Enabling the Next Generation of Material Handling Business Models.
The material handling equipment (MHE) industry is undergoing a profound transformation. Leading OEMs are evolving from traditional product‑centric businesses toward service‑oriented, recurring revenue models. At the same time, they are modernizing their IT landscapes—moving away from fragmented, on‑premise systems toward SAP S/4HANA Cloud ERP and preparing for the age of AI-driven operations.
This transformation creates significant opportunities—but also complex challenges. Successfully mastering this shift requires a holistic approach that connects commercial models, operational processes, and financial control across the full asset lifecycle.
BearingPoint Lease&Rent, provides a comprehensive leasing, rental, and asset lifecycle management solution built on SAP Business Technology Platform (BTP) and tightly integrated with SAP S/4HANA Cloud ERP.
This architecture enables MHE organizations to innovate without compromising the SAP clean core principle—ensuring upgrade stability, scalability, and future readiness.
Unified Contract & Asset Lifecycle Management
The solution supports the full complexity of modern MHE business models:
- Contract structures covering sales, leasing, rental, and service bundles
- Flexible pricing models (fixed, variable, usage-based)
- End-to-end asset lifecycle tracking from procurement and deployment to return, refurbishment, and resale
- Full compliance with lease accounting and revenue recognition requirements
This enables OEMs to industrialize recurring revenue models at scale.
Seamless End-to-End Processes Across Operations and Finance
With deep integration into SAP S/4HANA:
- Operational events (delivery, usage, maintenance, return) automatically trigger financial processes
- Billing, revenue recognition, depreciation, and profitability analysis are fully aligned
- Finance and operations work on a single, consistent data model
The result is transparent margins, reduced manual effort, and faster closing cycles.
SAP BTP as the Innovation Layer—Without Breaking the Core
Running on SAP BTP, Lease&Rent:
- Extend S/4HANA without custom modifications
- Integrate easily with IoT platforms, telematics, and third-party solutions
- Support gradual migration scenarios and hybrid landscapes
This allows MHE companies to innovate continuously while keeping their ERP core clean and standardized.
AI-Enabled Leasing and Rental with SAP Joule
By leveraging SAP Joule AI across applications, organizations unlock new levels of intelligence:
- Natural-language access to contracts, assets, and financial KPIs
- AI-supported contract creation and pricing recommendations
- Predictive insights into asset utilization, renewal risks, and residual values
- Intelligent automation across leasing, rental, and service processes
Because AI operates on harmonized SAP data, insights are context-aware, explainable, and enterprise-ready.
Business Impact for Material Handling OEMs and Enterprises
With BearingPoint Lease&Rent MHE organizations can:
- Launch and scale new service-based business models
- Transition smoothly to SAP S/4HANA Cloud ERP
- Eliminate siloed systems and manual processes
- Ensure compliance and financial transparency
- Leverage AI across the full asset and contract lifecycle
- Build a future-ready architecture aligned with SAP’s clean core strategy