Millions of product variants, rapid growth, several different IT systems: steda GmbH needed a solution that controls everything. With SAP Cloud ERP and partner BA Business Advice, the switch to automated configurations and integrated processes was achieved in just eight months.

Wood or aluminum, free-standing or attached, with side walls or all-round glazing – anyone who buys a patio cover has many decisions to make. And that's not all: “We already have 3.6 million possible variants for one category of patio roofing alone,” says Heinz Mödden, technical manager at steda. “And that doesn’t take individual size measurements into account.”

steda: Online retailer with a growth boom and (almost) unlimited variety

steda GmbH sells patio roofing made of wood and aluminum, carports and garden sheds and is one of the established direct and online providers in German-speaking countries. Founded in 2011, Stefan Brüggemann and Daniel Heidemann started selling glass trophies out of a garage – larger products such as garden sheds and patio roofs quickly followed. From 2013 onwards, sales took place via its own online shop.

Business developed well from the start – the steda team was not prepared for the boom that the corona pandemic triggered. “People were forced back to their own four walls and wanted to make their time at home as pleasant as possible – for example with a new terrace roof,” explains Bastian Wulfekuhl, authorized representative and COO at steda. This cocooning trend resulted in orders multiplying within a very short period of time. “Until the corona pandemic, we processed all orders on paper – from sales to delivery,” says Wulfekuhl. “With the lockdown, we switched to email distribution lists overnight – and then gradually introduced other systems, but they never really spoke to each other.”

No more silo thinking: SAP Cloud ERP turns 6 isolated systems into integrated and automated processes

However, the systems worked completely isolated from each other – an overview of the order situation, sales forecasts or contribution margins was simply not possible. Ultimately, the departments themselves provided the impetus for change.

“It was clear to all department heads that effective corporate management was only possible with the help of a central system. That's what they demanded – knowing full well that the implementation would entail major procedural changes.”

Bastian Wulfekuhl, authorized representative and COO at steda

Heinz Mödden quickly realized that neither an industry solution nor a pure retail solution would meet steda's requirements. They were looking for a platform that consistently covers all processes from sales to logistics and at the same time understands and supports the industry-specific requirements. Several systems were shortlisted – Ultimately, SAP's cloud ERP solution impressed with its complete process coverage and the depth of variant configuration. One of the last remaining reservations was the price: the FUE model (Full User Equivalent) of SAP Cloud ERP offers an attractive entry into the cloud, especially for small and medium-sized companies. With a flexible pricing structure for 25 users or more, the introduction of the solution was also economically convincing for steda.

SAP Cloud ERP at steda: From kick-off to go-live in 8 months

The contract was signed with implementation partner BA Business Advice in January 2025 and the kick-off meeting in February. The go-live took place eight months later, in October 2025 – the latest possible time that seasonal business permitted.

During the project phase, three aspects proved to be particularly challenging:

• Master data cleanup SAP Cloud ERP provides more than 700 master data fields that form the basis for all follow-up processes, analyzes and KPIs. Errors or inconsistencies would inevitably permeate the entire system and falsify evaluations. The cleanup turned out to be more complex than planned – the steda team managed it with great commitment. “We managed to do this with a lot of hard work,” says Heinz Mödden.
• Shopify: The real-time connection of the web shop to SAP Cloud ERP was set for steda. The partner BA Business Advice developed a tailor-made interface solution – precisely tailored to steda's processes and requirements. A convincing example of tailor-made partner work in the SAP ecosystem.
• Variant configuration (AVC): In the previous steda system world, work preparation was carried out completely manually. To automate the AVC, product data had to be stored in a structured manner and processes had to be fundamentally redesigned – a time-consuming task that the steda team solved with great commitment.

Administrative costs for Amazon orders are reduced by 90 percent

Today, the technical effort involved in processing orders at steda is only half as great: The variant configuration (AVC) completely configures orders in sales or directly in the online shop – there is no need for manual post-processing. As a result, the number of orders that have to be processed in work preparation fell by half. The administrative effort for so-called fast-lane orders even fell by 90 percent: These are all Amazon orders that go through fully automatically from receipt to logistics – without manual intervention. For an online retailer with millions of different variants, this is a significant gain in productivity. In purchasing, orders are now bundled.

“In the past, 25 orders with rain gutters came in, purchasing ordered each one individually – today this is done in a single order and a single goods receipt.”

Heinz Mödden, technical manager at steda

Single source of truth: one system – one truth

For the first time, management has a reliable basis for company management: production progress, inventory levels, order planning – everything can be viewed in real time, all key figures from one system. Contribution margin analyzes and product group evaluations, which previously had to be based on gut feeling, are now possible at the push of a button. “Anyone who needs information must be able to find it directly in SAP. There should no longer be additional, hand-held Excel lists for this,” sums up Bastian Wulfekuhl.

Jendrik Tabken, SAP project manager at BA Business Advice, puts it in a nutshell: “Introducing an SAP project in eight months only works if everyone is really on the same boat. At steda we had a young, inquisitive and solution-oriented team who didn't see the project as an imposed IT measure, but as a real opportunity. And that's exactly what made the difference.”

The next steps have already been defined: steda is working on the introduction of SAP Joule and AI-supported process automation – with the aim of deriving variant configurations directly from customer inquiries using AI in the future.