what's going on!
This means that data from the production level can be utilised for business processes, e.g. condition-based maintenance, automatic replenishment control and automated goods receipt. This is what it looks like in practice.
Florian Siebert, ifm electronic gmbh & Nikolaj Schmitz, ifm business solutions gmbh
Customer presentation
Procurement: Move to SAP S/4HANA at HYDAC International GmbH
HYDAC has utilised the synergy potential of several GIB Suite modules for years, including Controlling, Operations, Planning, and Operations Projects. When switching to SAP S/4HANA, there was no question that the suite would accompany the move to the new world.
At Easter 2024, the time had come: the move was imminent. In one step, the changeover took place worldwide in over 100 plants and with over 50 company codes in one fell swoop.
Jan Lißmann and Max Kreischer report on why the project was carried out on this scale, how the preparations went and how successful the implementation was. The experts focus on the ifm procurement solution and report on why it is so important for users to retain their familiar environment during the changeover.
- Move to SAP S/4HANA – preparation, implementation and go-live
- Obstacles, successes, priorities
- Reliability – The move to supply chain excellence
- Procurement – Reliability for the user
Lessons learnt – tips for imitators
- Apollo – The theatre
- DAY 2 – 11:55 a.m. to 12:25 p.m.
After more than 19 years with the company, Jan Lißmann knows HYDAC like the back of his hand. Today, as a project manager in IT, he is responsible for SAP consulting along the supply chain.
As Logistics Coordinator, Max Kreischer is part of the Logistics Consulting department. He has been with HYDAC for 17 years.
Customer presentation
Otto Fuchs shapes the future of maintenance!
Digitalised maintenance from the sensor to SAP ERP at one of the world's leading manufacturers of non-ferrous* products. (*Not iron).
Viktor Ulrich, a graduate engineer, has been working for the "Preventive Maintenance" department since 2013 and knows better than anyone the technical and human challenges that need to be overcome. With his extensive practical experience as a master craftsman and industrial foreman, his comprehensive technical expertise and the successful "from sensor to ERP" project under his belt, the project engineer provides insights into the "why" and "how" of shop floor integration.
Viktor Ulrich, OTTO FUCHS KG
Inventory Management
Open the treasure chest
Don't think about stockpiles, dregs and unnecessarily tied-up capital. See your inventory management as a treasure chest in which you can rediscover capital that you thought was long lost.
How does this work? With first-class software that provides you with transparency about stocks, visualises material properties through classifications and offers you automated master data maintenance.
Let Sven Daniel Heck introduce you to the secrets of excellent inventory management and find out what tricks and tips the new Release 24.0 has in store for you. Think positive – Think inventory!
- Inventory transparency
- Classification
- ABC/XYZ analysis
- Master data maintenance
A presentation for beginners and advanced users with an outlook on the roadmap.
- Apollo – The theatre
- DAY 2 – 13:25 to 14:10 p.m.
Consultant at ifm
Breakout Session
Find instead of search!
Use Track & Trace for the digitalisation of intralogistics processes: e-Kanban, automated recording of incoming goods, and tracking of materials and containers.
Steffen Heuel, HEUEL & LÖHER GMBH & CO. KG (Localino), Jan Wagener, ifm solutions gmbh, Nikolaj Schmitz, ifm business solutions gmbh
Customer presentation
Deep Understanding Safety Stocks – Precise predictions through AI
Impending supply bottlenecks, unpredictable market dynamics and the pressure of constant delivery readiness – many companies respond to these challenges with excessive safety stocks. The result: excessive stocks, exploding costs, and dregs.
"THAT'S SO MUCH BETTER!" say Marcão da Costa Zuzarte and Marc Bertelmann. The two top developers relied on AI to solve this multiple challenge, and in this presentation they show that it works, using the example of luminaire manufacturer Trilux:
- Data-centric optimisation approach
- Intelligent collection and in-depth analysis of data
- AI in the classic ERP SAP system
- AI-ready for S/4HANA
Together with Katharina Hachmann from Trilux, the experts impressively demonstrate how precise inventory management works in the modern age and how the use of AI can bring more resilience and sustainability to supply chain processes.
- Apollo – The theatre
- DAY 2 – 14:20 to 14:50 p.m.
During his studies, the business information scientist was already involved with the topic of "artificial intelligence" and is still researching useful applications today. Years ago, he introduced the first neural network (AI) to GIB Software. Today, he is in charge of technical product development for the areas of controlling and inventory management and places a significant focus on the design processes of AI solutions in the logistics and SCM environment.
In addition to his academic background in business management, media and business informatics, Marcão da Costa Zuzarte has decades of practical experience in digitalisation consulting and software development. Since 2021, he has been bridging the gap between customer requirements and technical feasibility in large AI projects at NEUROLOGIQ.
Katharina Hachmann started her career at Trilux in 2017 as a Process Manager for Procurement & Production Control. In this role, she has become an expert for the GIB Suite and the Formelwerk in particular, almost as a side effect. Over the last eight years, she has been able to significantly streamline and optimise the SCM processes at Trilux and is now head of this area.
Breakout Session
Watched and built!
Now it's your turn: build an IIoT landscape under the guidance of the experts! And this is what will be built: Record operating hours, and monitor statuses and quantities.
Matthias Marx, GIB S&D GmbH & Friends
SAP BTP
The clean core – SAP's visionary app landscape
The clean core – this statement has been haunting the SAP community for years. But what is behind it? What does this technological premise mean for partner products and Z programmes? Björn Dunkel explains clearly and understandably what is technologically highly demanding. He points out the consequences, offers solutions from ifm and shows the BTP roadmap for supply chain excellence.
- Why are there only apps in the BTP?
- How permeable are the boundaries in the core?
- How disruptive is the approach compared to the previous technology?
- What solutions does ifm offer? When?
SAP BTP:
- Apollo – The theatre
- DAY 2 – 14:55 to 15:30 p.m.
Managing Director, ifm business solutions gmbh
Partner presentation
Mastering the entry into industrial AI with process mining
Artificial intelligence is a tool that we can use to counteract the shortage of skilled labour, relieve the burden on employees and ultimately maintain our prosperity. The importance of the data basis for successful use is demonstrated by the fact that data scientists spend over a third of their working time on data procurement and data cleansing and every second one of them sees "data quality" as the biggest challenge. Although it is possible to work with the data after the time-consuming cleansing process, processing silos unfortunately arise far too often. For a holistic approach, work should therefore first be done on the foundation. With process mining, you can create precisely this foundation, generate added value and at the same time involve your employees in your AI strategy – as our practical examples show.
Dr Clemens Wolf, Rothbaum Consulting Engineers GmbH
