KNAPP AG

KNAPP AG is a value chain technology company known for its international customer base. The organization develops and manufactures intelligent warehouse systems using the latest solutions in digitalization, software, automation and robotics. Founded in 1952, KNAPP has grown to become an international group with 49 locations and 7,700 employees with its headquarters in Graz, Austria.

With the EU commission's announcement of the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) as part of the European Green Deal, KNAPP recognized the need to transform their own existing software, data systems and processes, in order to adopt a resource-efficient and automated solution.

Since KNAPP’s products and services are extremely high-tech, they acknowledged that their own corporate technology needed to reflect their raison d'être. This would enable them to maintain their focus on sustainability measures rather than being burdened by labor-intensive reporting processes.

A strong pre-existing relationship between the lead engagement partner at KPMG in Belgium and KNAPP management, along with KPMG professionals’ deep industry, solution and SAP implementation experience, set the project in motion. KPMG deployed professionals with exceptional regulatory knowledge – advisors who know how to report to regulators and what exactly to report on. The KPMG team hailed from four distinct practice areas: ESG Regulatory, Risk, Consulting and IT. A team of KPMG professionals from KPMG in Austria and KPMG in Germany worked with KNAPP’s Enterprise Development Department and their Integrated Management Systems team.

KNAPP was keen – and smart to start early. KNAPP engaged KPMG in Austria in 2022 with a scope to perform an initial assessment of their existing technology, and an ultimate objective of implementing SAP sustainability products for ESG reporting compliance, as well as customer and market transparency.

The product suite included:

• SAP Sustainability Control Tower, to provide KNAPP with automation of data collection from across the business, audit-ready reporting foundation across sustainability data, pre-built metrics mapped to major ESG standards, dashboards to identify trends for strategic decision-making, and AI-enabled ESG reports with templates that would meet the demands of the regulators and customers. 
• SAP Datasphere, to deliver a unified experience for data integration, data cataloging, semantic modeling, data warehousing, data federation, and data virtualization.
• SAP Sustainability Footprint Management, a cloud-based carbon management solution that enables KNAPP to calculate their corporate and product carbon footprint at scale, providing insights through transparency.

When the first round of reporting is due in the first quarter of 2028, KNAPP is on track to deliver.

They can also leverage their new leading technology across the business for additional efficiencies – dashboards, insights, and analytics will enhance business planning, growth, and strategic decision-making.

Sustainability initiatives have historically been part of KNAPP's corporate responsibility. Complemented by the CSRD and EU taxonomy reporting requirements, the immediate need evolved into a program that was more than just a technology implementation. The now4tomorrow program consists of a three-year, step-by-step plan to provide a comprehensive sustainability report by fiscal year 2027/28 that will accompany their annual report.

The program comprises of five sub-projects:(i) CSRD, (ii) EU taxonomy; (iii) product carbon footprint, (iv) Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD); and (v) information technology. These sub-projects are redefining internal roles and responsibilities, as well as policies. The now4tomorrow program goes beyond ESG to progress the business as a whole.

The new capabilities will not only enable KNAPP to develop and share transparent information but will also empower them to make informed and strategic decisions supported by rich data.