Case Study: Global MRO Data Transformation at Bayer AG
About Bayer
Bayer is a global enterprise with core competencies in the life science fields of health care and agriculture. With app. 92.000 employees and operations in over 80 countries, Bayer sets high standards for operational excellence and digital innovation across its manufacturing network.
To support a worldwide SAP S/4HANA transformation and to build a foundation for reliable maintenance operations, Bayer needed a scalable and proven solution to harmonise spare parts data across all production sites.
Overview
Bayer’s global MRO data transformation began with a successful pilot at its Berlin site in 2020. The results—including a 20% reduction in duplicates and major warehouse consolidation—quickly gained attention across the organisation. As Bayer launched its company-wide CORE programme to migrate legacy ERP systems to SAP S/4HANA, it became clear that MRO data quality would be a critical enabler of success. SPARROW was selected as the global partner to lead the spare parts standardisation effort.
The Challenge
Bayer’s global MRO landscape is characterised by:
- Multiple ERP and CMMS systems across different sites
- Unstructured, inconsistent spare parts data (descriptions, attributes, classifications)
- Local naming conventions and language mismatches
- Uncovered duplicate entries, inflating stock and obscuring transparency
- Inability to recognise or share identical parts across sites
- Missed opportunities to reduce inventory or manage emergencies more efficiently
In many cases, legacy data was simply copied into new systems with the hope of cleaning it later—posing significant risk to the SAP migration.
“If anybody in your organisation says there are no duplicates—bet €100 you’ll find some. At Bayer Berlin, we reduced materials from 63.000 to 48.000. That’s 20% duplication proven, not theoretical.”
— Dirk Herbrich, Data Value Stream Lead for Acquire to Retire in CORE, Bayer AG
The CORE Programme Context
Bayer’s CORE programme goes beyond a technical ERP upgrade—it’s a business-driven IT transformation touching all core processes, including maintenance and asset lifecycle (“acquire to retire”).
Dirk Herbrich, Data Value Stream Lead for Acquire to Retire in CORE, explains:
“We want one material master for the same physical item. That includes direct and indirect materials like MRO parts—your pumps, ball valves, gaskets. Each should have only one data representative in the system.”
Material master standardisation became a foundational requirement. The goal: a harmonised, enriched database that supports not only maintenance execution but also procurement, budgeting, reliability engineering, and supply risk reduction.
The Solution
To meet this challenge, Bayer outsourced MRO data harmonisation to SPARROW, whose benefits were already proven at the Berlin pilot site.
Key solution elements:
- Full-service data unification across ERP systems, languages, and sites
- Automated duplicate detection and clean-up at scale
- Standardised classification and attribute enrichment to meet S/4HANA requirements
- Bi-directional integration between SPARROW and Bayer’s data lake & SAP systems
- Real-time material creation interface, reducing friction for local requestors
- Defined material master criteria (e.g. technical location assignment, task list relevance) to prevent unnecessary creation of digital assets
- Data filtering to distinguish true spare parts from one-time-use operational supplies
SPARROW provides Bayer with a database of over 55 million material master records, enabling users to find existing parts easily. Once a part is confirmed or created in SPARROW, the information is pushed to SAP—and vice versa—within 15 minutes.
Change Management & Operational Integration
A key challenge isn´t technical—it is human.
“You don’t want to put a €50,000 pump on your shelf without knowing why,” said Dirk. “There must be methodology and governance behind every material master.”
SPARROW is helping Bayer define material creation logic, reduce manual workflows, and involve local users in shaping the process—making the solution intuitive and credible.
Features such as OCR scanning, mobile photo upload, and localisation of MRP parameters will make it easier for users to engage without IT support.
Key Outcomes
- ~15% reduction in duplicate parts
- Data harmonisation across sites, countries, and systems
- Smoother S/4HANA rollout with high-quality MRO data delivered on time
- End-to-end governance on material master standards
- Real-time visibility and localisation of parts across global operations
- Improved bottom-up budgeting through integration of MRO into maintenance plans
“SPARROW helps us turn MRO data into real business value—reducing duplicates, cutting costs, and enabling smarter ways of working across Bayer.”
What’s Next
SPARROW’s cooperation with Bayer is covered by a four-year frame contract and continues to evolve as part of the global CORE rollout.
With more than 50 sites and over 500,000 materials in scope, SPARROW’s model is now a foundation for both legacy environments and new systems. Legacy sites can start harmonising MRO data ahead of S/4HANA migration—buying time, reducing risk, and unlocking early value.
“It would’ve been a pity not to offer this to legacy sites too,” said Dirk. “Now they can harmonise MRO data before CORE arrives—on their own terms.”
Modules like SPARROW.Plan and SPARROW.Stock are pre-integrated and available for local deployment, offering additional ROI without requiring extra configuration or IT effort.
Why It Matters
This case shows how MRO data, often an afterthought, can become a strategic lever for transformation—if treated with the right focus, tools, and mindset.
“There’s way more to this than just cleaning spare parts. It’s about enabling processes—from emergency maintenance to bottom-up budgeting to real OEM spend analysis.” Dirk Herbrich, Bayer.
