How Andritz paved the way to unified HR data in record time with the Accelerator for SAP SuccessFactors

With almost 30,000 employees in 34 countries, Andritz and its subsidiaries were faced with the challenge of consolidating HR operations. Here’s how the Austrian tech giant came out victorious with a brand-new HR SAP set-up in a record-breaking 18 months.

A greenfield HR SAP set-up in 18 months

With over 100 legal entities spread across 34 countries all over the globe, it’s safe to say Andritz has a complex structure. “We desperately needed to unify our data to create a single source of truth and make our HR data more transparent and accessible to other parts of the organisation,” Steve Morrison, HR Group Information Systems Manager at Andritz, explains.

And it needed to happen fast: originally, management gave Steve and his team 18 months to get the job done – for a full greenfield project: starting from scratch, with no system in place that could serve as a foundation.

It really was a bit like pulling a rabbit out of a hat. Our first goal was to have a single source of truth for HR data, and focus on the integration of our HR data with other departments, such as finance, as well. After that, we built out all the key HR processes: recruitment, onboarding, performance management, etc.

On time and within budget, thanks to the Flexso Accelerator

In view of the project’s tight timeline, Andritz decided to go for the Flexso Accelerator approach: a pre-built package that can be rolled out quickly, based on best practices. “We customised where needed, based on the requirements of the Andritz project team,” Andreas Behrendt, Partner at Flexso for People Austria, explains.

The entire project was delivered on time and within budget – no mean feat at the best of times, but particularly impressive considering it took place during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. Steve: “We launched the project the week before the first lockdown. So, essentially, we ran the entire implementation from home. Some of the team members I’ve worked with for 2 years I only just met in person last week!”

From fragmented to unified

The pandemic wasn’t the only challenge the team faced. “The data we needed to feed to the new system wasn’t easy to consolidate: Andritz had over 14 different HR systems in different countries,” Steve remembers. “The data was scattered across Excel files, PowerPoints, e-mails… you name it. Reviewing and enhancing data quality was definitely a big part of the puzzle.”

Now however, Andritz is enjoying the benefits of unified HR data. Steve: “For the first time, we are able to have a consistent approach to performance reviews across the entire company. And the administrative load has lowered significantly as well: not only are we looking at 8% cost savings, but a report that used to take 3 weeks to pull, now only takes 30 seconds.”

A solid base to start from

Overall, the SAP SuccessFactors implementation has been a great success for Andritz. But the team’s work is far from over. “Now that we have a solid base to start from, we’re ready to take the next steps. In the coming 12 months, we’ll bring one of our sister companies into the new system, launch the learning management module globally, roll out the compensation and succession modules, develop the organisational chart further and develop further payroll interfaces. And of course, we’ll also keep learning from the system, stabilising and optimising it as we move along. It’s a brave new HR data world to discover, but we’re excited to see the new possibilities!”