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For decades, BSH Hausgeräte GmbH has been a quiet force in kitchens worldwide, with brands like Bosch, Siemens, and Gaggenau in its portfolio. Now, the company is rewriting its own recipe—not for food, but for finance. In partnership with SAP, BSH is transforming its IT landscape to a cloud-first foundation, aiming to free employees from manual tasks and put insights at the center of decision-making.
In an interview, BSH Head of Governance, Methods, and Systems Heiko Schletz explained how the company is reshaping finance and why its move to the cloud is a critical ingredient to a successful AI-enhanced future.
Technology follows vision
Represented in more than 50 countries, BSH manufactures home appliances in 39 factories worldwide. Schletz’s team oversees group controlling and is responsible for ensuring that financial data flows smoothly from its core systems, such as ERP, all the way up to the consolidated group level. His team manages how financial data is structured and integrated across all global entities, ensuring it can be used effectively for company-wide reporting and decision-making.
BSH is working to bring accounting and controlling together into one integrated process, supported by real-time data and analytics. One principle is guiding this transformation: technology follows vision, not the other way round. As part of its transformation journey, BSH is embracing change by testing new technologies to support its vision.
To simplify reporting efforts, for example, BSH is currently piloting SAP Datasphere, SAP’s next-generation data management platform that can unify and govern all SAP data and seamlessly connect with third-party data.
A recent use case automatically connected accounting balances, controlling P&L data and market metrics in SAP Datasphere and delivering consolidated reports without spreadsheets and manual effort. “This shows where the journey is going—joining sources, bringing them together,” Schletz says.
Breaking down silos to empower AI
BSH’s long-term goal in the financial area is to get rid of silos between accounting, controlling, and treasury. Schletz envisions a parallel ledger architecture that supports both—legal entity and consolidated group views—enabling advanced analytics such as value-driver trees. By moving to SAP S/4HANA Cloud Private Edition, integrated with SAP Datasphere and SAP Analytics Cloud, BSH aims to create a single source of truth for finance spanning from subsidiary ledgers to group-level consolidation.
Schletz is convinced that with a cloud-based, synchronized toolset, his finance team can deliver the latest figures for decision-making faster and with less manual consolidation. “SAP’s AI evolution is running in the direction we also want to go,” Schletz explains. “The technology meets our vision and that’s why it’s a perfect fit.”
The company has relied on SAP solutions for decades, starting with SAP R/3 and now running SAP S/4HANA, SAP Business Warehouse, and SAP Analytics Cloud. The next milestone is cloud migration: RISE with SAP. “In the next two years, we go into the cloud,” Schletz says. “We want a synchronized toolset that gives us a holistic view.”
To get the most out of analytics and AI functionalities, BSH is currently consolidating and simplifying its comprehensive business application landscape. The company’s target is to move from six separate ERP solutions to one global SAP S/4HANA environment that covers all subsidiaries and geographies.
How to prepare an SAP S/4HANA transformation
Schletz’s advice for other organizations exploring the RISE with SAP journey is to start with a clear vision. “If you don’t begin with a concept that combines accounting and controlling, don’t start with SAP S/4HANA,” he says, noting that a finance transformation is not an isolated IT project—it requires alignment across logistics, sales, and customer service. “The SAP S/4HANA conversion is a cross-functional adventure,” he adds.
BSH’s journey is ongoing, but the direction is set. Cloud migration via RISE with SAP, integrated data, and a finance function designed for insight rather than manual effort. “We want the machine to do what it does best, so people can focus on creating value,” Schletz concludes.