The supplier from the state capital has extensively modernized its customer experience (CX) landscape. And so it deliberately not waited until the SAP S/4HANA utilities was introduced. Because the topic is too important – and because the municipal utilities were recently short -term.

Germany’s energy sector is struggling with the energy transition, compliance with legal regulations and the need for digital transformation. This also applies to Stadtwerke Düsseldorf AG. The company supplies around 600,000 households in the Rhenish metropolis and its surrounding area with electricity, natural gas, water and heat. And it is a central player of the “Düsseldorf Weg”, the comprehensive package of measures with which the city is to become climate neutral by 2035. Of course, this can only succeed if people go along. For example, by opting for an energy supplier like the Düsseldorf Stadtwerke- which is already using 100% green electricity from renewable energies such as sun, wind or hydropower.

So far, the company has not been able to offer a seamless customer experience

In order to make this decision easier for customers, the company has extensively modernized its customer experience (CX) landscape. And so it deliberately not waited until the-also upcoming-transformation of the industry ERP solution from IS-U to SAP S/4HANA Utilities. Because the topic was too important and because the municipal utilities were recently challenges. “We had the problem of an outdated customer interaction center for our agents and problems with data integration across different departments. That is why we could not offer seamless customer experience,” says Christian Hübling, Head of Process and System Integration at Stadtwerke, the starting point in August 2022.

The company wanted to get better here and that quickly. The SAP Service Cloud decided to replace the SAP Customer Interaction Center introduced in 2004. The fact that the choice fell on the Walldörfer was the good reputation that SAP has in the energy sector – and the high integration force of its solutions. The implementation partner was Münchner Power Reply GmbH, an IT consulting company specializing in the supply industry.

Four applications as a proof of concept

In order to check whether the SAP Service Cloud fulfills the expectations of whether it really improves the cooperation between departments, the Düsseldorf team tested four specific applications: adjustment of payments, contract management for moving, inquiries about wall boxes for electric cars and the provision of invoice documents.

The results convinced. More than 80 people were involved in their implementation and over 15 external partners. What came about was a CX ecosystem with interlocking solutions and services. Nine apps support the service processes via the SAP Business Technology Platform. Single Sign-on and Social Login enable comfortable registration and individualized communication, SAP EMARSYS Automated e-mail campaigns-supported by SAP Customer Data Platform, which provides customer data for personalization and segmentation in real time.

Satisfied employees provide happy customers

“We use the technology to reduce costs, and above all to gain more insights into customer behavior and thus strengthen their commitment to us,” said Christian Hübling from Stadtwerke.

And if you want happy customers, you also need satisfied employees, says Paul Philipp Bodenbenner, partner at Power Reply, the implementation partner of the Düsseldorf. “Of course, it is always about user -friendliness for those people who deal with the solution every day. Service staff are difficult to find, so we should make the work as easy as possible for you.”

In October 2023, Stadtwerke Düsseldorf AG went live with the Service Cloud after about a year of project time for the first market role. The SAP CX transformation was now completed with Golive The SAP Service Cloud for the second market roller network in July 2025.

Documentation, resource planning, quality control, change management

From Christian Hüding, Head of Process and System Integration at the supplier, four factors were primarily responsible for the success of the project.

First If you documented all processes of the customer service before the project started, all around 400 service processes that had to be transferred from the old into the new system knew about all the processes.

Secondly Be it right and important to start with the CX implementation before the ERP transformation for SAP S/4HANA Utilities begins. The team would have overwhelmed both at the same time, after all, the same people are often involved in the projects.

Third I took the time for a professional product facility – including external quality managers who were responsible for all controls.

Fourth After all, Hüming found it extremely helpful to have a special change management team that took employees on a trip to the service cloud.

The bottom line is that from the point of view of the head of process and system integration for the energy suppliers, there is no way around a contemporary customer experience architecture. “Of course, the transformation costs time and resources, but it would be negligent to postpone the consistent customer orientation by two or three years because you want to complete a SAP S/4Hana transformation beforehand.”