"Our North Star guides us to think globally and act locally," explains Stefanie from the Sales Systems and Processes team. She knows how this works at ebm‑papst: acting in concert internationally and doing so even more strongly in future. To achieve this, it is necessary to further standardize the processes at all locations and for the teams to regularly exchange information across countries.
"In sales, we are already very advanced and are doing pioneering work for other areas and departments."
Stefanie, Sales Systems and Processes
Stefanie has been a Business Process Manager for Customer Relationship Management (CRM) at ebm‑papst for five years. Her team develops and improves processes for the sales systems SAP and Salesforce. The main focus is on two processes: firstly, "Opportunity-to-Quote" - this concerns everything from the sales opportunity to the submitted offer. Secondly, "Order-to-Cash", which covers all steps from order acceptance to payment processing. The "Sales Systems and Processes" team therefore ensures that the sales systems are well geared up and that all sales processes run smoothly from start to finish.
However, the team also focuses on improving processes internally and uses business process management (BPM) for this purpose. With this approach, business processes in a company can be better identified, developed, implemented, monitored and optimized in order to be even more efficient and successful. The focus here is on the cross-functional process view from customer requirement to customer request fulfillment (so-called end-to-end perspective) with the greatest possible emphasis on customer benefit. BPM was launched across the board at ebm‑papst in June 2023 and staffed with global process owners and their teams. In the area of CRM, Stefanie and her team are pursuing one goal in particular: an internationally standardized and networked sales system.
"We work in a corporate center. This means we are not only responsible for Mulfingen, but also globally."
Stefanie, Sales Systems and Processes
There was an international network even before the BPM was introduced: there have been key users at all locations for more than 5 years. They know the sales systems and act as a mouthpiece for their international colleagues. "With the BPM, however, process experts and a project committee have now been added," Stefanie explains.
In the BPC (Business Process Committee), the global process owners discuss projects across countries and divisions. This includes CRM, PLM, SCM as well as support and management BPM. They prioritize and make decisions about which projects are to be implemented when and with which resources. Most importantly, during the subsequent implementation, the BPMs involve the international process experts responsible for the respective project right from the start.
With the introduction of the BPM, international communication at ebm‑papst has therefore become even closer and more regular. For Stefanie, this is a reason to be pleased: "With the BPM, we and the management have a clearer view of the multitude of our projects, can better allocate resources and bring all important colleagues directly on board. In the past, that wasn't always the case. Time and again, projects were requested and started alongside each other, only to then realize that the necessary resources or capacities were lacking."
But what are the specific benefits of BPM for the work of "CRM BPM / Sales Systems and Processes" and global sales? Stefanie answers: "Through regular exchange, we create a mutual understanding and develop harmonized processes that are largely valid even globally . This takes place at a global level on the one hand, and across departments on the other. However, we also react to country-specific process deviations, for example if legal requirements make this necessary."
As part of the CRM BPM stream, "Sales Systems and Processes" pursues the optimization of global sales processes. Stefanie's team is currently driving this forward with the rollout of Salesforce. By the end of the financial year, Salesforce will be the first system to be used uniformly at all locations. "By recording and tracking global opportunities in Salesforce, our colleagues in Sales can quickly and efficiently see what's going on with each customer. And management has an overview of which potential orders are on the horizon, WORLDWIDE," Stefanie continues.
With the additional process experts and the project committee, the "CRM BPM / Sales Systems and Processes" team gained new process levels. The regular international exchange does not make the actual work simpler, but it helps immensely to tackle projects properly from the outset.
"The new BPM structure strengthens support and acceptance for our process topics. This motivates us to continue on our path with BPM."
Stefanie, Sales Systems and Processes
As pioneers, Stefanie and her team are using the experience they have gained to make an important contribution to introducing BPM in other areas at ebm‑papst. It is clear that not all existing processes have to be turned inside out. Although the introduction involves some effort, the teams are not starting from scratch. "For example, we already had many points of intersection with the BPM. We were able to perfectly build on this. And I'm sure other teams and departments at ebm‑papst can do the same," concludes Stefanie.