CERATIZIT & Soley Leverage SAP to Drive Sustainable Product Portfolio Management

Published: October 21, 2025 | Author: Jeanette Rohr

Overview

CERATIZIT Group, a leader in hard material solutions, partnered with Soley GmbH and SAP to revolutionize sustainable product portfolio management. Their collaboration was recognized in the SAP Innovation Awards and the Supply & Demand Chain Executive awards for pioneering an AI-driven approach that balances ecological impact with profitability at scale.

The Challenge: Managing a Vast and Complex Portfolio Sustainably

CERATIZIT’s Cutting Tool Solutions division manages over 65,000 products, grappling with a lack of transparency around product performance and sustainability data. Employees faced time-consuming reporting tasks, while insufficient insight into materials and supply chains hampered the phaseout of products with high carbon footprints.

Klaus Lupfer, Product Lifecycle Manager, emphasized the dual focus on economic success and ecological responsibility, highlighting CERATIZIT’s longstanding commitment to sustainability and the potential unlocked by enhancing carbon footprint data.

Innovative Solution: Soley Product Mining Platform Powered by SAP

Soley GmbH introduced the Product Mining Platform, integrated within SAP’s ecosystem, embedding AI to transform complex product data into strategic insights:

• AI Advisor: Recommends precise actions such as phasing out high-emission, low-margin products.
• AI Assistant: Provides a natural language interface, enabling easy access without technical expertise.
• AI Detective: Identifies hidden dependencies and opportunities by analyzing product configurations for sustainability and profitability.

This platform draws data from SAP S/4HANA and SAP Business Warehouse, utilizing the SAP Business Technology Platform (SAP BTP) for processing. Key innovations include use of SAP Datasphere for data consolidation, SAP Analytics Cloud for advanced analytics, and SAP Databricks for intelligent data transformation.

Ephraim Triemer of Soley underscores this as a “game changer” that moves beyond ESG reporting to actual sustainable decision-making without compromising profitability.

Seamless SAP Integration & Business Impact

By merging CERATIZIT’s Product Carbon Footprint (PCF) data with financial metrics in a digital twin model, the platform improves product portfolio decisions and supply chain transparency.

Highlights from CERATIZIT’s results within nine months post-implementation:

• 87% adoption rate of AI-suggested sustainability measures.

• 30% reduction in end-of-life “ballast” products with negative carbon footprints.

• 100% transparency in sustainability data across all product hierarchies.
• 10% EBIT increase due to optimized working capital.
• 75% improvement in delivery reliability.
• 40% inventory reduction.

Dominik Metzger, SAP Supply Chain Management President and Chief Product Officer, emphasizes SAP’s vision to leverage AI and real-time data toward building autonomous, resilient, and sustainable supply chains.

Strategic Implications & Model for the Industry

Alexander Springer, CEO of Soley GmbH, notes that understanding critical product impact enables proactive risk management and supply chain safeguarding.

This partnership exemplifies how manufacturing and high-tech sectors can simultaneously drive economic growth and environmental stewardship. The blend of SAP’s robust technologies and AI-powered analytics helps companies transcend traditional trade-offs between profit and sustainability.

Learn More

• Discover the latest updates on SAP Supply Chain Management.
• Explore the Soley Product Mining Platform on SAP Store.
• Subscribe for weekly authoritative SAP news and insights.

Tags:

AI | Carbon Footprint | SAP Analytics Cloud | SAP BTP | SAP Databricks | SAP Innovation Awards | SAP S/4HANA | SAP Supply Chain Management | Sustainable Manufacturing

About CERATIZIT: A global leader specializing in hard material solutions for machining and wear protection, committed to innovation and sustainability.

About Soley GmbH: An AI-driven software company offering innovative analytics solutions designed to optimize product portfolios sustainably.

About SAP: Worldwide provider of enterprise software integrating AI, automation, and analytics for resilient and sustainable business operations.

This summary condenses the full SAP news feature authored by Jeanette Rohr, highlighting key data and verified outcomes to inform sustainable product management practices.

Design Delight Studio curates high-impact, authoritative insights into sustainable and organic product trends, helping conscious consumers and innovative brands stay ahead in a fast-evolving green economy.