How SAP Business Network for Logistics helps Sibelco connect with carriers globally
Managing logistics at global scale requires more than mature systems. In this case, discover how Sibelco, supported by Flexso, reworked SAP Transportation Management (TM) and introduced SAP Business Network for Logistics to connect carriers worldwide and simplify execution and settlement.
From smartphone screens to solar technology, Sibelco delivers materials that power progress in modern life. With over 150 years of experience, the company runs a global logistics network with high transport volumes and a diverse carrier base. While SAP Transportation Management (TM) had been in use for years, carrier collaboration and freight settlement still relied on a fragmented mix of tools and offline communication. To move forward, Sibelco reworked its existing SAP TM setup and integrated SAP Business Network for Logistics (BN4L), supported by Flexso.
The result? A scalable, standardized logistics template that enables real-time carrier collaboration worldwide.
A mature yet challenging setup in SAP Transportation Management
Sibelco had been using SAP Transportation Management for years. As a result, logistics processes were mature and largely automated, and users knew the system inside out. While planning and settlement worked reliably, SAP TM had been adapted over the years to fit local needs: shortcut-based freight order planning, custom carrier communication logic... Over time, this introduced friction:
Frequent manual follow-up with carriers via email and phone
Long and often nontransparent freight settlement cycles
Limited in-system support for handling disputes
Document flows that partly lived outside SAP, increasing operational risk
In addition, the carrier collaboration landscape was fragmented: while Transwide, a non-SAP solution was quite popular in some countries, other regions relied on different tools. This made global standardization and end-to-end visibility hard to achieve.
Enable SAP Business Network for Logistics
To streamline carrier collaboration across countries, Sibelco wanted to move to SAP Business Network for Logistics (BN4L). While it’s true that SAP provides standard integration between SAP TM and SAP BN4L, the high degree of customization made it challinging to introduce BN4L without rethinking Sibelco’s foundation.
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That’s why Sibelco called on Flexso to rework its existing SAP TM setup in several fundamental ways:
Moving from shortcut-based planning to optimizer-based planning
Refactoring or removing custom code that conflicted with standard TM structures
Re-establishing SAP TM as the system of record for planning, execution, and settlement
Safeguarding financial correctness throughout the transition
These steps were carried out in a live, interconnected SAP TM environment and rolled out country by country. Once SAP TM had been redesigned, we integrated SAP BN4L and started phasing out Transwide.
"The API-based integration works alongside standard BN4L onboarding and gives Sibelco the flexibility to efficiently onboard high-volume carriers.”
Deep dive: API-based carrier integration
Initially, carrier onboarding on SAP BN4L was handled through the standard web interface. This allowed Sibelco to onboard a broad carrier base quickly and at scale. However, for high-volume, strategically important carriers, this setup soon reached its limits.
Beyond a certain transport volume, tight integration with a carrier's own TMS becomes crucial. To address this, Sibelco implemented API-based carrier integration for a consolidated carrier in the Polish market. This reduces manual work and improves reliability for high-frequency transport execution.
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Tangible impact of SAP Business Network for Logistics for planners and finance teams
The redesigned SAP TM setup and the integration with SAP BN4L brought real, tangible improvements to Sibelco’s daily operations. For planners and finance teams, this means:
real-time, in-system carrier feedback on transport assignments
a significant reduction in manual, offline communication with carriers
earlier visibility into execution and settlement issues
shorter billing cycles, supported by built-in dispute management
a tightly integrated finance process, with full document flow visibility from freight order to invoice
One of the main challenges was the move to optimizer-based planning, especially in the first rollout countries, Belgium and the Netherlands. This meant planning habits had to change, while the solution was already live and in daily use.
"Some exceptions didn't surface right away," Pieter explains. "They only became visible once planners started using the new setup in real-life scenarios. With focused hypercare and daily follow-up calls, we were able to resolve those issues quickly and transparently."
A scalable, standardized logistics template
Today, SAP BN4L is Sibelco’s global carrier collaboration platform. The solution is already live in Belgium, the Netherlands, the UK, Poland, Italy, Germany and many other countries. Together with SAP TM, it forms a standardized logistics template that can be used to onboard new countries and strategic carriers much faster – and toscale Sibelco’s logistics operations with confidence.
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