Case Study: STIHL achieves integrated planning and supply chain agility with SAP

Pioneering the future of manufacturing with integrated planning innovation

STIHL, the industrial manufacturing group behind the world’s top-selling chainsaw brand, faced supply chain disruptions, geopolitical uncertainty, and rising customer expectations for faster delivery. Its fragmented planning landscape and limited real-time visibility made forecasting, inventory control, and production responsiveness difficult. SAP supported STIHL with SAP Integrated Business Planning (SAP IBP) and SAP S/4HANA to help address these challenges.

SAP implemented a hybrid planning environment connecting SAP IBP, SAP S/4HANA Manufacturing for planning and scheduling, and SAP Transportation Management. The solution unified planning across 43 subsidiaries, synchronized 10,000 stock transfer orders per day, and improved real-time decision-making, transparency, and inventory optimization. As a result, STIHL reduced IT maintenance costs by consolidating 31 ERP systems into one SAP S/4HANA instance and gained faster, more agile planning across its global supply chain.

STIHL

Axel Erhard

Vice President, Global ONE STIHL Program Lead