Hellmann’s Global Finance Transformation
How Hellmann Leveraged the Dynamics 365 Finance “Golden Template” for Global Migration at Speed
How can you standardize finance operations at speed across 60+ countries—so you’re primed for global growth and innovation? Hellmann Worldwide Logistics provides inspiration.
Executive Summary:
HSO enabled Hellmann Worldwide Logistics, a multinational Group, to successfully transform its global finance operations. Chosen to help modernize legacy systems, HSO guided the design of a global "golden template" for Microsoft Dynamics 365 Finance based on required business processes and available features. As a result, the solution was deployed at speed and scale—to 60+ countries—meeting local reporting regulations and laying the groundwork for global growth.
Legacy ERP Needs Replacing
Hellmann has come a long way since its founder, Carl Heinrich Hellmann, began transporting goods by horse-drawn vehicles in 1871. Still based in the German city of Osnabrück, the family-owned business now handles 21 million shipments a year worldwide—by land, sea, and air—generating annual revenues of €3.7 billion.
The company excels at finding innovative ways to meet customer needs. But its own legacy finance software was end-of-life and needed replacing.
“This gave us an opportunity to standardize systems, strengthen compliance, and create greater transparency globally,” explains Martin Eberle, Group CFO. “By empowering our teams with intuitive tools, we could optimize performance at scale.”
HSO Offers Expertise and Scale
“We had an ambitious target: roll out to 60+ countries in just three years. It was daunting, and we couldn’t quite believe it ourselves! It took courage to proceed. But we felt confident once we found the right partner in HSO,” says Santhosh Rao, Global Head of Finance Systems and Processes at Hellmann.
“Quickly, we realized that HSO was an international company with a huge network of experienced people. Collaboration was well structured and professional,” adds Thomas Stürenberg.
Crucially, solution architects and technical experts were always available for Hellmann. HSO could leverage its own network to deliver on-the-ground expertise, customization, and confidence when it mattered—exactly what global businesses need in areas such as local finance regulations and reporting. “This was so important to us,” says Santhosh Rao.
It took courage to proceed. But we felt confident once we found the right partner in HSO”
Joint Team Discovers Gold
Together, Hellmann and HSO designed an innovative way for the deployment program to be delivered at speed and scale. The “golden template” was born. And it proved a game-changer.
This solution blueprint captured Hellmann’s business requirements and features within Dynamics 365 Finance—and could be rolled out rapidly, country by country, avoiding complexity and delay.
“The golden template worked, with 99% of the solution model intact by the end. We only made small changes to comply with stricter reporting requirements in specific countries,” says Santhosh Rao.
Dynamics 365 Migration Accelerates
Initially, HSO led delivery, end to end. But, over time, responsibility deliberately shifted to Hellmann’s internal teams.
“HSO stepped into a more specialist support role, providing localization and critical elements,” says Ronald Otten, Director Sales & Marketing at HSO. “The goal was never long-term dependency, but enabling ownership for Hellmann.”
This streamlined approach worked—with Hellmann and HSO deploying rapidly to scores of countries and over 100 legal entities, accelerating to the rate of two countries going live per month.
Hellmann Reaps Global ERP Rewards
The business impact has been significant, as Martin Eberle explains: “Our financial processes are now standardized globally, boosting business confidence and predictability. We can see transactions in exactly the same way everywhere and understand our in-country operations much better.”
Gone are the days of time-consuming manual tasks. “We’ve removed roadblocks and are able to make better business decisions, so we can optimize, automate, and grow globally,” says Martin Eberle.
Dynamics 365 Paves the Way for AI
Thomas Stürenberg comments: “With a standardized, more efficient finance system, we can focus on continuous improvement and expand our business. For example, it’s now easier to onboard more customers and suppliers.”
“The next couple of years will be especially exciting as we drive innovation and move forward with AI.”
Santhosh Rao adds: “Our people will remain in control at the heart of our business. This project with HSO means we now have a finance platform able to scale to twice our size, handling double the transactions—but with the same resources.”
“They understood our aspirations, matched our commitment, and delivered for us. HSO acted as true partners throughout our journey, quickly becoming experts in our business—which has been key to our success.”
Partnership with HSO Thrives
With years of experience deploying Dynamics 365 Finance at scale, HSO understood the landscape, identified potential pitfalls, and applied best practices to maximize impact and ROI for Hellmann.
“HSO delivered real impact for us, stepping in to solve challenges at crunch moments in difficult environments and through change management,” says Santhosh Rao.
“They understood our aspirations, matched our commitment, and delivered for us. HSO acted as true partners throughout our journey, quickly becoming experts in our business—which has been key to our success.”
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