Germany’s Heidelberg Shapes the Future of Print Media via Adaptive Enterprise and Architectures
Heidelberg Druckmaschinen, the world’s leading manufacturer of sheet-fed printers and prominent in web offset and digital presses, supplies to the print and publishing industries, globally. The Group plays a key role to shape the future of the graphics arts sectors.
- Region
- Germany
- Solution
- Infrastructure and Security
- IT Transformation - Strategy and Architecture
- Supply Chain Management
Heidelberg Druckmaschinen, the world’s leading manufacturer of sheet-fed printers and prominent in web offset and digital presses, supplies to the print and publishing industries, globally. The Group plays a key role to shape the future of the graphics arts sectors.
Technology offered Heidelberg an opportunity to gain competitive advantage. Capgemini was invited to help develop an effective strategy underpinned by a comprehensive programme to derive adaptive architectures for Heidelberg.
Less than halfway through the five year programme, Heidelberg has emerged as an adaptive enterprise, ready to face challenges of permanent volatility in the marketplace, now and in future.
Client Profile
Heidelberg Druckmaschinen AG is committed to be the best partner to the print and publishing industry world-wide by offering forward-looking solutions for graphic arts.
With about 26,000 employees right across the globe, the group manufactures sheet-fed and web offset presses, pre-press units and machines for cutting, folding and binding publications. It also develops and manufactures digital printing presses.
Heidelberg offers customers modular components via tailored solutions ranging from individual products to entire workflows. Encompassing every step of the process, Heidelberg products and services define the future of graphic arts. Customers regard Heidelberg as a competent and reliable partner to support them 24x7 from 250 sales and service centres, world-wide.
Headquartered in the historic, romantic city of the same name, Heidelberg has 22 sites in Germany, France, the UK, the Netherlands, Mexico and the USA. Heidelberg reported the highest turnover, about €5.3 billion, in its 150-year heritage.
Business Issues
Borders have dissolved, allowing Heidelberg to evolve into a global player for modern print solutions. In the world of printing, borders are rapidly vanishing! What were previously separate realms of pre- and post-press components have converged as integrated solutions.
Heidelberg has played a central role in this dynamic process and intends to lead the future of graphic arts. In line with this vision, management studied threats and opportunities facing Heidelberg. The study revealed:
- competitors looking at print marketplace solutions
- an industry endowed with skilled specialists that Heidelberg needed to attract and retain
- technological advantage as an important differentiator
- increased levels of supplier integration that was possible
- customers demanding value-added services
- significant cost savings by Heidelberg aligning its business to external factors.
The findings were of particular interest to Heidelberg - they all pointed to e-Business as a competitive advantage in the printing industry. The group needed to leverage e-Business in order to achieve its vision.
The study also flagged some areas of concern. Local units were addressing business issues and IT development in a fragmented manner resulting in a highly heterogeneous back-office systems landscape at Heidelberg. Management wanted to address all challenges, swiftly and effectively.
Heidelberg invited Capgemini to propose a Group e-Strategy. A blueprint, developed in a mere four days contained an element that excited management - adaptability.
Increasing volatility of external events demanded swift, decisive, and sometimes evasive, action by management. Heidelberg saw an opportunity to align its internal organisation and systems in a way that could react to, perhaps even thrive from, such events.
Capgemini demonstrated the credentials and foresight to help Heidelberg achieve its vision, and also help transform it into an adaptive enterprise to rise to the challenge of permanent volatility. Capgemini was therefore invited aboard as business and IT partner to Heidelberg.
Solution
The first stage was to expand the e-Strategy proposal into a realisable transformation. The approach had to be iterative and encompass core business units, globally.
Collaborative Planning
Heidelberg appointed a leader and Capgemini dedicated an experienced manager
to mobilise a single collaborative project team to progress the programme. Workshops
ensued with key stakeholders in the organisation to scope requirements and document
details of processes, organisation and structure.
The concept phase lasted three months and resulted in clear scope with detailed roadmaps that would transform each functional area of Heidelberg in line with the e-Strategy.
Adaptive Architectures
As a parallel activity, an adaptive architecture aligned to the e-Strategy was
designed and developed. The team used structured and iterative methods so that
a set of integrated results could be rapidly deployed. Capgemini brought its proven
adaptive architecture patterns and Point of View to accelerate the phase. Deliverables
from the e-Infrastructure phase included:
- assessment of the current infrastructure
- a benchmark against best in class e-Business practices
- definition of the proposed infrastructure, with a benefit case
- size estimates of future demands on the infrastructure, including the capacity required to support implementation.
- management at Heidelberg was enthused with results and invited Capgemini to manage implementation over a 5-year timetable.
