Effective Customer Service Management (CSM) is the backbone of any successful business, fostering customer satisfaction, loyalty, and long-term growth. In an era where expectations for seamless service and rapid issue resolution are higher than ever, organizations must leverage cutting-edge technology to streamline operations and enhance customer experiences. Learn how Sulzer turned a fragmented, manual process into a scalable, data-driven solution.

With operations in more than 45 countries and a vendor network exceeding 65,000 global partners, Sulzer Ltd., the Swiss industrial engineering and manufacturing leader, was facing a serious challenge: managing vendor invoicing queries had become unmanageable. Each country operated its own mailbox with a dedicated team to handle vendor inquiries manually via email. But as transaction volumes surged, the process became overwhelmed. There was no shared tracking system, no way to monitor response times or ownership, and no global visibility. As a result, queries were sometimes duplicated, delayed, or missed entirely. In more complex cases, inquiries had to be escalated internally, but without a clear visibility or structure, this only added to the confusion. Other business challenges included:

• Lack of transparency and traceability in handling vendor queries.
• Inability to track the status or ownership of queries across countries.
• Risk of lost or unanswered queries due to fragmented email-based communication.
• Need for a scalable solution that could support global operations without introducing entirely new platforms.

To address the growing complexity of its global operations, Sulzer needed a solution that could deliver transparency, structure, and consistency across all regions—while remaining flexible enough to align with existing business processes. Just as importantly, the solution had to be scalable. With over 65,000 vendors and thousands of monthly inquiries, Sulzer required a platform that was not only robust but also future-ready.

After evaluating multiple options, Sulzer chose ServiceNow Customer Service Management (CSM). The decision was strategic: the company was already leveraging ServiceNow for IT Service Management, IT Business Management, and Agile development, making CSM a natural extension. This ensured seamless integration and accelerated onboarding.

To bring the vision to life, Sulzer partnered with The Cloud People—a trusted ServiceNow partner with a proven track record. More than just implementers, The Cloud People offered a powerful combination of deep ServiceNow expertise, hands-on delivery capabilities, and a strong understanding of Sulzer’s business, built through previous collaborations. Their role extended beyond deployment, providing long-term platform support and strategic guidance to ensure lasting success.

The project kicked off with a focused, three-day workshop that brought together business team, technical staff, and stakeholders from both Sulzer and The Cloud People. Working closely, they mapped out the current vendor query process and translated it into CSM workflows, ensuring that the tool would support—not disrupt—how teams already worked.

Following an agile approach, the team created user stories, validated them with the business, and moved quickly into development and testing. One technical hurdle stood out: integrating Sulzer’s data warehouse with ServiceNow. It was first data warehouse cloud-to-cloud connection, and while it took extra time, it ultimately automated the vendor data import process a key win for operational efficiency.

Rather than risk launching the Go Live during the busy year-end period, Sulzer opted for a phased rollout. The initial launch included a limited scope, giving teams time to test real-world performance, collect feedback, and refine processes before expanding globally.

Now, when vendors email their questions, ServiceNow automatically creates a case and sends status updates. Support agents can view real-time workspace showing open cases, SLA status, and volumes something that simply wasn’t possible with the old email-based system.

Since the go-live, Sulzer has seen measurable improvements in vendor query handling, including:

• Full case traceability across countries and departments,
• Faster and more consistent responses from support teams,
• CSM Workspace real-time visibility for agents and team cases,
• Dashboard visibility into case performance, volumes, and ownership,
• Stronger data logging and reporting to inform future improvements.

The feedback from internal teams has been positive, especially from agents and finance staff who now have better transparency over vendor interactions.

The success of the project has laid the groundwork for further enhancements, including a dedicated vendor portal, automated responses for routine queries, and smarter case prioritization.

Working with The Cloud People gave Sulzer not just a new and scalable solution, but a long-term partner who understands both the technical and strategic dimensions of ServiceNow. The partnership has been key in harmonizing multiple initiatives, enabling Sulzer to extend their platform’s value across global operations. Together, they turned a fragmented, manual process into a scalable, data-driven solution—bringing structure, insight, and control to one of the company’s most essential business functions.