Industry:
Construction chemicals / corrosion protection (BORNIT®-Werk Aschenborn GmbH)
Key technologies:
SAP EWM & FlexMobile Apps
Areas of application:
Storage bin management, warehouse task control, goods receipt, stock removal, picking, loading, stocktaking
Special features:
Knowledge transfer approach, no budget or time delay
When the warehouse becomes a strategic resource
Digitization in industry rarely fails because of the software. It fails because of structures, a lack of expertise – or the illusion that operational issues can be solved on the side. A project from the corporate network of BAG, Basalt-Actien-Gesellschaft, shows that things can be done differently: the introduction of SAP Extended Warehouse Management (EWM) at BORNIT®-Werk Aschenborn GmbH, or BORNIT® for short.
What looks like a classic IT project at first glance turns out to be a strategic step on closer inspection. After all, warehouses have long since ceased to be mere transshipment points. They are data-driven hubs of value creation and therefore a decisive lever for efficiency, resilience and growth.
BORNIT®-Werk Aschenborn GmbH is a traditional company with 155 years of company history. It offers a range of construction chemicals for the protection and maintenance of foundations, facades and roofs as well as for traffic areas. With modern production facilities and efficient processes, the primary goal is to be a reliable partner for national and international customers.
Further information at bornit.de.
From inventory knowledge to real-time transparency
BORNIT® was already using mobile solutions from Flexus in the SAP MM and SAP PP environment before the EWM introduction. However, with increasing requirements for transparency, traceability and process reliability, the existing setup had reached its limits.
The aim of the EWM introduction was clearly defined: The main objective was to know at all times which product is in which storage bin and in what quantity. To achieve this, warehouse tasks were to be generated and controlled by the system and all process steps were to be fully documented.
In short: away from employees’ implicit knowledge based on experience and towards system-led clarity. In future, new employees can be trained more quickly, error rates are reduced and the knowledge of warehouse employees is increasingly transferred to the system. A step that not only promises operational advantages, but also provides management decisions with a reliable data basis. The EWM implementation also made it possible to switch from the ITS MM solutions to the modern and more intuitive Fiori EWM interface.
“The approach of the complete joint implementation and the associated transfer of knowledge for each individual step was also new for Flexus, but we were happy to take the risk and successfully implement it for the customer.”
Flexus AG
Knowledge transfer instead of dependency
What is remarkable about this project is the organizational approach. The Basalt IT team and BORNIT® deliberately wanted to implement SAP EWM independently, despite a lack of previous experience with the system. A bold decision, but one that made strategic sense, as the aim was not to buy in external expertise on a permanent basis, but to build up internal know-how.
To this end, all current processes and requirements were first recorded in workshops and the concept for the EWM introduction was drawn up, which hardly had to be adapted during the subsequent implementation. During implementation, the necessary customizing was carried out step by step together with the Basalt IT team. The execution and transportation of the settings were in the hands of Basalt IT, with constant support from Flexus. Flexus AG had overall responsibility for the implementation, while the Basalt IT team was able to concentrate fully on building up knowledge.
Simple processes, customized apps
Throughout the entire implementation process, BORNIT® made sure that the processes were kept as simple as possible and not unnecessarily complicated. Just because EWM offers comprehensive functions, these should not be used on principle. With such powerful software, it was important to keep an eye on the processes actually required by the customer and to implement them optimally. In this way, BORNIT® was able to implement the processes in a customized manner and the staff accepted the system without any major problems and were able to cover the changeover very well.
In addition to the optimal implementation with SAP EWM, the Flexus apps were also precisely tailored to the specific customer processes: It was analyzed which apps are needed at which point and how they can guide employees through the process even better through simple customizing and additional information. Overall, simple and customized processes were designed and implemented for BORNIT® and BAG.
Migration under time pressure
The most critical moment came in December 2025. After successful acceptance tests, the inventory was first carried out in the MM system. This was immediately followed by the migration or, more precisely, the transfer to EWM.
The challenge: there were no handling units, storage bins, HU types and packaging materials in the previous system. Within just under two and a half days, the BORNIT® team successfully recreated all HUs, including their contents, and transferred them to EWM. This was made possible by a specially developed Flexus app, which not only accelerated the migration, but also cleaned it up.
The result: clean inventories, complete transparency – and a system that was immediately ready for productive use. Just in time for the holidays.
Go-live without friction losses
The go-live on January 5 was unspectacular – in the best sense of the word. Few change requests, no budget overruns, no downtime. Work was productive from the very first day and minor issues could be addressed directly on site. The consultants were present in the warehouse for the first few days and carried out certain processes together with the warehouse employees, guaranteeing that the steps were carried out correctly and that open questions were answered directly. This ensured a high level of acceptance of the solution and strong self-motivation among employees to understand the new apps and use them correctly and efficiently.
In the first few weeks after the launch, optimizations from live operation were incorporated: additional information displays, adjusted display settings. Major further developments are planned for phase 2, including fine-tuning the retrieval strategy and improvements to the loading process.
After two weeks of intensive on-site support, support switched to remote mode. In the spirit of “helping people to help themselves”, Flexus has since provided documented solutions for recurring issues – an approach that further strengthens independence.
More than just an IT project
The introduction of SAP EWM at BORNIT® is an example of what is important for successful transformation projects: clear goals, realistic schedules, investment in knowledge and the willingness to take responsibility.
Phase 2 will see further process optimizations and an inventory test run in spring to secure the annual financial statements. At the same time, other companies from the BAG network will be examined for their own EWM introductions.
The conclusion is sober – and therefore convincing: more transparency, system-guided processes and a stable basis for further growth. Not as an end in itself, but as a strategic response to increasing complexity.
Do you have any questions or would you like some advice?
I am your contact person
Tobias Heubeck
SAP EWM SmartLaunch – Up to 60% faster SAP EWM implementation
Phone: +49 931 466 211 100