VTU generates cost transparency and growth thanks to Dynamics 365 ERP

The VTU Group is an international technology and engineering service provider for the life sciences and chemical industries. The company's business units guide and support customers throughout the entire life cycle of their plants.

Their industrial services range from strategic planning & implementation of technological solutions, plant optimization, comprehensive support in ongoing operations and industrial digitalization to minimizing the environmental footprint. Customers include some of the largest pharmaceutical and biotech companies in Europe.

Headquarters: Raaba-Grambach (Styria, Austria)

Employees: +1200 (as of 01/2023)

Locations: 34 in 7 European countries (as of 01/2023)

Why Microsoft Dynamics 365 ERP and Cegeka

For many years, Microsoft AX, the predecessor of Microsoft Dynamics 365 Finance and Supply Chain Management, met the needs of VTU Group, but the company has grown significantly in recent years and a new solution had to be found, and not only from a technical perspective.

The VTU Group's workforce has increased from 500 to more than 1,200 in 2018 to 2022 alone.

Topics such as intercompany billing and the standardization of internal processes in the area of project billing across several companies have become increasingly important. The previous Microsoft AX 2009 application, which was becoming outdated, could no longer keep up.

In the search for a new ERP system that would meet their requirements and also grow with them in the long run, VTU evaluated all major and relevant ERP solutions from a wide variety of perspectives to see which was the best fit. Since Dynamics 365 Finance and Supply Chain Management met all the requirements, the question quickly became not which system to introduce, but who would accompany the future Dynamics 365 implementation.

"When it came to covering the required functionalities, the well-known major solutions were on par - but when it came to costs, everything spoke in favor of a decision towards Dynamics 365 ERP."

- Georg Krisper, Head of Corporate Finance, VTU

In the search for a Microsoft Partner, it was the personal opinion of VTU's decision unit that led to the choice for Cegeka. The individual project members already knew each other from the previous Microsoft Dynamics AX project and had worked together very well during that implementation.

"The way you work together on ERP projects, which can be very lengthy, is one of the success factors during ERP implementations. Because of our good experiences in the past, we wanted to work with Cegeka on this project as well."

- Georg Krisper, Head of Corporate Finance, VTU

Results after VTU's implementation of Dynamics 365 ERP 

VTU's old ERP could only be operated at a few fixed workstations. Today, all that is needed is an Internet connection and, for example, a laptop or tablet to access Dynamics 365 ERP from any location. This significantly increased the flexibility in terms of time and space in daily work of their individual users.

Moreover, the introduction of an intercompany functionality (IC) has significantly improved intra-group billing. This enabled a transparent evaluation of company-independent projects. 

"Today, when we bill our customers through one or more internal clients or companies, all information goes into Dynamics 365 and gives us consistent evaluations and the highest possible cost transparency."

- Georg Krisper, Head of Corporate Finance, VTU

How the ERP project process was designed

After the decision for Dynamics 365 ERP and Cegeka was made, there was an official kick-off meeting with all project participants. This was followed by weekly update calls to track the progress of the project.

In addition, there were steering committees with VTU's management and Cegeka at regular intervals to keep a bird's eye view of the project and make corrections as needed.

"The intercompany functionality in Dynamics 365 and Cegeka's time and attendance system have made us a connected company."

- Georg Krisper, Head of Corporate Finance, VTU

The biggest challenges during the ERP project and how they were solved

According to Mr. Krisper, the biggest challenge in the course of the Dynamics 365 project was to implement it during the merger with a new financial investor in 2017. 

Although it was put on-hold, the positive project conclusion was achieved by employees who were highly motivated and were able to contribute new perspectives and goal orientation. This ultimately led to a successful implementation of the ERP project.

"We definitely recommend Cegeka. We experienced professional project support and supervision. Not everything went smoothly, but Cegeka always stayed on track and found the right solutions."

- Georg Krisper, Head of Corporate Finance, VTU