Wieland’s Accelerated Digital Transformation with SAP + Docusign

The Wieland Group, a leading producer of semi-finished copper and copper alloy products, identified the need to streamline and digitize its contract management processes as part of a broader digital transformation strategy. In 2021, the company established a Digital Transformation Unit tasked with driving company-wide initiatives aimed at modernizing administrative tasks, enhancing customer interactions, and optimizing manufacturing processes.

The company faced significant operational inefficiencies, particularly in handling contracts. The existing manual processes—encompassing printing, scanning, emailing, and physical storage—were not only time-consuming but also prone to errors and delays. These disjointed workflows resulted in extended processing times and elevated administrative overheads, adversely affecting the efficiency of key business functions such as sales, procurement, and human resources.

Wieland successfully integrated SAP cloud solutions across multiple facets of its business operations over the years and partnered with Docusign to implement SAP Signature Management. This collaboration allowed Wieland to streamline many manual processes into a cohesive, cross-departmental workflow, significantly enhancing the efficiency and transparency of its agreement processes within just a few weeks.

The implementation of Docusign’s electronic signature solution brought substantial process improvements and efficiencies to Wieland’s operations. By digitizing and optimizing contract management, the company achieved greater efficiency and transparency. Employees can now effortlessly send documents for e-signature and monitor their status directly within the platform—a significant advantage for a global enterprise managing a high volume of agreements daily.

The return on investment has been swift, with agreement turnaround times reduced from several days to just a few hours. For Wieland, 37% of all agreements are now completed within the first hour of being sent. Additionally, the time required for processing each agreement has been significantly reduced, cutting human effort from approximately 60 minutes per agreement to just 30-40 minutes, resulting in an annual time savings of around 1,200 hours. Beyond increasing operational efficiency, the organization is also conserving resources through its expanded use of digital solutions, demonstrating how digitization can contribute to sustainability efforts.

Wieland’s legal department was among the first to implement digital contract solutions, using standardized templates and pre-approved language to speed up contract processing. This system allowed users to initiate agreements, such as NDAs and various internal and external contracts, with minimal effort. The eSignature solution’s potential was quickly recognized across other business areas and departments like sales, finance, HR, and purchasing have adopted the technology to streamline their processes. For example, in purchasing, the solution simplifies contract workflows, including those for hedging and metal dealer agreements, and automatically integrates with SAP Ariba for document storage. In the U.S., HR teams have also benefited from this approach, using it to streamline employee onboarding, providing a more efficient and seamless experience.

For Wieland, Docusign played a critical role for their digital transformation, particularly when integrated with SAP systems. Its primary advantage lies in the ability to enhance efficiency and mitigate risks by digitizing routine processes. Rather than being limited to a tool for electronic signatures, it functions as a comprehensive workflow solution that automates the entire contract management process from initiation to completion.

Read the full case study here.