Digitalisation as a growth driver
Wilhelm Fricke SE, based in Heeslingen, is one of the leading trading and service companies for agricultural machinery, commercial vehicle parts, spare parts and accessories - and is consistently driving digitalisation forward as part of its growth strategy.
One focus is on integration-driven digitalisation: the seamless networking of systems, processes and partners with the aim of increasing process efficiency and thus securing growth and competitiveness in the long term. Together with CONCETO as a strategic digitalisation partner, Fricke is pursuing the development of a future-proof, scalable architecture based on the SAP Business Technology Platform (BTP), the SAP Integration Suite and CONCETO SaaS solutions.
A key project in this context is the use of the CIS/4 Cloud - AI Extractor, which Fricke uses to consistently automate the processing of purchasing documents with the help of artificial intelligence. Large quantities of order confirmations and incoming invoices are received every day - in a wide variety of formats, layouts, languages and from numerous international suppliers.
Previous manual processing meant a lot of time, media disruptions and a considerable potential for errors. At the same time, it is becoming clear that manual processing is reaching its limits in the face of demographic change. Increasing efficiency through automation using modern technologies such as artificial intelligence is therefore becoming a decisive success factor.
"The close integration of the AI Extractor into our SAP processes has noticeably improved our workflows. Our specialist departments benefit from precise validations and significantly reduced processing times - and we have created the basis for processing even more document types automatically in the future."
Ole Harms, Head of Business & Systems Integration Fricke Holding GmbH
Challenge: Efficiency in a complex system landscape
For Fricke, one thing was clear: a modern solution must be able to work across system boundaries, avoid media disruptions and offer maximum support for the specialist departments. A key decision criterion was close SAP networking with intelligent validation. For example, order confirmations and invoices were to be compared with purchase orders, goods receipts and vendor master data directly in the system - fully automatically, precisely and with clear instructions for the specialist department.
Why CONCETO CIS/4-Cloud - AI-Extractor
After an intensive selection process, Fricke decided in favour of the CIS/4 Cloud - AI Extractor from CONCETO. The decisive factors were:
- Specialisation in SAP S/4HANA with simultaneous openness for other ERP systems - ideal for companies with heterogeneous, evolved system landscapes
- Deep SAP integration with intelligent validation and enrichment of missing data - flexibly controllable through (de)activation of rules at supplier or client level as well as manually maintainable tolerance limits
- Customised business logic to extend the standard functions of the AI Extractor
- High format flexibility with changing supplier layouts thanks to specialised AI models Seamless integration into the existing hybrid integration landscape (Seeburger BIS 6.7 and SAP Integration Suite)
- Architectural approach that fully maps the high process complexity, fulfils all relevant compliance requirements and securely supports data growth
- Future-proof thanks to simple expandability to other document types
From receipt to posting - automated & checked
The AI Extractor makes it possible to fully digitalise processes with trading partners within just a few hours - instead of the weeks or months usually required for traditional EDI implementations. New suppliers can be connected quickly, data streams can be processed automatically and made available directly in the relevant systems. This significantly shortens throughput times while ensuring high data quality and process reliability.
Strategic benefits for Fricke
- Increase productivity: Manual interventions are drastically reduced and employee capacities are freed up for value-adding tasks
- Secure financial advantages: Automated checks and filters according to payment terms enable better utilisation of discount periods and strengthen liquidity
- Gain transparency: Dashboards provide a clear overview of the degree of automation, process quality and optimisation potential at all times
- Making processes fit for the future: Intelligent workflows also automate special cases and guarantee stable processes - even in complex system landscapes
- Utilisation of modern technologies: The use of artificial intelligence enables an increasing increase in efficiency and opens up new potential for automation
"The extended functions are particularly valuable for us: Filter options according to payment terms help us to make optimum use of discount periods and strengthen our liquidity. A customised dashboard shows us at any time how high the level of automation is, where there is still potential and which suppliers are less easy to automate. In addition, automated workflows also handle complex special cases - such as re-checks for SAP errors if invoice items were not yet stored when they were uploaded. This combination of standard integration and flexible expansion makes the AI Extractor a powerful and future-proof solution for us."
Ole Harms, Head of Business & Systems Integration Fricke Holding GmbH
Result at a glance
- Significantly shorter throughput times and accelerated approval processes
- Higher data quality through SAP-like validation
- Relief for the specialist departments and better basis for decision-making
- Scalability to other document types and company divisions
Conclusion & outlook
With the CIS/4 Cloud - AI Extractor, Wilhelm Fricke SE has done more than just automate processes - it has created the basis for scalable growth and sustainable digitalisation. The solution combines efficiency gains in day-to-day business with the strategic ability to implement new requirements quickly and flexibly. Fricke is therefore ideally positioned to continue the digitalisation of its purchasing and financial processes.
