Centralized global data base with SAP SuccessFactors Employee Central

Products: Manufacturer of fireproof materials

Employees: approx. 1,500 (2021)

Turnover: 432 million euros (2020)

Headquarters: Ismaning, Germany

Website: www.refra.com

A Globally Active Family Business with Vision

Refratechnik – a globally operating family business in the markets of refractory systems, industrial minerals and technical ceramics markets. Together with its customers, Refratechnik develops sustainable solutions with the goal of becoming the technology leader in all these markets. Refratechnik Holding guides the entire group with its 1,900 employees at 27 locations and coordinates the business units in strategic matters. The company, which is always striving to grow internationally, has found a reliable partner in NTT DATA Business Solutions (hereinafter NTT DATA) for optimizing HR-related IT concerns, first in Germany and then globally and thereby creating company-wide added value. Innovation, quality and reliability have long driven the work of this family business.

Refratechnik Goes SAP SuccessFactors

SAP’s leading master data system Employee Central (EC) holds the promise of centralized HR processes for all employees. Refratechnik also long ago recognized the advantages of the SAP SuccessFactors cloud solution and started implementing it in Germany. The EC module enables intuitive access to important tasks via self-services on all devices as well as smart automation of HR processes with the help of intelligent workflows. This enables managers and employees to maintain and update their personal data themselves. The most important personal data are stored via the employee profile, allowing for visualization of the entire organizational structure. Integrated analyses in real time also ensure an overview of employee performance. This forms the basis for optimized personnel recruitment, simplifies succession planning, enables more precise personnel planning and improves Refratechnik’s overall HR strategy.

From Germany to Other Countries

The EC module went live in Germany as scheduled after an eight-month project run time . The decision for a subsequent rollout in additional countries was quickly made. Soon, Australia, North America, Mexico, Colombia, Canada, Hungary, Spain and India should be able to benefit from the new functionalities. The great benefit is that by using the solution in all countries, there will be just one source of truth and thus a centralized global basis for master data. This also means that global reporting functionalities will soon be established. Despite HR processes that vary from one country to the next, Refratechnik wishes to have as few deviations as possible in the configuration. In compliance with local provisions, conducting Fit Gap workshops and using best practices will allow global HR processes to be largely standardized and harmonized.

A Big Step towards Digitalization

Equipped with the new solution, Refratechnik can now make strategic HR decisions much more easily. The new workflows and self-services lead to a significant increase in the company’s performance and simplify HR processes. The multi-system landscape was successfully unified into one system. SAP SuccessFactors EC provides new transparency with regard to all employees and offers holistic views as well as data-based decision-making for both the HR department and management. Modern graphic dashboards offer an extensive overview of personnel-related information. Equipped with the new cloud solution, Refratechnik has taken a big step towards digitalization.