How Lanxess & Covestro Reduce Contractor Costs by 8-15% – Without Changing Their ERP!

The Challenge
The process industry spends billions annually on external service providers. Maintenance. Turnarounds. Capital projects. But hardly anyone has true control over what happens between procurement and payment.

The result?
– Cost opacity in contractor spending
– Overbilling due to lack of automated verification
– Compliance risks and incomplete documentation
– Frustrated teams wasting 30-40% of their time on Excel administration

The Solution: AES/32 by NHD
AES/32 is the leading contractor management platform for asset-intensive industries. For 30 years. Deployed globally at leading chemical, oil & gas, and process companies.

Our Approach:
We connect your existing systems (ERP/SAP) with your contractors on one central collaboration platform. From initial request to automated payment. Every stakeholder sees in real-time what they need to see. No one waits for emails. Everything is automatically verified, audit-proof documented, and compliantly invoiced.

What You Achieve with AES/32:

1. Complete Cost Transparency
– Real-time overview: Who’s working where? Since when? At what rate?
– Detailed reporting at project, contractor, and cost center levels
– No more surprises at month-end or quarter-end closings

2. Automated Contract Compliance
– Unit rate catalogues automatically prevent inflated billing
– 100% audit-ready documentation for all external services
– Certificate and qualification tracking for all contractor personnel

3. Measurable Efficiency Gains
– 30-40% less administrative effort for your maintenance teams
– 8-15% reduction in total contractor costs through transparency and automation
– Payback typically under 12 months

4. Seamless ERP Integration
– Native interfaces to SAP PM/MM/S4HANA
– Bidirectional real-time communication
– No “rip & replace” strategy required – AES/32 complements your existing IT landscape

Proven Use Cases in Process Industries:

Maintenance
– Digitally process individual orders and framework agreements
– From fault notification to verified invoice in minutes
– Mobile app for technicians on-site

Shutdowns & Turnarounds
– Manage 50-500 contractors simultaneously
– Integrated time tracking via gate systems
– Earned Value Management and progress tracking

CAPEX Projects
– Scalable from €100k to €100M+ project volumes
– Project-specific catalogues and fixed-price agreements
– Complete documentation for audits and warranties

Specialized Trades
– Scaffolding, electrical engineering, piping, process control technology
– Standard unit rate catalogues according to industry standards
– Time & Material or fixed price – flexibly configurable

References You Can Count On:
Leading process industry companies trust AES/32: Covestro, Lanxess, Clariant, DOW, OLIN and many more.

Not because it’s trendy, but because it works.
– 30+ years market presence
– 5,000+ successful deployments worldwide
– Multi-language: German, English, Mandarin, Thai, Spanish, Portuguese, Dutch
– Strategic partnership with BearingPoint for implementation and change management

Typical Customer Results:
“With AES/32, we’ve revolutionized our contractor management. The transparency is outstanding and the savings were noticeable already in the first year.”
– Head of Maintenance, Chemical Corporation

– 75% reduction in invoice processing time
– Elimination of overbilling through automated rate checks
– Complete digital audit trails for all external services
– Significant improvement in contractor performance through transparency

Technology That Integrates:
AES/32 is a cloud-based SaaS solution that seamlessly integrates into your existing IT landscape:
– ERP Integration: SAP, S/4HANA, other systems
– Gate Systems: Automatic time tracking
– Planning Tools: Data import from turnaround management systems
– Mobile First: Native apps for iOS and Android
– Security: Encrypted communication, complete audit logging