AUTODOC‒ Switch to SAP in just 8 months
The strong growth of recent years and the expansion into a total of 27 European countries pushed AUTODOC’s existing financial software to its limits. Delivering products in different countries required individual adjustments to comply with the legal requirements of each country. This quickly increased the complexity.
As AUTODOC continues to pursue ambitious growth plans for the future, using different business models, it was clear to those responsible that the existing solution would be increasingly unable to respond flexibly to new challenges and grow with the company. The desire was to rely on a system that could provide the desired functionality “out of the box” and require only minor adjustments in order to be able to respond flexibly to new challenges in the future and grow with the company.
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The challenge
Large amounts of data, greater transparency
As an online platform, AUTODOC has an enormous number of items to manage, currently 7.8 million, which are available for sale. Over 50,000 orders are processed per day via the web shop. Until now, the existing financial system only provided management with highly aggregated sales revenues. The aim of the project was therefore to evaluate sales on a daily basis, differentiated according to relevant dimensions such as brand, customer segment or sales channel, and to supplement this with automated analyses. At the same time, the solution addressed key technical requirements beyond pure sales analysis: reliable fulfilment of complex compliance requirements in invoice processing, EU-wide tax determination for different business models such as own warehouse and drop ship deliveries, and the newly created transparency of inventory movements and their valuations, including the automated accrual of customer transit inventories in accordance with IFRS.
A particular challenge was completing the project within eight months, as the upcoming financial statements were to be prepared using the new system.
The strategy
SAP Financial System as the core system
It was important to those involved in the project to introduce an SAP system that was capable of responding flexibly to changing requirements and supporting rapid company growth through scaling. When necessary adjustments were made, the system had to remain as close as possible to the SAP standard in order to remain maintainable and future-proof without incurring high additional costs.
The SAP financial system makes it easier to create financial and management reports that meet all legal requirements while significantly reducing the time required for creation. To do this, it can access data from materials management and sales (which have not yet been replaced in this project), evaluate it and transfer it to the reports.
The plan is to continue the international rollout of SAP to key foreign companies with the aim of creating a uniform ERP system (OneERP). In addition, SAP Ariba has been introduced for indirect purchasing, and additional automation options, particularly in the area of group consolidation, are being examined. The underlying solution architecture was designed from the outset to flexibly support future scaling.
The solution
Project implementation in 8 months
The implementation took place in just eight months from kick-off to go-live. KPS used the SAP Activate methodology for this. The design requirements were developed and discussed in the explore phase. There were numerous adjustments, but the project was still completed on schedule.
The SAP financial system on SAP S/4HANA Private Cloud Edition was used, which was linked to the various on-premises merchandise management applications via 14 different interfaces. Modern, flexible and future-proof interface solutions were implemented using the SAP Business Technology Platform (BTP). Other modules used were Cloud ALM for test management and SAP Signavio for process documentation.
Comprehensive compliance reporting was implemented in the areas of taxation (including the creation of SAF-T files), trade in the EU internal market (Intrastat), e-invoice creation and processing, and numerous real-time reports.
KPS drew on numerous best practices and Signavio models for the implementation to ensure optimal process design and rapid implementation. At peak times, the project team consisted of around 80 employees.
The result
Accelerated processes and significantly increased user-friendliness
For AUTODOC, the changeover brings a wealth of benefits, characterised by significantly greater transparency and a high degree of automation. Specific benefits include:
- Increased user-friendliness and reduced error rate in all processes
- Uniform database for informed decisions
- More efficient processes and time savings through extensive automation
- Improved tracking of goods flows and well-founded analyses
- Flexibility and scalability through modern interfaces
- Compliance with local regulations in all relevant markets
- Minimisation of tax risks through automated processes
In addition, with the introduction of SAP, the company has established an IT landscape that facilitates future expansion and enables rapid responses to market changes.
We chose KPS because they presented the best solution design with their extensive know-how in the retail and e-commerce sector and their SAP expertise. Thanks to the very trusting collaboration on equal terms and the great support in change management, we were able to implement the project extremely efficiently. We are very impressed with the result and plan to implement further projects with KPS in the future. KPS has developed into a strategic partner, and we are delighted that they will continue to actively support us in our future growth.
About AUTODOC SE
AUTODOC is one of Europe’s leading online retailers of automotive spare parts and accessories. Founded 18 years ago in Berlin by Alexej Erdle, Max Wegner and Vitalij Kungel, the company has quickly grown into a pan-European internet business. In 2024, AUTODOC generated sales of around €1.6 billion. The company offers 7.8 million products from around 2,700 brand manufacturers for 176 car, 23 truck and 154 motorcycle brands online. It operates in 27 European countries and employs over 5,500 people at 13 locations.
- Industry: Online trade in automotive spare parts and accessories (cars, trucks, motorcycles)
- Primary project location: Germany
- More about AUTODOC
