How Bihler implements an end-to-end product development process in SAP S/4HANA

Otto Bihler Maschinenfabrik GmbH & Co. KG is a family-owned German company and the world‘s leading system supplier for stamping and forming, welding, and assembly technology. From the plants in Füssen and in Halblech, where the company’s headquarters are located, the global player delivers cutting-edge technology made in Germany for already 70 years.

German technology also played a decisive role, when Bihler completely reorganized the company’s IT landscape in 2018. Striving for a fully integrated ERP / PLM solution, the company replaced their former isolated systems with SAP S/4HANA and SAP PLM – and complemented the new landscape with the strategic integration platform SAP Engineering Control Center | SAP ECTR.

With SAP ECTR, the company integrated their MCAD and ECAD engineering into the SAP system and laid the foundation for implementing a digital development process straight to production, including CAM and tool management. As for the CAD project, Bihler opted
once again for a solution by DSC Software AG, which in this case was Factory Control Center | FCTR. What were the FCTR project’s most important goals, challenges, and successes?