Dear Readers,
When manager Thorsten Dirks made the statement quoted below at the 2015 SZ Business Summit, he left the audience speechless—initially, of course, because of his choice of words. Nevertheless, he found a receptive audience. And rightly so: his statement hit the nail on the head. What’s the point of digitizing existing processes that actually need to be rethought and realigned? Little to nothing. Because digitization is not a one-size-fits-all solution. On the contrary: Digitalization must be approached on a highly individualized basis. Ideally, it begins with the optimization of existing processes—though today, the need for optimization is already determined digitally. This is done using state-of-the-art analytical tools and complex software, the impact and effects of which even the average consumer is familiar with from everyday life. For example, product recommendations in online retail or movie and music suggestions from streaming services—all of which are based on shopping cart analyses and evaluations of customers’ click behavior. After all, analytical tools and methods also form the central theme of this new issue of our customer magazine // plus.
If you digitize a crappy process, you end up with a crappy digital process.
In these individual articles, we introduce you to the tools and techniques we use in our consulting projects—ranging from visualization tools and building development software to the aforementioned shopping cart analysis and SAP Joule, whose benefits SAP consultant Josef Hampp highlights in his guest article. The articles by our well-known guest authors, Georg Willem Büchler from the law firm Schlatter and Dr. Harald Riedel from pkf, also shed light on the digital complexities of modern analytical methods. The same is true of the article by Thomas Alms from Hypovereinsbank. You’ll also find practical examples in our project topics. For example, we report on the expansion of the Global Parts Center and the new Service Center at KÄRCHER, the implementation of which we planned and supported. We also cover the optimization of spare parts logistics at the INNIO Group. Take a look at our magazine—and let yourself be inspired. I hope you enjoy reading it!
If you have any questions or suggestions, I’m of course happy to assist you.
Just give us a call—or write to:
I look forward to hearing from you!
Sincerely, Thomas Kilimann
