SAP S/4HANA using the Global Bike Case Study

SAP S/4HANA using the Global Bike Case Study SAP S/4HANA Case Study

Global Bike Incorporated has a practical design philosophy from its deep roots in off-road trail racing and long-distance road racing sports. It was founded by John Davis and Peter Schwarz, who designed the first bikes out of the necessity to win their races as available bikes could not perform to their extremely high standards.

Since then, Global Bike Incorporated has continued to deliver innovative high-performance bicycles to the world's most demanding competitors - whether the competition is on pavement or dirt, for money, fame, or just bragging rights.

John Davis has won numerous downhill and cross-country championships in the mountain racing circuit in America. He realized that the mass-produced bikes available then were not enough for the type of racing he was doing. So, he decided to strip four of his old bikes down and rebuild them into a single "Frankenstein" bike that would eventually lead him to win the national championship. The term "Frankenstein" refers to a novel of the same title, which had Victor Frankenstein, a scientist who created new life out of old body parts and chemicals.

As the news about his Frankenstein bikes spread, the interest in having one rises. In nineteen ninety, he started producing the first series of Frankenstein bikes in his garage while recovering from an injury. As more orders came in, John successfully expanded Frankenstein Bikes from his garage into a full-blown manufacturing facility in Dallas, Texas, in the United States. He began producing custom trail bikes sold through a network of bike dealers nationwide.

At nearly the same time, Peter Schwarz from Heidelberg, Germany, studied engineering and competed in regional races on weekends. He also worked at a bike shop in Heidelberg by fixing student bikes and tuning the touring bikes he and his friends rode for competitions. As with the reputation of a fierce competitor and a mechanical wizard, Peter began to design and build road bikes based on an ultra-light composite frame for one of his engineering courses. Using carbon composite materials allowed him to build a significantly stronger frame and one-tenth of the weight of the competing frames.

As a student, Peter did not have financial resources, so he partnered with a local company that manufactured his frame designs as a contract manufacturer. Soon enough, in nineteen ninety-three, his frames were being used by European races. He started Heidelberg Composites to market and design frames that a contract manufacturer fabricated on a larger scale. His company eventually became the leader in lightweight touring frames in Europe.

In two thousand, John and Peter met and recognized their mutual passion for performance and complimentary business models. Both have been looking for a partner in another racing field and a partner in a different market. They realized that a merger between their companies would be extremely synergistic and that combining their product lines and regional distribution channels would generate huge efficiencies.

It led to the merger of Heidelberg Composites and Frankenstein Bikes in two thousand one to form the Global Bike Incorporated. John and Peter share as CEOs, responsible for managing the company's global organization. John is responsible for sales, marketing, service and support, IT, finance, and human resources groups. At the same time, Peter is responsible for research, design, procurement, and manufacturing groups from an organizational reporting perspective.

As Global Bike is a process-centric organization, the two prefer to think of the processes they are responsible for rather than the company's functional areas that report to them. Given this, Peter is responsible for Idea-to-Market and Build-to-Stock, and John is responsible for Order-to-Cash and Service and Support, as well as the supporting services for all four key processes.

Global Bike Strategies

Product Strategy

Product development is the most critical element of Global Bike's past and future growth due to the demand for the highest quality, toughness, and performance from their bikes and accessories. They have invested in this area, focusing on innovation, quality, safety, and speed to market.

One of the company's product strategies is having an extensive innovation network to source ideas from riders, dealers, and professionals to improve its bicycles' performance, reliability, and quality.

Global Bike's signature composite frames are known for their strength, low weight, and easy maintenance. Global Bike produces two models of their signature road bikes, a deluxe and a professional model. They differ in the type of wheels used: aluminum for the deluxe and carbon composite for the professional model.

Global Bike's off-road are also recognized as incredibly tough and easy to maintain. Global Bike trail bikes are the preferred choice of world-champion off-road racers. Global Bike produces two types of off-road bikes, a men's and women's model. The models differ as the women's frame is smaller in size and changes in its ergonomic shaping compared to the men's model.

Global Bike also has an accessories product line consisting of helmets, t-shirts, and other accessories. They partner with only the highest quality accessories suppliers, which will help enhance riders' performance and comfort while riding their bikes.

Global Bike products (finished goods) and accessories (training goods) in a SAP S/4HANA environment, respectively.