The European logistics firm G. Englmayer Spedition has modernised its financial management with Axians and SAP S/4HANA, whose custom solution enabled it to speed up its month-end closing by 50%, and improve automation and transparency in its processes.
Englmayer Spedition GmbH has operated in the European transport and logistics sector for more than 160 years. But with business activities encompassing transport, shipping and commercial letting, this Austrian company ended up with increasingly fragmented information systems.
Initially designed for SMEs, its financial management solution could no longer handle the legal and tax requirements of an international group and its local subsidiaries, or the need for integration between its different business lines.
Faced with this complex situation, Englmayer approached Axians, the VINCI Energies ICT brand, to manage a comprehensive digital transformation based on SAP S/4HANA, the ERP (enterprise resource planning) solution designed by SAP for large businesses and with a clear objective: to rationalise processes, improve transparency and centralise financial operations in a single platform.
Unification strategy
The project launched in 2017 and proceeded through a number of key stages. First of all, SAP S/4HANA was implemented at all the group’s Austrian businesses connected to the old transport management system (TMS). Then between 2020 and 2024, the international subsidiaries were gradually integrated, with the property business activities incorporated via the RE‑FX module.
“Mapping the greatest number of existing applications into an integrated system”
The choice of SAP S/4HANA was made in response to precise requirements.
“We were looking for a solution capable of mapping the greatest number of existing applications into an integrated system,” explains Robert Hacker, IT Services Manager & International Management Team Member at G. Englmayer. Axians proposed a comprehensive architecture: SAP S/4HANA for finance and property management, and LBASE for transport and shipping, all integrated into a unified analysis platform.
This approach offers Englmayer standardised reporting across all its business activities, and facilitates legal compliance in every country of operation. “Thanks to the capabilities of the HANA technology, reservation files in the transport management system can be displayed at order level in S/4HANA,” says Robert Hacker.
Fast, controlled implementation
Despite the complexity of the project, due in part to the temporary coexistence of several systems (the old TMS, LBASE, SAP modules), the transformation was managed smoothly. As Robert Hacker puts it: “Thanks to the highly competent Axians team, the project was completed successfully on time and on budget.”
Axians once again showed its agility in the face of sector-specific challenges. Sara Pichler, Key Account Manager at Axians ICT Austria, explains: “Our knowledge of operational processes in transport and the options for integration between LBASE and SAP allowed us to effectively implement the customer’s specific requirements. One of the most complex aspects was the management of service dates, which are supplied from external systems rather than conventional SAP modules.”
Measurable and sustainable outcomes
The benefits of this transformation were soon evident. Month-end closing took half as long, manual tasks were reduced considerably, and the automated data flows offer both enhanced precision and greater transparency.
Robert Hacker from G. Englmayer Spedition says: “This comprehensive, integrated and modern solution now covers the legal requirements across all our national and international subsidiaries.” The company now has a common basis for evaluation across all its activities – transport, property and shipping – and can make use of real-time analysis in its decision-making.
Alongside the technological aspects, it is the trust relationship between the two partners that makes the difference. “Having a single point of contact for SAP and LBASE, both managed by Axians, simplified coordination and sped up implementation,” says Sara Pichler from Axians. As a supplier of complete solutions, Axians was able to combine its sector-specific expertise and technical skills to make this transformation a real performance lever for G. Englmayer.
12/15/2025
