An SAP integration to Zendesk within 3 days – is that even possible? We honestly didn’t know it before!
We received an invitation to participate in thyssenkrupp Rasselstein GmbH‘s Hackathon (Rasselsteiner Digitaltage) in July 2023 – an opportunity we proudly and happily accepted. This special invitation allowed us to take a look behind the scenes of the renowned company and participate in an inspiring event.
Day 1: A look behind the scenes
The Hackathon kicked off with an exciting tour of the thyssenkrupp Rasselstein plant in Andernach. For us, who rarely had the chance to see the inside of a plant due to our predominantly remote-based work, this was an impressive opportunity. Immersing ourselves in the world of production, machinery and operations was not only fascinating, but also allowed us to connect more deeply with the challenges and opportunities of the company. The day ended with the ceremonial launch of the Rasselstein Digital Days, accompanied by an internal trade show that kicked off the days to come.
Day 2: The main hackathon day of the SAP integration to Zendesk.
The second day was the main hackathon day, where we fully dedicated ourselves to developing solutions. Working closely with the Celonis team, we had the opportunity to turn innovative ideas into concrete technological solutions. Together with thyssenkrupp Rasselstein, we focused on addressing the company’s challenges in the digital era and creating customized solutions. In the evening, we were also able to get to know the other teams at a joint BBQ. It’s great to see how much passion all the teams put into their work.
Day 3: Presentation and recognition
On the third day, we had until noon to polish our solutions and work on the final presentation. Afterwards, all teams had the opportunity to present their results. Here, Stephan Marzi from thyssenkrupp Rasselstein and Robert Cwicinski received special recognition and the prize for the “Best Presentation”. This underlines the importance of the collaboration and the innovative spirit that the hackathon brought forth.
Results achieved – SAP integration to Zendesk on and more.
Together with the Celonis team, we, as Leafworks representatives, had the honor to develop impressive solutions. In just a day and a half, we were able to achieve the following:
- Connecting SAP R/3 to Zendesk via Custom App. Based on the respective context (e.g. question about the order), order-related information is now directly displayed in Zendesk from SAP.
- The integration of delivery dates into a chatbot.
- A showcase for automatically answering phone inquiries using a VoiceBot.
- The enrichment of customer data directly from SAP when creating new requests (data dip into SAP via Celonis).
- The automatic reading of customer and order numbers from communication transactions (Ticket Parsing via Knots.io)
The main source of the data was the SAP R/3 system, which we were able to connect efficiently and effortlessly thanks to the Celonis Intelligent API.
Using the knowledge model in Celonis, the structure of the data was defined and provided as a user-friendly API. Alternate approaches to integrate with SAP On Premise systems can be found here.
Our Hackathon conclusion
We want to thank thyssenkrupp Rasselstein for inviting us! The openness and willingness to introduce us to the world of their company contributed to an exceptional experience.
We also want to express our thanks for the smooth and productive cooperation with Celonis. A great solution for doing more with SAP data (both as a BI solution and for using the content in third-party systems via API).
Thank you Stephan Marzi for this little interview after the hackathon (german):
Finally, our thanks go to our dedicated team – Eren, Roman and Robert from Leafworks – who represented our ideas and visions on the ground. Our motto “Can’t do – don’t exist” has proven to be the driving force that has enabled us to achieve great things in a relatively short period of time. This event has proven that cooperation and teamwork can make true flights of fancy possible. We are proud of what we have achieved and look forward to further innovative adventures in the future.
