The SFS Group, based in Heerbrugg, unites the building specialists SFS intec, SFS unimarket and SFS Locher under one roof. This company sells not only inland but also to a worldwide market – tools, steel and construction products, fastening and form technology, chemical-technical products and fittings. In 2007 the more than 4.000 employees achieved a turnover of 1,334 million Swiss Francs. One focus of the group lies in the integration and support of their client's supply-chain management processes.

"THE SOLUTION SHOULD SUPPORT PEOPLE IN THEIR DAILY WORK, THE PROCESSES MUST BE STABLE AND THE OVERALL SOLUTION MUST WITHSTAND ECONOMIC EVALUATION”.
Reto Buchli, Head of E-Business & SAP Development of the SFS Group in Heerbrugg

In order to optimize cooperation along the process chains in the various company areas. SFS evaluated the Groupware Solution eight years ago. A solution by Itartis was decided upon, which had already been implemented a few years previously by SFS Locher quickly and at reasonable cost. The solution met the complex requirements of the CRM and took the importance of multilingualism into account.

Interview with Reto Buchli, Head of E-Business & SAP Development in the SFS Gruppe:

Mr Buchli, what were the main sticking points hindering your operational processes?
Reto Buchli: " We are a market-orientated company, with countless customer based processes and interfaces. It is no longer sufficient to very politely answer customer calls, but at the same time have no access to the relevant data and documents. We have also made the experience that using email as a tool does not provide effective process support. Nowadays, the client expects more from the field staff than that they are a "mobile ordering book". In exactly the same way that a client manager doesn’t want to telephone the accounts department and make a query in relation to sales figures and the payment behaviour of a client before a meeting.
In addition, the inconsistency of data can result in uncertainty and errors, for instance when the mobile work stations have different information than the central server. The fact that these examples relate to the staff in the field, should also not obscure the fact that the entire company was affected."


What was your experience relating to the implementation of the partial projects?
Reto Buchli: "The ease of use and the seamless integration into our strategic Groupware Platform Notes / Domino contributed significantly to the acceptance by our staff. A further important factor was without doubt the excellent cooperation from the Itartis staff. We profited from a good working climate and the stability of the team. You can well imagine what it means, when during a project, new role holders keep emerging. In summary, we got to know Itartis as a flexible, customer-orientated company which implemented our wishes quickly, but who nevertheless still consider requirements such as standardisation, the possibility for expansion and comprehensive documentation with a long term view. The support takes place quickly, with little bureaucracy and at a reasonable cost. You could say that with Itartis we experienced the advantages of a large company with the strengths of a small one."