Real talk from the middle class: Why “Make a wish” suddenly becomes reality
One thing is clear: digitization is more than just a strategy paper, even in German companies. SMEs have long since sorted themselves out when it comes to their own digital performance – usually better than public institutions. In conversation with Alexander Bodi from the HF MIXING Group, it quickly becomes clear that the biggest hurdle is not technology, but thinking in terms of boundaries.
“That won’t work” – the most common sentence in digitalization
Many companies are familiar with this situation: an idea arises in the specialist department. A process could be simpler, faster and better.
And then reality sets in:
- “Too complex.”
- “Too expensive.”
- “Doesn’t fit into the system.”
- “We don’t have the resources for that.”
As a result, good ideas are not even pursued. The HF MIXING Group was no different for a long time. Until the perspective changed fundamentally. Alexander Bodi describes this change very aptly:
“We used to think about what wouldn’t work. Today, we think about what would really help us.”
The decisive difference: the focus is no longer on the search for the perfect standard solution, but on the question: Which use case will help us to make concrete progress? And this is exactly where a new approach to digitalization begins. An initial use case at the HF MIXING Group shows how quickly things can change. The challenge: sales employees had to switch between numerous systems on a daily basis: SAP, product databases, SharePoint, Office applications and many other tools. The aim was to bring all relevant information together in a central interface. The result was a functioning application – in around 10 days. And it was precisely this that initially caused irritation.
“If it happens that quickly, it can’t be good.”
A sentence that reveals a lot about the usual project logic in companies. However, the real impact is not in the speed itself, but in what it triggers: specialist departments begin to think differently, ideas are no longer hastily discarded, employees develop their own use cases, teams take responsibility. Younger employees in particular are actively driving this development. New, small units are emerging – “speedboats” that develop solutions independently and deliver results quickly.
Clean Core: Standard remains standard
At the same time, the HF Group is pursuing a clear architectural strategy: Clean Core, i.e. the SAP core system, remains stable and unchanged, individual requirements are implemented outside, processes are orchestrated flexibly instead of being anchored in the core. Or as Bodi describes it:
“Everything that really sets us apart, we build so that we can control it ourselves.”
From add-on to real alternative
The economic perspective is particularly exciting. Because it’s not just about building additional applications, but about a much broader question: what happens if we completely replace existing software? Bodi deliberately pursues a disruptive approach here: standard software is questioned, inefficient solutions are replaced and new applications are created specifically on one platform. One example of this is the digitalization of production:
- Production data acquisition (PDA)
- Machine data acquisition (MDE)
- Multimanning
- Digital provision of all information directly at the workplace
And not as a large-scale project, but step by step, in individual services. As convincing as the approach is, it does not work without clear guidelines. IT governance, cybersecurity and integration into hybrid system landscapes therefore also play a central role at the HF MIXING Group. The platform is only used where it meets these requirements. In other words: speed without control is not progress.
“Just do it”? Yes – but the right way
At the end of the conversation, one key insight remains:
“Don’t just do it. But do the right things.”
After all, the biggest challenge is not the implementation, but the selection of the right use cases. The Real Talk with the HF MIXING Group shows very clearly that digitalization in SMEs works differently than is often thought. Not through large programs or perfect standard software, but through clear use cases, rapid implementation, courageous decisions and the willingness to question the status quo.
