Würth IT Brazil and USA: A First Year that Shows Great Prospects
Globally active and cleverly networked: The teams from Würth IT Brazil and Würth IT USA went on a growth course in 2024. Würth IT Canada is joining in 2025. A good example of the advantages and opportunities opened up by the ONE IT strategy of the Würth Group's IT companies. We spoke to Jens Bardutzky, Managing Director of Würth IT Brazil & Head of Würth IT America which includes Würth IT USA and Würth IT Canada.
Brazil: Where are the focal points?
As part of the Würth Group's ONE IT, Würth IT Brazil serves customers in Latin America (LATAM), North America and global Würth Group companies from its headquarters in Cotia, São Paulo. The 31 team members (as of January 2025) come from Brazil, Chile and Uruguay. The focus of this IT-Hub is on the competence centers competence centers (CC): Business Solutions, Service Management and Sales Solutions. Würth IT Brazil was officially founded in January 2024 on the basis of the Latin America team, which has been active since 2020. The first team members were transferred to the newly established company in May 2024. The main focus is on Business Solutions and Service Management. There are currently 11 employees working for Business Solutions and 14 employees for Service Management.
USA: Where are the focal points?
The US team is being structured into Workplace Solutions, Service Management, Data Center and Infrastructure, Würth Global Services (WGS) and Security. The current main focus is on WGS and Security as well as on Data Center and Infrastructure.
USA: How was the restart implemented?
Würth IT USA was reactivated in January 2024 at a new headquarters in the greater Chicago area. The Würth Baer Supply Company, one of the country's leading specialist wholesalers for the wood processing industry, is located close by. The Würth IT US team initially had 19 full-time employees. In January 2025, 54 colleagues from Würth Industry North America (WINA) and Würth Line Craft North America (WLCNA) were migrated to Würth IT, bringing the total number of employees to 73 (as of January 2025). "To support the transfer, the CC held introductory events and provided updates on the most important projects," explains Jens Bardutzky. "This is the first part of the migration phase and will help the new colleagues to get an general overview of Würth IT. We expect to fully migrate the new colleagues in our structures within the next one to two years."
Brazil: What does Service Management do?
This is an area where international, globally active teams have a huge advantage. The employees in Service Management offer “follow-the-sun” support, which means ongoing support regardless of time zones. "This is crucial for the continuity of business processes," emphasizes Jens Bardutzky. First and second level support teams are deployed. They take on the following tasks: at the first level, front-end support and initial contact with customers.
This includes in detail:
- Administration of the support mailboxes
- Processing tickets in the Solution Manager (SolMan) for the Würth companies in Latin America and North America
- Support for Würth Elektronik eiSos tickets and calls
- 24/7 hotline
- Monitoring of all “very high tickets” worldwide, i.e. support requests with the highest priority
"We are problem solvers who keep systems stable and thus increase customer satisfaction", summarizes Jens Bardutzky. The second support level is responsible for more complex solutions and specializes in areas such as sales, logistics, material management and authorizations. At this level, the team takes a more analytic approach.
Brazil: What tasks does the Business Solutions Team perform?
The team has a very broad range of IT skills. It is made up of SAP consultants and developers. They are all IT specialists with expertise in the areas of sales, logistics, materials management, finance, human resources and authorizations.
Brazil: What is happening in the consulting area?
The consultants include a team that specializes in rollouts of Würth System One (WS1) in Latin America. It was involved in the WS1 implementation at Würth Uruguay, Würth Chile, Würth Dominican Republic and Würth Panama. The most recent project is the rollout project at Würth Costa Rica with an estimated Go-Live data in April 2025.
While the initial focus was on consulting, one wheel is now meshing with the other: For the future, the Würth IT Brazil team will also take on the technical part. It will thus act as a completely independent and therefore highly flexible and efficient rollout team. The aim is to be the number one IT solution provider for partner companies in Latin America. To this end, solutions are being introduced that put customers' working methods on a new footing, says Jens Bardutzky: “We connect people, processes and technologies by introducing innovative, efficient and secure solutions.”
Brazil and USA: What's on the agenda for 2025?
The independently operating rollout team illustrates the strategy of Würth IT Brazil and Würth IT USA: “We want to and can take on more responsibility and work even more independently,” announces Jens Bardutzky. He sees well-positioned and continuously growing teams as the engine for growth in Latin America and North America. He praises the employees: “Overall, we are a highly qualified, efficient and cooperative team in which, despite all the diversity, everyone pulls together and the chemistry is right.” According to the Managing Director, this is also due to the positive corporate culture. This could be experienced at the first Strategy Days of Würth IT Brazil in December 2024. Employees from Brazil, Chile and Uruguay came together to gather information and develop goals.
Canada: What is the plan for the first year?
Würth IT Canada, which was founded in January, will prove to be another important building block of the ONE IT strategy this year. The Disaster Recovery Center (data center for mirroring critical data and systems) will be located in Montreal in the province of Québec. The first employees are expected to join the new company in mid-2025.