With a future-oriented carve-out, FÖRCH Germany has mastered an organizationally and technically demanding transformation – without any interruption to day-to-day business.
Since April 2025, FÖRCH Germany has been operating with 32 SAP EWM warehouses as an independent organization and has been accounting retroactively from January 2025 in its own company code.
The realignment required, among other things:
- the introduction of intercompany processing
- the transfer of inventory to new plants without physical warehouse movement, and
- the migration of all relevant data.
The goal was to seamlessly integrate the new processes into day-to-day business while maintaining access to the central warehouse to leverage existing synergies. The complex system landscape, including an offline-capable sales app, posed particular challenges.
Success factors included the early involvement of all stakeholders, targeted change management, and an automated testing procedure – for a transition that went smoothly for customers.
Iterative approach with foresight
A preliminary project evaluated implementation options for spinning off the sales department with its own company code.
This was followed by a comprehensive realization project with the strategic goal of creating a roll-out template for other country organizations in the central FÖRCH S/4HANA system.
Two-stage implementation with clear planning
The introduction of an additional company code took place in two phases: organizationally from January 2025, externally visible from May 2025 – including bank and tax-relevant settings. The precise separation of all systems and close coordination by a dedicated cut-over manager ensured a smooth transition.
Technical excellence & change competence
XEPTUM contributed extensive carve-out experience – for example, in master data migration, intercompany process logic, and internal pricing. Particularly noteworthy was the inventory-preserving transfer of 32 SAP EWM warehouses to new plants – without physical movement of goods.
Guarantors of success were change management started early and fully automated test management – for stable system conversions with reduced effort for the specialist departments.
Strategic sales spin-off at FÖRCH: Successful carve-out with SAP S/4HANA
Successful transformation without business interruption
The project to spin off the German sales organization was implemented “in time,” “in budget,” and without disrupting day-to-day business. Critical migrations were carried out specifically on weekends and public holidays – customers noticed no changes.
The new multi-level processes ran stably from the start. The final legal separation in May 2025 was also successful as planned. A possible year’s delay was avoided through precise planning.
A particular highlight was the transfer of inventories from 32 SAP EWM-managed warehouses to new SAP plants – completely without physical movement of goods. This technical sophistication enabled an uninterrupted conversion in the background.
Key factors of success were:
- Iterative approach and early change management
- Automated test management
- Comprehensive carve-out know-how
With the new, future-proof system landscape, FÖRCH has reached a central milestone – and created the basis for international rollouts.
The project is an example of the interplay between strategic IT transformation and operational excellence.
“Great project – in time and budget – with competent and customer-oriented partners at eye level.” – Steffen Federer, Group Management IT and Digital Business, FÖRCH Group
