Success Story: DT Swiss's experience with SAP & SYBIT

Starting position

High-end components for bicycles - this is what all 900 DT Swiss employees are passionate about. “It is the passion for cycling that drives the developers at DT Swiss to constantly improve our products and push technological boundaries,” says Michael Schütz, CFO of DT Swiss. The victories of international athletes on two wheels confirm the successful concept. Mountain bike world champion Nino Schurter and Ironman winner Daniela Ryf have already finished on the podium several times with DT Swiss components.

Technically complex

Whether XC, downhill, enduro, freeride, gravel or racing bikes - DT Swiss products are used by renowned bicycle manufacturers all over the world. An international sales organization with over 100 employees is actively at work. The patented innovations are technically complex and have to be adapted to the various interfaces of the bicycles. Competent advice is correspondingly important. Standardizing the quality of advice worldwide was not easy. “We sent sales aids as Word documents to all sales managers, but were unable to check whether they were being used,” says Michael Schütz.

Globalization of production

More and more bicycle manufacturers are operating internationally and producing at several locations around the globe. The internationalization of end customers presented the DT Swiss sales department with new challenges and the need for a standardized, digitalized flow of information increased. All sales managers have an open ear for feedback from the market. Knowing exactly what customers want is the basis for DT Swiss' global market success. Schütz explains: “Depending on the size of the customer, a salesperson looks after between 5 and 100 customers around the world. And the trend is rising. We were looking for software that could map the entire sales area, optimize it at the same time and be used worldwide.

Objective

Simple, efficient, standardized. DT Swiss has set itself this goal for the handling of sales talks and processes. Every year, the company launches between 50 and 100 new items on the market, which are specified according to the customer. An easy-to-use tool was required that would provide sales staff with an overview of all customer information and sales steps. Automated and standardized processes were needed to ensure that no step was forgotten and that the quality of advice was consistent worldwide.

Expanding market leadership

“We live from our customers. And that's exactly why we want to be close to them. I am in close contact with our sales managers every day and maintain customer relationships in aftersales,” says Schütz. “Customer feedback should not come randomly from individual salespeople, but should have a fixed place in every workflow - from all customers and from all markets.” This is the only way the company can develop market-driven products in a timely manner

Successful products of tomorrow

The engineers at DT Swiss are developing the products today that will be available in around two years' time. On patented machines specially designed by the company. The developers have already demonstrated their innovative spirit on several occasions, for example with flat forging technology. In this process, the spokes are pressed flat with a weight of up to 250 tons. The flat shape offers aerodynamic advantages in particular: The forging process additionally compacts the material, resulting in even greater strength at a lower weight. A guarantee of success for professional cyclists and DT Swiss.

Solution

After a detailed market analysis, the company decided on the software that best met its needs and requirements. Michael Schütz is very satisfied with the cloud-based software solution SAP C4C (Cloud for Customer): “The system guarantees 100 percent transparency in all customer processes.” The entire customer history can be viewed by all internal stakeholders at the click of a button. DT Swiss can also adjust the number of users to market conditions at any time.

Reaching the goal as a team

Together with SAP partner SYBIT, DT Swiss managed to implement the SAP C4C program in a record time of six months and even came in under the project budget. This was achieved thanks to the expert advice provided by the partner and the company's own dedicated initiative. “Right from the start, our six-person project team recorded every SAP partner briefing in the form of manuals, so that we were able to manage a lot of things ourselves in the long term,” recalls Schütz.

Available worldwide

What DT Swiss no longer has to worry about is server maintenance. The cloud-based software is hosted exclusively on SAP servers. Authorized employees can access the stored data from anywhere in the world: Sales-relevant information, agreements with customers and the status of sales meetings are brought together in a pool. The data is backed up by mirroring on several SAP servers so that nothing can be lost.