High demand from the industry leads to revenues of 231 million euros. cbs is a major player in the market.
Heidelberg, February 21st, 2024 – cbs remains on the road to success and continues to be a mayor player in the market. The Heidelberg-based company closed the 2023 financial year with exceptionally good figures: cbs was able to increase its revenue by around 22 percent compared to the previous year. The globally operating management consultancy continues to benefit from its comprehensive consulting portfolio for IT-driven business transformations in the SAP environment and generated revenue of 231 million euros (previous year: 190).
The digital transformation of manufacturing companies and the resulting goal of establishing standardized, intelligent and flexible business process platforms worldwide are the main drivers behind the high demand. This is linked to the imminent switch to the new SAP software generation with S/4HANA in a cloud architecture. In addition, cbs continues to grow internationally. New branches have been established in India, China, Australia, Turkey and Croatia. Brazil will be added shortly. Last year, 200 new colleagues joined the company worldwide. At the end of the year, cbs employed more than 1,300 people.
CEO Rainer Wittwen: “22% growth – that’s an above-average result for our industry. We are on the right track and continue to grow strongly and sustainably. We are doing a good job in our corporate projects and are receiving very positive feedback. This feedback comes not only from our customers and our employees, but also from our partners. This includes SAP in particular, with whom we are closely networked.”
1,100 consultants for business transformation
cbs has established an excellent market position and is being recognized. Wittwen: “The positive result shows that our strategy and our comprehensive consulting approach are being rewarded. As always, our order books are well filled. Thanks to our strength in the global implementation of SAP software, the high demand for S/4HANA transformations and the many project successes at renowned global market leaders, we have a reputation in the market as a consultant for IT management who can also safely bring company-wide change projects to a successful conclusion. Our skills in business process consulting, as management consultants and at the business management level are still less recognized. We want to highlight our professional expertise and our size more clearly in future.”
From left: The cbs Management Board consisting of Stefan Risse, Rainer Wittwen (CEO) and Holger Scheel. Photo: cbs.
cbs is already one of the strongest consultants for supply chain management and manufacturing as well as a proven expert for finance and controlling in the manufacturing industry.
“cbs has more than 550 experts in business consulting worldwide. With a total of over 1,100 consultants, we are a major provider for industrial clients in the DACH market, larger than many of the Big Four. These figures are impressive,” emphasizes cbs Managing Director Holger Scheel. “We make sure that in the future CEOs, CFOs, COOs, CTOs and Heads of HR know what we have to offer. We have built up the business process knowledge and industry expertise for this over many years.”
cbs consultants design future-proof business processes and system architectures end-to-end and company-wide. “Our aim is to shape the innovations of tomorrow’s global market leaders. cbs creates the optimal combination of a solid global foundation and value-adding innovations. We call this the next generation of business solutions. Or in short: NEXT ONE,” says Holger Scheel.
Development of customized AI solutions
The topic of artificial intelligence fits in with the strategy – cbs has established a global AI Excellence Practice and has formulated the ambition to remain at the forefront of innovation for its customers. “The topic spurs us on – it is right at the top of our agenda. Our AI team leads and supports the practices, competence centers and subsidiaries in the development of customer-specific AI solutions. The aim is to incorporate AI into consulting and implement it as part of future-proof customer solutions,” explains cbs Managing Director Stefan Risse.
In addition to high demand in the European core market (DACH region), the cbs branches in Spain, Finland, the USA and Southeast Asia saw above-average international growth in 2023. Demand for transformation services is booming, and sales in the branches increased accordingly. Managing Director Stefan Risse: “We are an established player in the USA and Asia in particular, and our local direct business is growing steadily alongside our global projects. Promising projects are also starting in China. Looking ahead, we remain optimistic despite the geopolitical tensions and the generally gloomy economic expectations. cbs also has excellent growth prospects in these markets in 2024.”
New branches in India, China, Australia, Croatia, Turkey
Globalization continues to progress at cbs. New branches have been established in India, China, Australia, Croatia and Turkey. Brazil will be added shortly. As a true global player, the consultancy is now present on almost every continent.
The cbs Group increased the number of employees by around 200 in the 2023 financial year. At the end of the year, cbs employed more than 1,300 people. For the current year 2024, the company plans to grow by a further 250 employees.