“An exceptionally good collaboration and an outstanding result.” With these words, Alexander Müller concluded the commissioning of the new Logistic Portal of Heidelberg Materials AG.
Alexander Müller is the responsible and leading IAS team member for the entire VAS® rollout project for Heidelberger Sand- und Kieswerke in Germany. Together with the senior employee responsible at Heidelberg Materials, the entire rollout team put together a unique project.
Especially in times of COVID 19, such an important go-live of such a powerful and centralized logistics solution meant a well thought-out and planned execution of the project. The first logistics portal created specifically for Heidelberg Materials AG went live back in 2015. The project team at the time had created an unprecedented online tool that revolutionized the entire ordering process in the bulk materials industry. It wasn’t just a relief for HM. It also offered numerous advantages for customers.
Heidelberg Materials AG - Two exceptional teams and their achievements
Further development of the portal with new challenges
As the portal evolved and the project team faced new challenges in 2020, it surpassed its former performance many times over. The team had to address three areas in particular:
One of the top priorities for this project was to best integrate the three challenges mentioned above into the software solution. And furthermore, to ensure the harmonious integration, successful synchronization and synergy utilization of the two business lines cement and aggregates. This was achieved with the help of a VAS® template.
Special conditions for the project team
Due to severely limited travel and contact conditions in 2020, the project team had to intensively address the following challenge: How can we get all the sand and gravel plants up and running without being on site, but make sure that everything goes well in the end?
As part of the further consistent digitization and optimization of Heidelberg Materials AG, an integrated material flow management system is to be introduced in order to achieve significant savings in logistics costs throughout the Group. Based on this already existing development process, Heideberg Materials AG was able to provide a very performant remote access, which enabled a smooth go-live of all plants.
Worldwide, various plants in the cement and aggregates (sand & gravel) business areas are currently being equipped with the VAS® solution from Axians Industrial Applications & Services GmbH. Axians IAS GmbH was selected by Heidelberg Materials AG as a suitable partner and preferred supplier due to its international experience as a hardware-independent IT specialist in the industrial environment and its flexibility in connecting to SAP.
Today, Heidelberg Materials AG not only offers its customers a portal to cover cement processes. It also has a completely dedicated solution for the entire sand and gravel plants.
About Heidelberg Materials AG
Heidelberg Materials AG (until 2023 HeidelbergCement AG), headquartered in Heidelberg, Germany, is a listed building materials group. The company is the world’s number one in aggregates and ready-mix concrete and number two in cement.
