Case Study: Deutsche Bahn AG achieves sustainable, cloud-based procurement and 500,000+ no-touch invoices with SAP Ariba

How Does a Transportation Provider Transform SRM to Create a Sustainable Supply Chain

Deutsche Bahn AG, Germany’s leading rail operator that moves 12 million passengers and 300 million tons of freight daily, faced a growing problem: its legacy supplier relationship management systems couldn’t support international expansion or its sustainability goals. The company needed a cloud-based, user-friendly procurement platform to simplify processes, broaden supplier access, and reduce costs.

By implementing SAP Ariba solutions and Ariba Network, Deutsche Bahn consolidated purchasing into a single source, introduced guided buying, and strengthened supplier risk management for a more sustainable supply chain. The seven-month migration produced rapid impact—more than 500,000 invoices and orders became no-touch electronic transactions in the first year, the project exceeded projected ROI, and procurement was aligned with the company’s economic, employee and ecological sustainability objectives.

Deutsche Bahn AG

Gregor Müller

Strategic Procurement Lead