Reference story Schmitz Cargobull

Schmitz Cargobull successfully migrated 60 million documents, totalling 17 terabytes, from its data centre to the d.velop cloud within just a few weeks – in collaboration with d.velop AG.

• Verbeterde samenwerking
• Reduced maintenance
• Enhanced corporate governance

Cloud Migration at Schmitz Cargobull AG

A document management system (DMS) is often the heart of a company – a system that has grown over time and is typically very extensive. Migrating such a system to the cloud is therefore a demanding task. All the more impressive, then, that Schmitz Cargobull, in collaboration with d.velop AG, successfully migrated 60 million documents totalling 17 terabytes from its data centre to the d.velop cloud within just a few weeks. As a result, processes were modernised and global access to documents significantly simplified.

About Schmitz Cargobull

Schmitz Cargobull employs around 5,700 people and manufactures semi-trailers, trailers, and truck bodies that ensure the safe and efficient transport of temperature-controlled freight, general cargo, and bulk goods worldwide. The company, based in the Münsterland region of Germany, is the market leader in Europe and one of the most important players in future-ready logistics. Recognising the growing demands for flexible logistics, Schmitz Cargobull began embracing digital transformation at an early stage. For a company with numerous subsidiaries, globally distributed production sites, and sales partners, this represents a significant challenge. In Europe alone, Schmitz Cargobull works with 1,700 service partners.

Cloud-First Strategy

Based on a well-developed cloud-first strategy, Schmitz Cargobull has already migrated several key areas – including SAP, IoT, and business intelligence – to the cloud. The benefits are clear, as Michael Schöller, Head of Infrastructure and Services at Schmitz Cargobull, explains: “We’re reducing the administrative effort previously required for our IT infrastructure, while gaining greater flexibility and scalability.” The next major step was the migration of d.velop documents to the cloud.

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Initial Situation

60 Million Documents

Schmitz Cargobull faced several challenges at the outset of the migration project. Firstly, the migration was to be accompanied by a system upgrade. Secondly, the DMS had evolved over more than 20 years, containing over 60 million highly diverse documents. “Most of these are vehicle-related documents such as certificates or technical documentation, but the DMS also includes invoices, emails, delivery notes, and more,” explains Holger Lesting, who is responsible for Enterprise Content Management (ECM) at Schmitz Cargobull. Around 30,000 new documents are added every day, amounting to a total of approximately 17 terabytes of data. Some vehicle documents must be retained for up to 30 years due to product liability requirements.

Vereisten

1:1 Migration of the Legacy System to the Cloud

An upgrade of the on-premise system was not considered. “The lifecycle of the legacy system had come to an end,” explains Michael Schöller, Head of IT. Additionally, access to the DMS needed to be simplified for all global locations. Subsidiaries overseas had previously faced limitations, especially when operating outside the Schmitz Cargobull network. “We repeatedly encountered issues, such as with single sign-on,” adds ECM expert Holger Lesting.

The company from Münsterland aimed to improve usability and leverage the benefits of cloud computing. The goal was therefore to migrate the legacy system 1:1 to the cloud. As a partner, Schmitz Cargobull chose d.velop AG, the developer of d.velop documents, with whom the company has collaborated for over 20 years.

The legacy system was based on version 7.2, which would have required an update to the latest d.velop documents version. With the move to the cloud, this issue was resolved, as the latest software is always available in the cloud. “That’s a real leap forward,” says Simon Melcher, Market Director Manufacturing at d.velop. “In the cloud, our customers benefit from many additional advantages, such as lower costs and greater flexibility in terms of system access and scalability.” And that’s not all: Since Schmitz Cargobull operates continuous production during the week, the migration – which required some system downtime – could only be scheduled during two specific windows per year. “That’s why we had to set a very ambitious project timeline of just three months,” adds IT Director Schöller.

The Result

Improved Collaboration & Reduced Maintenance

Despite the tight timeline, the d.velop team successfully completed the project. 17 terabytes of data are now securely and audit-compliantly stored in the cloud. At the same time, the data structure of the former on-premise system was adapted to fit the cloud environment. “It was truly an impressive achievement by d.velop,” praises Holger Lesting. “The entire company stood behind the project,” adds Simon Melcher, Market Director Manufacturing at d.velop, who speaks highly of the collaboration with Schmitz Cargobull. “We invested a great deal of manpower into this migration project and, thanks to the outstanding work of the project team led by Michael Winkler, completed it in record time.”

Both sides are very satisfied with the outcome. “We’ve significantly simplified access to the DMS across the entire Schmitz universe – for example, by eliminating the need to install a dedicated client,” summarises Michael Schöller. Access is now browser-based, enabling better collaboration across locations. Employees can easily add and use additional apps and specialised solutions. “We also no longer have to worry about maintenance or updates,” adds Lesting, who can now focus more on his core responsibilities. In addition, Schmitz Cargobull benefits from improved corporate governance. The DMS complies with legal requirements such as the GDPR and GoBD.

Higher Performance and Availability

“We’ve achieved higher system performance and availability,” says Michael Schöller, Head of IT. The system is scalable and grows, for example, with the number of users. Managed services are governed by service agreements. “Documents are now significantly faster to retrieve,” adds Holger Lesting, highlighting a benefit noticeable at every workstation.

Schmitz Cargobull is now working to further standardise its system landscape, as some subsidiaries are still using different DMS solutions. “However, their willingness to adopt the cloud-based d.3ecm has noticeably increased since access has become much easier,” explains Schöller. From his perspective, the migration of the DMS to the cloud has been a complete success.