Following the merger with SAP (Schweiz) AG and delisting at the German Stock Exchange the financial reporting requirements according WpHG are not applicable. Information before the date of merger – historical Ad-hoc/ Financial Reports/ Press Releases – will continue to be available on this website and on the Presseportal for a transitional period.

Corporate Profile

A Fortunate Meeting

The idea of applying the most current statistical methods to automated product availability in actual day-to-day business has existed since 1992. At that time Dr. Andreas von Beringe, later founder and today CEO of SAF AG, led the development at Johnson&Johnson of a forecast and replenishment solution. Prof. Dr. Gerhard Arminger, an applied statistician at the University of Wuppertal and also founder of SAF, contributed innovative optimisation and forecast solutions to the success of this project.

This meeting resulted in the definition of the mission and core competence of SAF: the implementation of complex statistics-based forecasting methods as application software supporting fully automated, cost-optimized item ordering processes.

A Visionary Solution

The company, founded in 1996, based the development of its software applications on the innovative Demand Chain Management rationale reworked by Prof. Dr. Gerhard Arminger. In contrast with the often-discussed Supply Chain Management rationale, the process chain in this context is managed and optimised by a central driver – the customer and its purchasing behavior. All availability within the value-added chain is directed towards the optimal satisfaction of forecasting needs at the point of sale.

The forward-looking SAF software primarily enables inventory decisions to be made in a fully automated and reliable way taking into account future sales. Through this method, SAF satisfies the requirements for substantial cost savings with internal and external company processes along the entire supply chain.

 Our SAF Approach.

Satisfied Clients

Itself a company based on innovative business ideas, the dm-drogerie markt chain was the first retail chain to practically demonstrate with SAF that SAF software offers significant savings potential. After this market break-through, the Metro retail chain became aware of the automated product availability features of the SAF SuperStore software and implemented it in its Cash&Carry stores. Today, our three core products – SAF SuperStore, SAF SuperWarehouse and SAF SuperForecast – are running in approx. 4,000 retail stores, 11 central warehouses, 15 countries and 3 continents.

 Please see the European Out-of-Stock Study.

Enlarged Product Portfolio

Parallel to the market success of the SAF SuperStore, SAF SuperWarehouse and SAF SuperForecast software engines, which lie at the core of our existing product line, this line is being significantly enlarged through a number of new software applications. With this expansion, SAF, which in the past concentrated on retail operations, also supports branch-specific and industry-overlapping process chains. These chains are increasingly put into practice by retail and industry in connection with new logistical concepts such as Vendor Mangaged Inventory (VMI) and Collaborative Planning Forecasting Replensihment (CPFR).

Due to its wide-ranging product and service portfolio, SAF has become a comprehensive service provider, which not only provides efficient supply chain support to the retail industry, but also further identifies and realises optimisation potential along the entire value production chain. SAF technology is also increasingly of interest to industrial companies, as mid-term forecasts for precise production capacity planning are necessary in connection with the application of CPFR concepts. With SAF SuperForecast, SAF offers a basic for long-term forecast-based planning. The latter has been developed for universal and industry-encompassing utilization and is available for a wide range of industries, such as consumer goods, automotive and other manufacturing as well as in pharmaceuticals, banking, transportation and other service sectors.

Given our aim to provide customers with integral solution concepts, we offer SAF engine-related project management and analytical services in addition to our ordering and planning software. They comprise the following categories :

• SAF ApplicationSuite (modules with user interaction options),
• SAF AddOns (modules with ancillary functions),
• SAF ToolBox (analytical and control tools),
• Services,
• SAF Analytics (parameter optimization, analysis of general external conditions).

What Distinguishes SAF Products from Conventional Solutions?

Thanks to our in depth technical and development engineering know-how, we command a decisive competitive edge, which is reflected in the quality of SAF’s products. SAF AG’s product development is highly practice-oriented. We work closely with leading scientists in the statistics area. We incorporate our industry know-how – encompassing sectors such as food retail and wholesale, drugstore and cosmetics chain operations, electrical appliance and home improvement stores, discounters as well as department stores - directly into our products. Moreover, thanks to our strategic partnership with SAP AG, we are in a position to gain additional insights into technology and market developments.

SAF software excels with the following characteristics:

• Precise forecasting capabilities
• A high level of automation
• Fast mass data processing times (performance) and
• Adaptability to respective customer strategies

Which competitive advantages can be gained from the utilization of our software? Find the answers as you browse through our SAF product descriptions under Products/SAF Engines.

Strong Sales Channels

SAF sells it's products directly to customers and are in the process of expanding the direct sales activities. To this end, we established our U.S. subsidiary SAF USA, Inc. in Grapevine, Texas and it has been operational since January 2006. It will pursue the direct sale of SAF’s products and related services in the North American market.

In addition we sell SAF software products internationally through our cooperation partners, in particular through our strategic partnership with SAP AG. SAP integrates SAF’s software into its “SAP F&R” (Forecast & Replenishment), which is a component of the industry specific software suite SAP SCM. In North America, our solutions are also available through our cooperation with SofTechnics, Inc., USA.

More information about our Mission&Vision.