Steps Gerresheimer takes to transform its IT

Everything on platforms

Gerresheimer is currently looking for platforms for this purpose. “We want to use the Microsoft Power platform, but also low-code/no-code platforms because we think we can’t automate every process with the Power platform,” says Nalbant.

The company has been using ServiceNow as an IT service management tool and ticket system for around three years. The platform is intended to become Gerresheimer’s IT framework, which includes, among other things, the Configuration Management Database (CMDB) and software asset management.

The plan is to expand the framework into a self-service platform. Users can automatically create dashboards, order software, and manage installations, for example, that cloud resources can book. “We want to reduce these processes to just a few minutes,” he says. “That’s what we’re currently working on.”

Piecemeal to SAP S/4HANA

In addition, Gerresheimer is pursuing a strategy to migrate to SAP S/4HANA. According to Nalbant, this is set rather conservatively. “We don’t want a big bang launch, but rather start a finance transformation in 2024,” he says, and then other modules should follow gradually. “Many companies fail here because they set the scope too large. We want to avoid that.” 

By the end of 2027, when Gerresheimer stops supporting legacy systems, all of its SAP systems worldwide should be completely migrated.

AI in the company

Nalbant says that AI has a lot of added value for employees, and the first applications are already in use and will soon be rolled out globally. A dedicated AI hub was also implemented directly in Microsoft Teams. “It contains, among other things, translations, ChatGPT 4, or spelling and grammar checks for users,” he says. “We also ensure that our data remains internal and can’t be used as public learning data.” Such an approach is very well received by employees. “It’s likely the workforce has used these tools in the browser before, but now we have the ability to control them,” he adds. The focus is on using AI within clearly defined limits in order to increase user productivity instead of preventing its use.