Karlsruhe, 24.06.2025 – Future orientation is one of the central pillars of LANG Technik GmbH’s self-image. The medium-sized company offers its customers state-of-the-art workpiece and zero-point clamping technology for milling machines and systems as well as complete solutions for the automation of machine tools. In the company’s internal processes, however, high levels of automation have so far remained wishful thinking. To change this, LANG opted for ERP technology from Asseco Solutions in March 2025. In future, APplus will replace time-consuming manual processes, increase the efficiency of daily work – and at the same time create the basis for the AI-supported working world of the future.
With its high-precision zero-point clamping technology and associated automation solutions, LANG enables its customers to comprehensively reduce set-up times and thus significantly increase their efficiency. The company from Baden-Württemberg develops and produces the corresponding systems itself. LANG solutions can be used with almost any customer system, as long as it has the necessary interfaces.
A total of 140 employees at the headquarters in Holzmaden are responsible for the production of clamping devices and the implementation of automation projects with customers. The company also has a special production facility in Neuhausen and sales offices in Switzerland, France and the USA. In all other target regions worldwide – from Canada to South Korea – LANG works with trading partners who distribute its products in the respective markets.
Digitalization lags behind company growth
Since 2015, LANG Technik’s turnover has more than doubled – from around 21 million to 46 million euros per year. Accordingly, the focus to date has been on meeting the increasing demand as quickly as possible with high quality. As a result, the supporting systems for scheduling, planning and processes have fallen behind and have so far been characterized by numerous manual steps and inefficiency. This is due not least to the organically grown structure of two legacy solutions, which have so far covered sales and production but are not connected to each other. In practice, this results in a high level of data maintenance effort: required data has to be transferred manually time and again, and comprehensive reports or evaluations can only be created with great effort.
In addition, the production planning tool used so far is not able to map work processes, so LANG has to find a workaround here. If rescheduling is necessary, this has to be done manually in the system: If an order is moved on a machine, all subsequent orders must also be moved manually.
“Our colleagues really do everything they can to make up for the deficits as best they can,” emphasizes Arabella Braun, Project Manager ERP System at LANG. “But objectively, we are simply losing too much time due to this way of working. This was revealed not least by an inventory of our processes, in which we analyzed how much time these inefficiencies cost us on a daily basis. Time that we could put to good use in other areas in view of our increasing order volume.”
Key users opt for APplus
In March 2024, LANG therefore decided to switch to a new, future-proof ERP solution. The focus was on three key requirement areas: functional scope, user-friendliness and interpersonal contact with the manufacturer’s project team. On a functional level, it was crucial for LANG that the central requirements of the metalworking industry were covered precisely. As LANG mainly works “Made to Stock”, functions for efficient stock management were of particular relevance.
“Right from the first Look&Feel presentation, APplus stood out with its user-friendliness and modern interface. Our colleagues immediately had the feeling that they could work with it straight away,” recalls Arabella Braun. “The final decision in favor of APplus was later made almost unanimously by our key users. With its functions such as production planning and production data acquisition, APplus is particularly well positioned in the area of production, which is important to us.”
Asseco’s forward-looking approach is convincing – also and especially in the field of AI
Another important decision criterion for Asseco was its positioning and approach in the context of artificial intelligence. “For us, there is no question that AI will be one of the key topics of the future. We perceived Asseco as a provider that is very close to the pulse of AI development – not only technologically, but also in terms of the future-oriented approach that Asseco has adopted here.”
Accordingly, one of the aims of the ERP migration at LANG was to obtain a clean, reliable database that the company can use for modern AI application scenarios in the future. Arabella Braun sees particular potential for this in the sales area, among others. Here, AI could be used to identify new leads and suitable reasons to call. As efficient warehousing is also particularly relevant for LANG in terms of profitability in day-to-day business, this area could also benefit from AI optimization.
Transparency and efficiency inside and outside the factory hall
APplus is to be implemented at LANG as part of a so-called fast-track implementation (FTI). This means that the Asseco solution can go live at the customer’s premises in just a few months. The go-live of the solution is currently planned for March 2026.
In daily practice, APplus will support LANG in the future with automated scheduling suggestions, among other things: Until now, employees have called up a list every day and checked the individual items manually, a time-consuming process. Order suggestions for required materials should also reduce the time required in practice.
In the context of actual production, APplus will ensure greater efficiency and transparency: the user-friendly production planning enables quick adjustments to be made at any time, while the work plans behind it provide an overview of the current processing stage of the parts belonging to an order at the touch of a button.
Finally, project management, which was previously based on Excel lists, will also be mapped using APplus in future: The solution enables efficient linking of projects with production orders or material orders, which will benefit LANG both in the context of its automation projects and for internal projects.
Think in processes
“What particularly appealed to me personally about APplus was the solution’s process focus,” emphasizes Arabella Braun. “In reality, tasks don’t just end at the departmental boundaries, the underlying process extends much further. With this in mind, Flow Mode was an absolute highlight for us, from which we will certainly benefit greatly in practice.”
The new usage mode provides users with a process-oriented view that guides them step by step through the processing of their current task. The process is focused on the essentials and the necessary actions in the ERP system are carried out automatically in the background. “Beforehand, however, it is important for us to get to know the processes in classic mode – first you have to be able to do the math yourself, then you can switch to the fast calculator.”
Hundreds of hours of time savings expected
Based on the inefficiencies identified during the initial process analysis, the introduction of APplus will fully pay for itself in just three years. “We have calculated that we can save a good 500 working hours per month across all areas thanks to the efficiency gains with APplus,” concludes Arabella Braun. “This gives us valuable time, which our employees then have available for tasks that require really creative or strategic considerations. This includes, for example, the optimization of supplier relationships, for which we have often simply not had the time to date.”
