Success Story Herrenknecht
Herrenknecht increases IT efficiency through the use of BatchMan Workload Automation
Management Summary
Herrenknecht, a technology leader in mechanized tunnelling for the construction of underground infrastructure, faced significant IT challenges caused by the limitations of the standard SAP job scheduler. The introduction of BatchMan Workload Automation provided a bespoke solution that enabled complex schedules to be managed efficiently, avoiding job overlaps and implementing a proactive alerting system for job aborts.
The software enabled Herrenknecht to significantly optimize IT processes, reduce manual effort and increase process reliability. This enabled the company to continuously improve its operational processes.
Branche: Mechanical engineering
Use Case: Optimization of SAP background processes
Advantages: Time saving, error reduction and alerting
Product: BatchMan
Challenges with standard SAP job control
The use of the standard job scheduler in SAP offered Herrenknecht only limited possibilities, especially when planning regular tasks.
At Herrenknecht, for example, material and parts lists are created in an external system for the standard background processes and then transferred to SAP and enriched there. The result should be available in SAP as quickly as possible, but the jobs should not work in parallel. jobs should not work in parallel, however, and objects that have been left behind should be reprocessed after 15 minutes at the latest.
This was only possible in the SAP scheduler with special solutions and manual effort and repeatedly led to errors, e.g. due to missing notifications from the system.
The search for an efficient, flexible and user-friendly workload automation solution led Herrenknecht to BatchMan, a product that stood out for its practical development and continuous improvement.
Specific requirements and solutions: why Herrenknecht relies on BatchMan
Flexible time windows for job execution:
The need to schedule jobs within specific time slots, for example every hour between 06:00 and 17:00, proved to be cumbersome with the standard SAP scheduler, as separate jobs had to be scheduled for each hour.
- By introducing BatchMan, Herrenknecht was able to significantly reduce the number of processing steps, in some cases by up to 90%. This also reduced the risk of making mistakes when maintaining redundant jobs in the SAP system.
Complex schedules with less manual handling:
Herrenknecht needed the ability to run jobs according to complex schedules. Previously, if the first day of the month was a Wednesday, the job had to be started manually by the specialist departments so that the jobs were not executed multiple times.
- By mapping complex rules in BatchMan within a job, Herrenknecht was also able to schedule special rules, such as every Wednesday plus the first of the month, without risking duplicate executions.
Avoidance of overlaps with long-running jobs:
The SAP standard scheduler could not guarantee freedom from overlaps, which required additional programming effort to control job execution.
- BatchMan offers a simple checkbox here to indicate whether parallel execution should be granted or not. This means that overlaps without manual activities can be avoided as early as the job planning stage.
Exclusive use of resources for parallel versions:
For jobs that required the same resources exclusively, lock objects would have had to be set up manually and checked in manually and checked in each job to avoid conflicts.
- BatchMan offered Herrenknecht various options for parallel execution. BatchMan already included the locking mechanisms so that parallel scheduling across different jobs and processes was also possible without any problems.
Flexible and frequent program execution:
A specific program, which had variable processing times, was to be executed as often as possible within a defined time frame, which was only possible to a limited extent with the SAP scheduler and led to overtaking.
- The seamless, sequential planning in BatchMan made it possible for Herrenknecht to execute the programs as often as required and to avoid overtaking during job planning.
Prompt alerting in the event of an aborted job:
The monitoring and notification of job aborts proved to be too complex with the Solution Manager. Cancellations therefore had to be checked manually for the previous day at Herrenknecht.
- BatchMan offers simple alerting that integrates seamlessly into SAP. Herrenknecht was thus able to fully automate this process.
Project process and milestones
The decisive advantage of BatchMan over alternative solutions was its user-friendliness, extensive evaluation options and an SAP-integrated interface.
The project started with a workshop in which BatchMan was installed quickly and efficiently on Herrenknecht‘s test system. Herrenknecht‘s specific requirements were also implemented during the workshop, which enabled the company to subsequently make further adjustments independently.
A key milestone was the successful migration of the initial jobs, so that Herrenknecht was then able to transfer further jobs independently. Technical support was available to Herrenknecht quickly and competently when required, but this was rarely necessary as BatchMan ran stably and reliably.
What convinced Herrenknecht of BatchMan?
- Centralized, cross-system control
- Full integration in SAP
- Easy care & stable, administrator’s favorite
- Visualization & modelling thanks to no-code platform
- Centralized monitoring and alerting
- Reliable consulting & support
Result: High degree of automation and process reliability
The step-by-step migration and flexible mixed operation ensured a high level of system stability while optimizing process efficiency at the same time. Herrenknecht did not require a job migration project due to the low effort involved.
The introduction of BatchMan enabled Herrenknecht to significantly optimize IT processes, reduce manual effort and achieve greater process reliability. The decision to implement BatchMan underlines Herrenknecht‘s commitment to continuously improve the efficiency of its operations through the use of advanced technologies.
About Herrenknecht AG
Herrenknecht AG is the only company in the world to supply tunnel boring machines for all geologies and in all diameters – from 0.10 to 19 meters. The product range includes customized machines for traffic tunnels and supply and disposal tunnels, technologies for laying pipelines as well as additional equipment and service packages. Herrenknecht also manufactures drilling rigs for vertical and inclined shafts as well as deep drilling rigs.
In 2022, the Herrenknecht Group generated a total operating performance of 1,232 million euros. The independent family-owned company employs around 5,000 people worldwide. This includes around 200 trainees. With around 70 subsidiaries and business-related affiliated companies in Germany and abroad, Herrenknecht can offer comprehensive services close to the project and the customer at any time, quickly and in a targeted manner.
