Case Study PSIpenta: Hargassner benefits from process integration and high data availability

Hargassner Ges mbH from Austria develops and produces environmentally friendly heating systems and has been growing rapidly for several years. The family-owned company places high demands on service, production and planning, not least due to its positive development, and is therefore reliant on a solid IT system. With PSIpenta, Hargassner has an ERP standard with a wide range and depth of functions at its disposal - including simple automation options and add-on modules that can be integrated. 

With its wood chip, pellet and log wood heating systems, Hargassner is one of the pioneers of environmentally friendly heating with renewable energy. The company now supplies its own heating systems worldwide - the systems are installed in private single and multi-family homes as well as in residential complexes, guest houses, hotels, public buildings and in wood-processing and large agricultural businesses.

• Production of 500 boilers per week or around 25,0000 systems per year
• Processing of around 50,000 service orders per year
• High diversity of variants up to individual design

• Consistent mapping of all business processes in the system standard
• Support for efficient variant management
• Increasing the degree of digitization
• Openness for the connection of third-party systems
• Options for simple automation

Hargassner opted for the PSIpenta/ERP industry solution, which offers such a wide range of functions in the standard system that the company can map all business processes in it - without any adjustments to the program core. The system was also deeply integrated into the automation and forms an important pillar for further digitalization projects. PSIpenta/ERP is also linked to a number of other solutions for end-to-end mapping of all business processes, including a workflow for incoming invoices, a high-bay warehouse, a driverless transport system and a test bench developed in-house.

In addition to the ERP standard, some ERP add-on modules also play an important role for the company - above all the variant configurator. Instead of maintaining countless parts lists, Hargassner only has to update the so-called maximum parts list, which contains all variations. This means that the starting point for planning is a general article with the article number “boiler”. The various boiler types are categorized under this in several levels. The ERP system then generates a unique parts list for production only after configuration.

In addition, 120 in-house technicians process an average of 50,000 orders every year with the support of PSIpenta/Service Management and, in combination, with the Fast Lean Smart service deployment and route planning solution. Both planned and unplanned service assignments are recorded via PSIpenta/ERP and assigned to technicians according to specific criteria and priorities using the integrated tool. They then work through their orders one by one in this solution - offline or online. The resulting data is then transferred back to the ERP system via an interface, where the material bookings and invoices are made.

The PSI Industrial Apps, which are installed on 80 mobile scanners and used in goods receiving, for confirming work processes and orders or for stock movements, also eliminate the need for reworking or manual data entry. Where workers previously had to enter their data by hand, they now work independently of location and directly in the ERP system by scanning QR codes, for example on goods receipt slips or production documents. In addition, the screens only show the “buttons” relevant to the respective work step, which makes operation very simple, speeds up processes and virtually eliminates errors.

Last but not least, scripting options via Groovy are particularly valuable for the manufacturer. This allows Hargassner to carry out automation flexibly and easily itself. For example, the IT team has programmed its own reservation list for scheduling boilers, pre-populated certain mandatory fields and automated recurring clicks as well as individual discount determination for customers.