The keynote by Mr. Streibich was followed immediately by the keynote of Mr. Schulze of Kneipp. Kneipp is a provider of health and pharmaceutical products. The company originated in 1891 and is based on the philosophy of Sebastian Kneipp. At least in German speaking countries, you will find so called Kneipp pools which allow you to walk through cold water. This is not only refreshing after a long walk, but shall be also good for the overall health of the body. Mr. Schulze shows in his keynote how they transformed their company to make it ready for the future, but without touching this long tradition.
They felt a need for a change due to the following market changes:
- globalisation
- efficiency
- end-to-end transparency & control
- flexibility
- time-to-market
Mr. Schulze notes that Kneipp is a medium sized company, but which is facing challenges like a big company, because of their product spectrum and retail structure. In their change program, they followed things outlined in a book called the Pinguin Principle. The main steps are:
- Create a sense of urgency
- Pull together the guiding team
- Develop a change vision and strategy
- Communicate to gain understanding and buy-in
- Empower others to act
- Produce short-time wins
- Don't let up
- Create a new culture
They had several important principles they followed like business driven, early involvement of stakeholders and having the right business partner (Software AG & IDS Scheer). Another important point was defining a clear IT strategy (based on ITIL).
In their current architecture, they integrate their various IT systems using middleware products like webMethods from Software AG. They documented and optimised their processes using ARIS. So this customer is a good example of what is possible with the combined product portfolio.
