Using ECLASS at Fraport AG

Fraport is one of the world's leading airport management companies and operates Frankfurt Airport, one of Europe's largest airports, among others. The company stands for efficiency, innovation, and futureoriented infrastructure in international air traffic. To meet the increasing demands of airport operations, Fraport relies on digital solutions and clean data processes. Projects to optimize master data quality and digitize business processes form the basis for sustainable success and smooth operations.

Fraport AG, one of the world's leading airport operators, manages a large number of vehicles, systems, and technical equipment at its Frankfurt site—with correspondingly high material requirements for maintenance and repair. It became clear that the existing material master data was inconsistent, incomplete, and not searchfriendly. Materials were sometimes named according to manufacturer specifications, sometimes colloquially. The result: “Many employees preferred to search directly on the shelf rather than work with the system,” explains Erik Balmes, Technical Manager, in a joint interview with his colleague Eva Nauheimer. This practice sent a clear signal: the system hinders more than it supports. In this context, Jens Pinter brought the ECLASS classification into play. Erik Balmes recalls: “I wasn't familiar with it before, but we quickly agreed: if we're going to do it, we're going to do it right.” At the same time, Fraport also changed its own material class structure – moving away from proprietary solutions and toward a standard. Eva Nauheimer, Head of Purchasing, adds: “The change in purchasing gave us additional momentum. ECLASS was a perfect fit for our objectives.”

After the internal decision was made to revise the material master data in a structured manner, the focus shifted to classification according to ECLASS—an internationally recognized standard for product and material data. The aim was not only to bring order to the existing data, but also to lay the foundation for future digital processes and automation.

The contact with D&TS was established through SAP. “It was important to me that SAP fully supported ECLASS,” reports Erik Balmes. “A contact person at SAP explained to me that they no longer intervene operationally in master data projects themselves, but recommend specialized partners – so I came directly and very purposefully to D&TS.” Erik Balmes’ initial contact with D&TS was thoroughly positive: “There was immediate trust – it was just a good fit, both professionally and personally. Overall, the D&TS team came across as open, professional, and solution-oriented.”

At the start of the project, existing material data was analyzed and incorrect entries, discontinued materials, duplicates, and inconsistent designations were identified. There was considerable variation, particularly in automotive parts and maintenance materials: identical parts with different names, texts without relevant information, and non-searchable designations. In close coordination with Fraport, D&TS developed a set of rules for uniform material short texts – tailored to the requirements of warehousing, purchasing, and maintenance. These texts were generated automatically and contained relevant technical information in a structured format. At the same time, practical feature lists were created, which were used for classification according to ECLASS. Another key objective was to simplify the material search for users. Discussions with employees made it clear that the previous SAP search functions were hardly used—they were too confusing and too complicated. D&TS therefore developed a user-friendly interface with an intelligent search function that can be used on mobile devices if desired.

"It's basically our Google for materials,” says Erik Balmes with a smile. “Colleagues can simply type in a search term – whether it's an item number, keyword, or description – and immediately get a list of relevant results. This saves a huge amount of time and reduces frustration in everyday work.”

this search interface not only allows users to search for existing materials, but also to compare similar items, which is particularly advantageous when it comes to spare parts. The search solution was deliberately designed to be mobile-friendly so that warehouse and workshop employees can work directly on site using a smartphone or tablet. The project then continued in a second phase: further material groups were classified, additional feature logic was introduced, new text modules were developed, and the search system was optimized.

This was followed by the next milestone: a ticket system that will be used to classify new materials in a standardized manner via D&TS in the future. “This was important to us in order to permanently secure the quality standard we had achieved and to implement new systems efficiently and cleanly,” explains Eva Nauheimer. Meanwhile, new ideas have already been initiated – such as AI-based suggestions for material assignments, image searches for technical components, and automated checks for duplicates.

The result

The collaboration between Fraport and D&TS led to a noticeable improvement in data quality and daily work processes in materials management. A uniform set of rules for the automated creation of short material descriptions made it possible to avoid duplicates and create clear, understandable descriptions —a major benefit for purchasing, warehousing, and maintenance. A particular added value was the development of a mobile-enabled search interface that allows employees to find materials intuitively and independently of location – directly in the warehouse or in the workshop. Search times were significantly reduced and acceptance of the system increased noticeably. 

Overall, manual effort was reduced, the data structure became more consistent, and transparency in the material master was significantly increased. “Eva Nauheimer and I agreed: if only 80 percent of the data is correct, the missing 20 percent stands out all the more—and that jeopardizes acceptance,” explains Erik Balmes. Eva Nauheimer also draws a positive conclusion: “The combination of flexibility, technical understanding, and open communication made the project not only successful but also enjoyable.”

The outlook

The collaboration with D&TS continues – and new ideas are constantly emerging: An AI-supported image search, material comparisons by surface, and even better integration of classification into daily processes are already in the planning stage. “The project shows that master data is not just an IT issue, but offers real potential for efficiency, quality, and employee satisfaction,” summarizes Eva Nauheimer. The journey is not over yet – but Fraport has clearly set the course for the future.