Partner Success with AWS / Manufacturing / Germany

January 2025
Karcher
Zoi

Kärcher Works with Zoi to Launch Cloud-Native Manufacturing Facility on AWS

Learn how Kärcher, a world leading manufacturer of cleaning technology, launched a cloud-native production site in Vietnam in February 2024 in less than 12 months.

100%

reduction in infrastructure licensing and maintenance costs

11

month build time for cloud-native production facility

Optimized

operating costs

Overview

Kärcher, based in Germany, is a global manufacturer of cleaning equipment. It operates with more than 160 subsidiaries in 82 countries worldwide. The company wanted to ensure that it could deliver products to its customers on time and at competitive costs. Given the disruptions in global supply chains since the COVID-19 pandemic, the company has undertaken to optimize the responsiveness of its supply chain with a cloud-first approach to operations. It also decided to build a new manufacturing facility in Vietnam. Kärcher wanted this greenfield facility to be cloud-native to provide flexibility while eliminating hardware purchases, reducing efforts needed for maintenance, and improving insights into operations. It worked with AWS Partner Zoi to build that solution on Amazon Web Services (AWS), eliminating an initial six-digit investment in hardware, license, and maintenance costs and ready to start production in just 11 months.

Karcher

Opportunity | The Challenge of Building a Greenfield Factory Quickly

Kärcher, founded in 1935, remains modern in its operations. The company has used AWS for over 12 years, initially migrating due to performance issues with its self-hosted website and online store. Moving to AWS improved performance, enabling Kärcher to scale and adapt. This led to it adopting a cloud-first IT approach in 2016. Kärcher now operates as cloud-native organization. Kärcher decided to build a new, greenfield manufacturing facility in Vietnam. The decision to build a facility was approved in March of 2023, with a February 2024 target to start first production. “We did evaluate building an on-premises solution for the facility,” says Leonhard Kerscher, executive vice president of IT and digital transformation at Kärcher. “It didn’t make sense financially, in terms of the timeline and especially in regard to the adopted strategy of a cloud-only approach.”

Building on a greenfield site in Vietnam meant that Kärcher was able to build without the constraints of existing infrastructure. The cost of building a datacenter in the facility and installing servers on premises would have required a six-digit investment just for the hardware, with additional expenses for infrastructure and licenses. By operating in the cloud, the company would be able to avoid the cost of building a larger facility to house the servers. It would also avoid expenses for hardware, software licenses, staff to manage the servers, and the extra cooling capacity needed. It also meant that the project could get under way quickly, with no need to wait months for delivery of hardware.

kr_quotemark

Working with Zoi to build on AWS has created a template that we can use for the company globally.”

Leonhard Kerscher
Vice President IT & Digital Transformation, Kärcher

Solution | Building on AWS Gave Kärcher Freedom

With the desire to build with a cloud-centered focus, the company needed to find a way to design and build the system from the ground up in just 11 months. The company already had a relationship with AWS Partner Zoi, a Germany-based technology consultancy, and engaged the company to help it meet its ambitious goals. Kärcher and Zoi first evaluated what level of service was possible in Vietnam, which was made easier thanks to Zoi’s office location in the country. If the required performance could not be delivered in the cloud, Kärcher could pivot to an on-premises option.

The evaluation found that the desired levels of performance were possible running strictly on cloud. “With performance proven, moving at speed was the primary concern,” says Joseph Mosseler, partnership development manager at Zoi. “Kärcher already knew the benefits of working on AWS, having already migrated most of our systems to the cloud. We could concentrate on moving at speed and getting Kärcher the system it needed.”

Because this was a new facility, Kärcher was committed to a unified system, running everything from ERP to compute on AWS. This would also apply to controlling equipment such as automated guided vehicles—robots that are often used to transport materials around the facility. “We wanted a complete production facility that can be run in the cloud,” says Kerscher. “Yes, we had to consider latency, connectivity, and the power grid in the locale, but a modern factory can’t be standalone. Every business needs connectivity. With no legacy technology holding us back, we worked with Zoi to build an optimized solution.”

Working together with tightly integrated teams, Zoi and Kärcher created a system that runs out of the AWS Singapore region, which provides service without any appreciable latency. The solution uses a range of AWS services, but the foundation uses tools “typical for any manufacturing facility,” says Kerscher. These services include Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (Amazon EC2), which delivers secure, reliable, high-performance, and cost-effective compute infrastructure to meet demanding business needs, and Amazon Relational Database Service (Amazon RDS), an easy-to-manage relational database service optimized for total cost of ownership. Amazon Virtual Private Cloud (Amazon VPC) gives full control over the virtual networking environment, including resource placement, connectivity, and security. “We are using a lot of commercial off-the-shelf applications rather than custom-developed applications,” says Kerscher. “There are a lot of options available.”

Outcome | Kärcher and Zoi Create a Template for Global Success

In February 2024, 11 months after the project began and right on schedule, the first product rolled off Kärcher’s Vietnamese production line. The company saved upfront costs, eliminated the need for staff to maintain servers, and created a flexible system that can scale up or down to meet needs, ensuring that costs are optimized. Furthermore, says Kerscher, this approach has provided greater security through the world-class security provided by AWS in the cloud, and has also eliminated the need for server rooms, which required physical security and access control.

The success of this project has also shown that Kärcher can make the final push to the cloud. “The success of this facility, operating fully on AWS, has proven that we can move all of Kärcher into the cloud,” says Kerscher. “We’re about 90 percent in the cloud, with the final 10 percent being left over for historical reasons. Vietnam has shown it is possible to go all-in without compromising performance. Working with Zoi to build on AWS has created a template that we can use for the company globally.”

About Kärcher

Kärcher generated sales of €3.294 billion in 2023. The family-owned manufacturer of cleaning equipment and supplies was founded in Germany in 1935 and employs 16,000 people in 160 subsidiaries located in 82 countries. Over 50,000 service centers support its customers all around the globe. The company focuses on innovation, including an embrace of cloud technology to support its goal of providing customers with the best cleaning technology for their needs.

About AWS Partner Zoi

Zoi, founded in Germany, employs more than 450 staff in offices in six countries. The company provides consultancy across a range of technologies to provide solutions that keep enterprise customers ahead of the curve. Its areas of expertise range from cloud migration to Internet of Things (IoT) and DevOps, custom software, cybersecurity, and cloud-based SAP solutions. Zoi’s goal is to enable its enterprise clients to migrate into the cloud in a way that generates real value.

AWS Services Used

Amazon EC2

Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (Amazon EC2) offers the broadest and deepest compute platform, with over 750 instances and choice of the latest processor, storage, networking, operating system, and purchase model to help you best match the needs of your workload.

Learn more »

Amazon RDS

Amazon Relational Database Service (Amazon RDS) is an easy-to-manage relational database service optimized for total cost of ownership.

Learn more »

Amazon VPC

Amazon Virtual Private Cloud (Amazon VPC) gives you full control over your virtual networking environment, including resource placement, connectivity, and security. Get started by setting up your VPC in the AWS service console.

Learn more »

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