Laying Solid Foundations
The execution phase had to mirror Heidelberg’s programme goals - adaptability,
especially in view of the long-term investment and commitment demanded. This became
a guiding beacon for the approach to take. The framework for the phase comprised
modular, flexible components underpinned by solid foundations. Close attention
to effective strategies for risk and change management was included to preserve
the high service levels that customers and suppliers of Heidelberg already enjoyed.
Examples of ‘solid’ elements in the framework included an efficient project organisation, installation of key management processes, control budgets that optimised synergy and effective communication plans. The framework also had to cater for multiple project start-ups - there would be many in the ongoing programme.
Elements facilitating modular, flexible aspects included the implementation plan for each area, how activity streams at group-wide, strategic levels would be managed and the rollout of new e-Infrastructures at business unit levels. Maps to transform each functional area were grouped under four ‘pillars’:
- Connect Customers
- Connect People
- Connect Finance
- Connect Supply Chain
“The eReadiness of our top management group is now high, due to the three month program. This is as much as we could achieve in three months and I once again want to thank the project team for its exceptional contribution.”
Senior VP, eTransformation,
Heidelberg Druckmaschinen
“Due to fruitful discussions about guiding ePrinciples, we as board members were able to understand how to integrate this transformation in our realization of company strategies.”
Chairman,
Heidelberg Druckmaschinen
“We selected Capgemini because of their track record, bold and innovative views on adaptive methods and approaches and strengths in global delivery of solutions. We were also impressed with their integrated consulting approach from strategy through to deployment.
We are very satisfied with the collaborative approach and results-oriented performance of Capgemini, and look forward to extending our partnership through the ongoing eTransformation Programme.”
Chief Information Officer,
Heidelberg Druckmaschinen
“The successful deployment of Heidelberg’s on-line shop pays testimony to the real and positive input by Capgemini in our vision to emerge as an e-Business leader in our field. The result has been enthusiastically welcomed by our customers and service engineers.”
Senior VP, Corporate Marketing
Heidelberg Druckmaschinen
In order to retain the same methodology and accelerate all projects, each defined project in the transformation map was equipped with:
- future-state e-Initiative transformation maps
- guiding e-Principles
- business cases for e-Programs
- future-state e-Infrastructure transformation maps
- e-Infrastructure investment cases.
Building the Future
Individual business areas are grouped within each of the four pillars and treated
as a separate project for development and implementation. The approach demands
highly tuned and effective project management.
Guiding principles of sound project management are clearly defined deliverables in short 3-monthly cycles with expected benefits agreed at the outset and continuous monitoring. There is ready acceptance to abort projects not delivering to expectation.
A service framework controls e-Infrastructure implementations. External-facing processes are loosely coupled to back-office systems via two layers - Business Services and EAI (Enterprise Architecture Integration), with the latter leveraging a package-based solution.
Halfway through the programme, a number of areas have been caressed to derive benefits expected. The incremental approach ensures continued benefit as the programme touches new areas at Heidelberg.
Benefits
Management at Heidelberg Druckmaschinen is delighted with the programme facilitating:
- global coordination of eProjects on basis of a common eStrategy
- transparency of e-Business activities world-wide
- standardisation of business processes and technology platforms
- know-how transfer in, and between, the connect areas
- transparency of costs with an ability to control them
- state-of-the-art infrastructure in the design and deployment of an eDatacenter to manage e-Business applications globally.
The results include a recent launch of an on-line shop, a success emanating from the Connect Customers pillar. Each machine that Heidelberg manufactures is customised to unique customer requirements, and the shop includes a self-help utility. Customers and service engineers access detailed help, download manuals, technical service bulletins, etc and apply complex reconfigurations, confident in the knowledge that they are accessing the latest hints, tips and documentation.
At each project start-up, a collaborative team includes staff on secondment with no prior exposure to the programme. In addition to effective knowledge transfer, the benefit facilitates strong buy-in and ownership. The individuals impart new skills and experience to fellow professionals upon their return. The ‘incubator’ approach helps to mobilise the organisation and provide ongoing communication of future projects.
Sound project management is now firmly established at Heidelberg. Each new project in one of the ‘Connect’ pillars is caught in a wave that carries it through required development before delivering the expected results into production. The flexible, modular approach means that future projects not yet on the drawing board are catered for in the same way as planned changes.
That is the very essence of goals sought by Heidelberg. A comprehensive and innovative programme addressing threats and opportunities at Heidelberg. And one allowing management to transform Heidelberg into an adaptive enterprise underpinned by Adaptive IT to meet volatility head-on. At Heidelberg, borders are rapidly disappearing!
“Your great achievement as an eLeader team is that Heidelberg now has an integral
view on all ongoing and planned eInitiatives and knows all the dependencies between
these projects and the underlying infrastructure.”
Chairman,
Heidelberg Druckmaschinen
Written in co-operation with Heidelberg Druckmaschinen AG
