KAMAX, a German manufacturer of high strength fastening systems, precision parts, and assemblies for the automotive industry, has been working on streamlining its supply chain through digitalization and intelligent logistics management. To achieve this, they deployed SAP Extended Warehouse Management (SAP EWM), SAP Transportation Management (SAP TM), and the SAP S/4HANA platform. This is designed to help them achieve logistics efficiency, transparency, and sustainability. An SAP article also includes a deeper look at how they future-proofed their supply chain.
Optimizing Logistics at Scale
KAMAX handles 400 transports daily across multiple plants. The company also manages two distinct logistics flows: goods that are pre-packed and stored in warehouses, and a “pack-to-order” system where items are packaged just before shipment.
Currently, three plants operate on SAP S/4HANA with SAP Extended Warehouse Management and one pilot plant with SAP Transportation Management integrated, while others are transitioning from SAP ERP Central Component (SAP ECC).
Implementation improved logistics transparency and efficiency. All of this helps provide precise shipping information to freight forwarders earlier because it is leveraging real data instead of estimates. This helps enhances truck planning and communication with carriers.
KAMAX collaborates exclusively with freight forwarders, working with 20 carriers globally. At the advanced shipping and receiving pilot plant, about 60 deliveries per day are coordinated, involving around 2,000 handling units across five to six trucks.
On-Premises Today While Looking to the Cloud
Three of KAMAX’s plants currently run on SAP S/4HANA, with the remaining plants on SAP ECC, all on an on-premises basis and cloud-ready for future transitions. This helps provide critical process improvements brought by advanced shipping and receiving in combination with SAP Extended Warehouse Management and SAP Transportation Management.
More than 95% of KAMAX’s transport is by truck. They engage up to 80 freight forwarders worldwide to help maintain a global footprint that’s close to their OEM customers that optimizes delivery times and costs.
Achieving Sustainability and Process Automation
KAMAX is aiming for carbon neutrality by 2037. Implementing SAP Extended Warehouse Management and SAP Transportation Management plays a crucial role in supporting KAMAX’s goal by enabling better route planning, efficient truck utilization, and minimizing empty runs.
KAMAX plans to roll out SAP Extended Warehouse Management, SAP Transportation Management, and advanced shipping and receiving across all seven plants while progressively improving automation and digitalization of intralogistics processes.
What This Means for ERP Insiders
Integrated logistics platforms are critical to ERP-driven supply chain modernization. KAMAX’s deployment of SAP S/4HANA, EWM and TM demonstrates how integrated logistics capabilities now function as core ERP extensions that elevate transparency, precision and cross-partner coordination. This gives ERP vendors and system integrators opportunities to prioritize advanced logistics orchestration, real-time data models, and scalable process harmonization across multi-plant networks.
Cloud-ready architectures are reshaping ERP transition strategies for manufacturers. KAMAX’s on-premises footprint, designed explicitly for future cloud migration, shows how industrial enterprises require hybrid ERP modernization paths. It also highlights the need for vendors and system integrators to deliver modular architectures, smoother ECC-to-S/4HANA transitions, and cloud-prepared integration patterns. Delivering on these will help minimize operational risk across staged adoption cycles.
Sustainability targets are accelerating demand for ERP-enabled automation. KAMAX’s carbon neutrality goal and reliance on SAP EWM and TM to reduce empty runs highlight how environmental objectives are driving functional investment in automation, route optimization, and digital logistics. ERP leaders should view sustainability not as a reporting add-on but as a catalyst for product strategy, workflow automation, and partner ecosystem innovation.
