FM newsroom – corporate news, award, SAP. For the fifteenth time, SAP has awarded companies in the Central and Eastern European region that are leading the way in business transformation and setting a good example of successful implementation. This time, the company announced three categories: business transformation, rapid value creation, and sustainability. Within the business category, the Functional Transformation Award in 2024 was won by the Hungarian B+N Referencia Zrt.
The SAP Quality Awards’ “Business Transformation: Functional Transformation” category highlights projects that successfully streamline a key business process. In this category, the most convincing transformation was B+N’s implementation of the next-generation SAP S/4HANA into its enterprise resource planning (ERP) system.
“This project was exactly what we recommend to other customers for SAP S/4HANA transition: it was not just an ERP system replacement, but a complex BPR project, where we also rethought the company’s business and operational processes together with the customer, aligning them with SAP best practice solutions, Now B+N’s successful implementation experience can help other customers throughout the region to decide and confidently implement their future developments” – emphasised Szabolcs Pintér, Managing Director of SAP Hungary.
Working on an international level
Hungarian-owned B+N Referencia Zrt. provides full-service facility management services to its clients in Hungary and eight other countries. It has been in the market for over thirty years, during which time it has become the market leader in FM in Hungary and the region. Its clients include large domestic and international corporations and state institutions.
The company used to work with the SAP product Business One for smaller companies, but B+N has grown tremendously during the Covid epidemic, becoming one of Hungary’s top 3 employers in the last five years, outgrowing the system it had been using. SAP emerged as the winner in a competition of different solutions, as B+N saw SAP S/4HANA Public Cloud Edition to be a future-proof platform that supports scalable growth, innovation and agility, aligns with their long-term business strategy and integrates seamlessly with other cloud services.
“The decision to implement SAP S/4HANA Public Cloud was based on strategic business needs, including facilitating growth, increasing operational efficiency and maintaining a competitive edge in the facilities management industry. We are honoured that our efforts over the past period have been rewarded with the SAP Quality Awards, thus recognising the work of our colleagues supporting the implementation,” says István Matskási, Deputy Chief Financial Officer of B+N Referencia Zrt.
People at the heart of transformation
B+N realised early on that the success of an ERP system implementation does not depend solely on technological improvements but primarily on the ability to manage change throughout the organisation seamlessly. To this end, a comprehensive and strategic change management plan was put in place.
In parallel, the management team has undertaken a significant reorganisation of the company, creating departments that effectively support the processes of the newly implemented Public Cloud solution. They also introduced new positions to match the skills required for operations and created an internal SAP competence centre called the SAP Support Team.
Methods, time, money
B+N initially replaced the SAP Business One solution with SAP S/4HANA Cloud Public Edition in four of its 14 companies. The scope of the project covered areas such as finance, accounting, controlling, asset management, inventory management, purchasing, sales, service and group reporting. SAP Hungary experts supported the company during the implementation with regular reviews, quality assurance, and guidance.
The company also took strategic steps to develop its internal team during the implementation with intensive training and support.
Using SAP Intelligent Robotic Process Automation technology, B+N developed digital robots to handle high-volume, manual and repetitive tasks such as functional location, delivery notes, and purchase requisitions. In addition, SAP Preferred Success services and the SAP Business Technology Platform have helped the company’s business transformation.
Results are already visible
The system improves B+N’s data collection capabilities and provides more accurate cost insights while reducing in-house IT and server operating costs and the need for and time spent on administrative resources.
Replacing redundant processes with best-practice processes increased management control and transparency over daily operations. And providing relevant, real-time data to the right people results in faster and more effective reporting.
It also facilitates better decision-making, as management has access to accurate information tailored to their area of responsibility.
Future plans
The company has started rolling out two additional solutions that can be connected and integrated with SAP S/4HANA: SAP Profitability and Performance Management /PA PM/ and the Sustainability Control Tower module. These will help the company meet sustainability requirements and will be useful tools for ESG reporting.
