Mission Future – What happened next with the optimisation project Mission ‘21 at TAG Immobilien AG?

The starting point for Mission Future was Mission ‘21. In this major project, over the course of just under two years we worked intensively together with TAG to lay a technological foundation, which provides an excellent development basis for the Hamburg-based company allowing them to take full advantage of their potential. After all, the demands on companies in the real estate and housing industry are continually increasingly – for instance, various housing needs have to be differentiated, neighbourhoods designed sustainably, skilled trade shortages bridged and climate protection measures implemented. And those are just a few examples. In order to continue responding flexibly, profitably and competitively in the face of the constant changes, the namesake mission connects logically to its predecessor and makes use of the digitisation expertise gained during the Mission ‘21 project.

The concept that had already proven its worth in Mission ‘21 also formed the ideal framework for the project organisers in the follow-up. The agile project approach and the structuring into sub-projects in which the individual departments worked on the topics that they needed to optimise (Figure 1) enabled effective and targeted implementation. “We strove for collaborative development with PROMOS, which allowed us to combine the skills and strengths of both worlds,” says Albrecht Hempel, head of strategic real estate management at TAG Immobilien AG, summing up the project work. Both customer-specific features and PROMOS solutions that have made their way into the Berlin-based digitalisation specialist’s standard portfolio rounded off the final result to the complete satisfaction of both partners.

High degree of automation thanks to process orientation

Right from the time TAG introduced its SAP^® system, the company placed its trust in a well thought-out process landscape, and easysquare workflow provided support with controlling the wide range of company processes. Mission Future took another close look at the processes with the aim of working towards consistent implementation of standardised processes on the one hand and more flexible process controlling on the other. The company was able to achieve a higher degree of automation for many processes and, in this way, benefit from more efficient workflows, for example in the area of utility statements – one of the most complex workflows in residential property management.

The solution for mobile meter reading recording allows the company to read all non-tenant-specific meters once per year. Specifically, this means that TAG simply starts the process once and numerous mobile forms are generated in the easysquare professional app. The employees on site at the properties can then use these forms to read and record the meter, meter location and meter status information regarding electricity and water and then record this data on their mobile devices. Furthermore, the information can be supplemented with other details, for example if further meters have been installed in the building. Thanks to the automated reintegration, this information is then added to the SAP^® system as master data, which can in turn be processed further for the internal workflows. As well as automation, the company gains overall transparency regarding its own meter information, can subsequently assign this to operating costs and is prepared for its own accounting – all of which it can do without any media discontinuity.

The necessity to provide transparency using data and thus generate a new level of cost-effectiveness through more efficient workflows offers vast potential. I’m sure you know the saying “data is the new gold”. The added value that results from master data enhancement could also be created across other sub-projects, for example in the area of a change of tenant, where information on keys or smoke detectors can be recorded on a mobile device and maintained in SAP^® in a system-supported manner.

Understanding data quality as a process

The project achieved another milestone in increasing data quality with the joint development of the Data Governance Tool, which was implemented at TAG Immobilien AG in the form of a data quality process. The system searches through all master data based on logic and rules that the employees can define themselves in a cockpit. The objective is to check whether certain data is complete and correct. If this is not the case, the responsible processor is automatically informed via easysquare workflow. This check can be started once or configured as a regular workflow. The tool significantly reduces the employees’ workload – before its introduction, they had to regularly check the data manually. It accelerates the data control process and increases data quality because human error is largely eliminated. “We are pleased that the solution we developed together also offers benefits for others beyond our company boundaries and that PROMOS has decided to add the tool to its portfolio. Our projects brought together two knowledgeable partners who have been working together constructively at a high level for many years. We are happy to pass on this success,” says Ina Hüther, head of ERP systems and data management at TAG Immobilien AG, summing up the results of the project.

You can rely on PROMOS

The general openness of the PROMOS philosophy and the flexibility with which the company approaches development are also reflected in its approach to connecting external software. When TAG Immobilien AG decided to introduce a rental software from an external provider, the customer could rely on support from its long-term partner. The team developed an interface so that everything TAG enters on the external platform is seamlessly transferred to the SAP^® system, meaning it is optimally prepared for further processing by the employees. This is a major benefit when it comes to clarity and efficiency, and certainly not a big deal for the experienced service provider.

Ina Hüther, head of ERP systems and data management at TAG Immobilien AG

Outlook

A major project of this kind is not simply concluded without any further action. After all, digitisation does not stand still. Both the technologies and all stakeholders’ demands for working with them are continuing to develop rapidly. When SAP announced the end of maintenance for the current release SAP^® ERP 6.0, the company was immediately certain that it needed to thoroughly prepare for the transition to the successor SAP S/4HANA^® at an early stage. This requirement was accordingly also considered in the project objectives of Mission Future – all new developments within the framework of the project had to be compatible with S/4HANA^®. The PROMOS team continues to be on hand to provide TAG Immobilien AG with advice, support and guidance in dealing with this challenge.

You will find out more about this soon when we report on the successful transformation. PROMOS is looking forward to the upcoming projects and would like to thank TAG Immobilien AG for the continued exciting collaboration.