Dreher Consulting®
DE
Contact
ERP Success Factors · DACH

ERP Success Factors in the DACH region

Independent and vendor-neutral since 1992, we translate each industry’s real pain points into clear KPIs, proven methods and measurable outcomes — for CFOs, COOs and CEOs across the DACH Mittelstand. The benchmarks on this page set out what good looks like, sector by sector — and how to get there.
Arrange a meeting
INDUSTRY KPI BENCHMARKS DACH MITTELSTAND BEST-IN-CLASS Food & Drink ~15% order cycle Engineering & Manufacturing +20% scheduling Retail & Distribution +18% fulfilment Transport & Logistics −22% planning time Healthcare & MedTech +20% traceability Median DACH performance Best-in-class target The gap between median and best-in-class is the ERP business case.
Vendor-neutralKPI benchmarks9 sectorsSince 1992
What defines ERP success

ERP success is defined
before the system is chosen.

We help organisations choose ERP systems based on what their business truly needs — not vendor marketing promises. This page sets out how: the pain points we see across DACH industries, and the KPIs that turn them into measurable outcomes.

From our experience across 1,200+ projects since 1992, the projects that deliver share one pattern: success is defined before the selection — per role, per industry, in numbers. That definition then carries through the whole chain, from independent ERP selection to implementation and optimisation. Whoever selects without KPIs builds a system that cannot fail — because nothing was ever defined as success.

Discuss where your project stands
Decision summary

What each role needs
the ERP to deliver.

In our projects the success criteria always resolve to three desks. If the system cannot answer to all three, it was scoped for none of them.

CFO

Transparency & audit-readiness

  • Consolidated financial reporting without manual Excel loops

  • Compliance reporting — CSRD, audit trails — produced from the system, not around it

  • Cost and margin visibility per order, product and site


COO 
Forecasting & operational resilience

  • Demand forecasting that survives seasonal peaks and promotions

  • Production and logistics planning on live data, not month-old exports

  • Supplier integration and stock visibility across every site

CEO

Scalable platforms for long-term growth

  • A platform that carries the business model of tomorrow, not just today’s processes

  • Growth without proportional growth in administration

  • One source of truth behind every management decision

— The DACH benchmark picture

Where the region actually stands.

47%

of DACH CFOs cite compliance reporting as their top ERP challenge

72 hrs

average order processing in DACH manufacturing — best-in-class operations cut it by 20–30%

65%

of DACH mid-sized firms still rely on manual reporting

40%

of ERP projects overrun budget on poor scoping and unclear KPIs

— The core asset

ERP KPIs and challenges, by industry.

Typical, realistic targets from our project work — the numbers a well-scoped ERP should move, and the challenges that stand in the way.

Industry / Sector Key KPIs Typical Challenges
Food & Drink 15% order-cycle reduction Allergen traceability, seasonal demand
Engineering & Manufacturing 20% faster production scheduling CAD/MES integration, regulatory complexity
Construction & Environmental 25% faster project scheduling and resource allocation ISO/CSRD compliance
Education & Services Improved resource-scheduling accuracy Multi-location coordination, cost control
Sustainability & Compliance-driven sectors Compliance-framework integration — finance, CSRD, ESG AI/automation for SME sustainability reporting
Healthcare & MedTech 20% better process traceability and documentation Data governance, MDR, interoperability
Retail & Distribution 18% faster order fulfilment and inventory turnover Omnichannel consistency, supplier integration, stock visibility
Transport & Logistics 22% less transport-planning time Route optimisation, energy efficiency, cross-border compliance
Energy & Utilities 25% better asset-maintenance efficiency Legacy systems, decentralised data, environmental reporting

How we work

How we turn pain points
into KPIs.

Four stages from pain point to measured outcome — vendor-neutral throughout, with your business units at the table. 

Stage 01

Pain-point analysis

SCOReX® pre-assessment and the Pain Point Analyser locate where the operation actually loses time and money — per department, against industry benchmarks.

Pain Point Analyser
Stage 02

KPI definition

Each pain point becomes a number: KPIs per role and industry that the new system will be measured against — before any vendor enters the room.

Per role & industry
Stage 03

Vendor-neutral fit & selection

Systems are shortlisted and tested against your KPIs, not marketing promises. No software revenue, no referral fees behind the recommendation.

Vendor-neutral
Stage 04

Go live

Go or no-go decided against agreed criteria, with independent reporting on project health running to the end — and beyond it into stabilisation.

Hypercare Assurance
Common questions

What managing directors ask about ERP success.

Honest answers about success factors, KPIs and vendor neutrality — the questions that come up in nearly every first conversation about an ERP that has to deliver results. 

Answers by

Dr. Harald Dreher

Founder · Dreher Consulting

Since 1992 he has guided Mittelstand companies through replacing in-house-built ERP systems. He advises vendor-neutrally, taking no commission from any software vendor.

LinkedIn · Last updated: 21 July 2026

1. What are the key success factors for an ERP project?

From our experience across 1,200+ projects: KPIs defined per role and industry before the selection, a precise scope built on real processes, a vendor-neutral fit decision, clean master data, and change management that carries the organisation to the new system. It is not a software problem. It is a definition problem — projects fail on what was never defined as success. 

2. Which KPIs measure ERP success?

The KPIs that matter vary by industry: order-cycle time in food and drink, production-scheduling speed in manufacturing, order fulfilment and inventory turnover in retail, transport-planning time in logistics, traceability and documentation quality in healthcare. The pattern is constant — each KPI translates a real pain point into a number the new system can be measured against. 

3. Why do so many DACH ERP projects overrun budget?

40% of DACH ERP projects overrun budgets due to poor scoping and unclear KPIs. When requirements are a function list and success is undefined, every gap surfaces late — in configuration, priced as change. Projects scoped against real processes and measured against agreed KPIs keep the budget conversation honest from the first vendor offer. 

4. How do success factors differ by industry?

The mechanics differ, the logic does not. A food producer measures allergen traceability and seasonal forecast accuracy; an engineering firm measures scheduling speed and CAD/MES integration; a retailer measures fulfilment speed and stock visibility. The industry KPI table on this page sets out the typical targets and challenges for nine DACH sectors. 

5. How does an independent consultant improve ERP outcomes?

Because the KPIs are defined before vendors enter the room, and the recommendation carries no commission. Dreher Consulting takes no software revenue and no referral fees — so the fit decision follows your numbers, not a vendor’s pipeline. We have observed across more than 30 years: independence at selection is the cheapest insurance an ERP project can buy. 

Start the conversation

Three ways to begin. No wrong door.

High commitment

45-minute independent strategy call

The full first conversation. Includes an initial SCOReX® assessment of your ERP situation.

Book the call
Medium commitment

15-minute orientation call

Not ready for the full conversation? A short call to clarify whether we're the right advisors for you.

Book a short call
Low commitment

Prefer to email?

Send us a short note about where you are — we'll reply with a clear next step, not a sales pitch.

Email us
Supply & Production Engineering Construction & Project Development Food & Drink Medical Technologies Pharma & Life Sciences Retail & Distribution Professional Services Start-Ups Investors & Finance