- Rapid cloud migration to SAP S/4HANA Cloud achieved in just 18 months.
- Integrating advanced robotics from Nura for highly automated warehouse operations.
- Future vision includes two-handed robots for complex, flexible material handling.
Sartorius, a leading international partner of the biopharmaceutical industry, is showcasing a groundbreaking transformation at SAP TechEd 2025, detailing their journey from legacy on-premise systems to a cutting-edge, cloud-powered physical AI ecosystem.
Torson Miller, CIO and COO of Sartorius, highlighted the company's bold strategic shift, initiated just 18 months prior. Facing challenges with an on-premise ECC system, limited end-to-end process digitization, and inefficient warehouses impacting KPIs like delivery reliability and inventory management, Sartorius made a decisive move. They unified data, processes, and entire operations, including production sites, under a singular vision.
This ambitious transformation saw their ECC system successfully migrated to SAP S/4HANA Cloud on RISE, complemented by the implementation of SAP EWM in parallel. This foundational shift has not only modernized their core systems but also paved the way for the next phase: integrating advanced physical AI. Sartorius is now actively bringing robots, cobots, and humanoids into their operations to further enhance digitization, particularly at the critical interface between production clean rooms and warehouses.
A key aspect of this innovation is the collaboration with Nura and SAP. Miller elaborated on a prototype where Nura's robots are demonstrating impressive capabilities, recognizing forms, colors, and materials to efficiently sort and box items. This integration with SAP EWM is crucial for automating manual processes within their highly automated warehouse environment. Looking ahead, Sartorius is focused on developing robots capable of working closer to humans, handling flexible materials, and performing tasks requiring two-handed operation, pushing the boundaries of current robotic capabilities.
The partnership between Sartorius, Nura, and SAP exemplifies a forward-thinking approach to Industry 4.0. By leveraging SAP's robust cloud platform as the backbone and integrating specialized robotics, Sartorius is not just scaling physical AI; they are redefining efficiency, precision, and human-robot collaboration in biopharmaceutical manufacturing and logistics.
“One and a half year later, we have our ECC system migrated. It's in the cloud on rise fully on S4. We have implemented Juul. In parallel, we have implemented a enterprise warehouse management system in south of France close to MS. And now we want to go further to bring robots, cohorts, humanites and everything into account to solve this this issues for more digitization.”
- Thorsten Mueller, CIO and CEO
