ZF SCALAR unifies the end-to-end sales cycle with SAP CPQ and S/4HANA

About ZF SCALAR

ZF SCALAR, formerly Transics, is part of ZF Group’s aftermarket division and provides digital fleet management and telematics solutions to transport and logistics companies, ranking among the top three providers in long-haul fleet management in Europe. The company supports thousands of customers across Europe with connected devices, subscriptions and services for fleet operators. ZF Group is a global tier-one automotive supplier, supplying advanced mobility products and systems for passenger cars, commercial vehicles and industrial technology.

The Challenge

Until recently, ZF SCALAR was running several systems in parallel. Its ERP landscape was still based on an on-premise system implemented more than a decade earlier and heavily customised over the years. Sales teams were working with opportunities in CRM but it was becoming increasingly difficult to maintain consistency in quotations, price agreements and complex product and service configurations.

“We had reached a point that we could not upgrade the system because of the customisations,” explains Rajeev Batra, Digitalisation & Site Lead at ZF Group. “Our ERP was functioning and serving our purpose, but it was no longer the next-gen system needed.”

With a new product platform and a large portion of revenue coming from recurring subscriptions, ZF SCALAR needed a system built for its business model, one that could keep pace with the company’s growth and increasing compliance requirements, such as e-invoicing.

The Solution

ZF SCALAR chose SAP CPQ (part of SAP’s Customer Experience suite) and SAP S/4HANA Public Cloud to stay as close to standard functionality as possible, so future upgrades and innovations would be available automatically rather than lost to custom development. The choice was also shaped by the nature of the business where, unlike much of the wider ZF Group, ZF SCALAR’s revenue is built on device sales combined with recurring subscriptions; almost 60% comes from subscription revenue alone. This called for a platform with native, standardised subscription billing.

To find the right implementation partner, ZF SCALAR’s procurement team ran an RFP in Belgium and internationally, weighing responses against a defined set of criteria, with experience specifically in public cloud implementations a key requirement. TheValueChain was selected as the lead partner.

Standardising complex sales cycles

ZF SCALAR works with thousands of customers, each with their own commercial terms, and offers complex bundled solutions combining hardware, subscriptions and services. Keeping track of all these individual commercial terms and configurations would be almost impossible; however, standardising that through SAP CPQ has been one of the most visible gains of the project.

CPQ guides users through these processes automatically. Sales and back-office teams now build on the same configuration and dataset, reducing errors and rework.

The implementation connects three elements into a single flow. Customer and lead data sits in Salesforce, which triggers the CPQ workflow to generate quotes, while CPQ and Salesforce stay in sync in both directions as a quote moves through the sales cycle. Once an opportunity is won, the order flows into SAP S/4HANA Public Cloud, where SAP Solution Order Management brings hardware, subscriptions and services together into a single bundled order, while the customer master remains in Salesforce.

From there, S/4HANA handles the full order life cycle, from fulfilment and logistics to finance and ongoing service. SAP’s Subscription Billing module automates the recurring monthly invoicing that covers a large portion of ZF SCALAR’s revenue, replacing a previously manual process. The solution also supports the device repair flow inherent to a connected fleet business, so when a unit needs servicing or replacement, S/4HANA manages the process, including the associated supplier invoicing and connectivity data.

A collaborative rollout

The project ran in two phases. SAP CPQ went live first, followed by the larger S/4HANA Public Cloud implementation. The pace of delivery was adjusted along the way to give the business the time it needed to adopt the new processes.

“When we needed to slow the pace to give the business more time to validate things, TheValueChain was receptive to that,” highlights Rejeev. “It was handled transparently between both parties, a fair collaboration throughout.”

A modern digital experience

ZF SCALAR has been live on the new platform for close to five months and is still working through post-go-live stabilisation and broader adoption across the business. Even so, the benefits are already visible: faster, more consistent quotations, fewer manual workflows and a platform built to support upcoming compliance requirements such as e-invoicing.

Looking ahead, ZF SCALAR wants to give fleet managers a self-service experience, the ability to add features, order extras or expand their fleet at their own pace, without needing to go through a sales or back-office contact. The goal is a modern, on-demand user experience closer to what customers are already familiar with from digital subscription services today.

Expected Benefits

• Faster sales cycles: CPQ accelerates complex configurations that previously required manual back-and-forth between sales and back office.
• Greater productivity: A single, standardised dataset across CRM, quoting and ERP removes duplicate work and reduces errors.
• Automated workflows: With processes now running on a modern, connected platform, ZF SCALAR can start automating workflows.
• Compliance readiness: Moving to SAP positions ZF SCALAR ahead of upcoming regulatory requirements, such as e-invoicing.
• A future-ready platform: With subscription billing, solution order management and the repair flow unified, ZF SCALAR has the foundation to roll out new digital services and customer models more quickly in the years ahead.