High tech for technology experts

International engineering company ANDRITZ is leasing its client infrastructure through CHG-MERIDIAN. After initial positive experiences in Austria, the partnership has been extended to Finland, with other countries to follow. This is where CHG-MERIDIAN’s global operations stand the company in good stead.

The portfolio of ANDRITZ includes machinery, equipment, systems, and services for the pulp and paper industry, for the hydropower sector, the metalworking and forming industry, and for pump technology, municipal and industrial separation technology, animal feed, and biomass pelleting. Its range of global products and services is rounded off by equipment for power generation, flue-gas cleaning, recycling, and the production of nonwovens and panelboards. The listed company employs just under 27,000 people at more than 280 locations in over 40 countries.

In autumn 2020, ANDRITZ Austria agreed a comprehensive sale-and-lease-back program for its existing IT assets with CHG-MERIDIAN. The assets comprised 4,300 computers, of which more than three-quarters were laptops. In early 2021, the Finnish subsidiary sold its IT equipment to CHG-MERIDIAN and has been leasing it back on cost-effective terms ever since. ANDRITZ is currently considering further projects in other countries to follow as soon as 2022. A global rollout is planned for the years ahead.

“As we operate internationally, it is essential that our technology and funding partner also has a global presence. CHG-MERIDIAN is able to offer infrastructure management from a single source in 28 countries. We make full use of the consultancy and financial services provided, and are considering the remarketing of decommissioned assets going forward.”

Mario Brunnsteiner, Head of IT Finance and Contract Management, Group IT, at ANDRITZ

Michael König, Vice President of Sales at CHG-MERIDIAN Austria

Transparency – anytime, anywhere

ANDRITZ has opted for a leasing solution from CHG-MERIDIAN. The customized business concept focuses on the use of equipment, with efficient processes and the integration of existing ANDRITZ partners. This approach is particularly suited to IT infrastructure and its short innovation cycles. Services and assets are allocated to individual cost centers, and the corresponding costs are charged via the tesma technology and service management platform. It also provides end-to-end monitoring of the IT infrastructure throughout the lifecycle of the leased equipment. The IT team at ANDRITZ can see where each device is at any time, view contractual terms such as the remaining lease period, and gauge when a replacement needs to be ordered. It is also easy to track when and how the data on a device undergoes the certified erasure process at CHG-MERIDIAN before the device is sent for remarketing.

“It was important to Andritz to have a tool that provides a detailed overview of their infrastructure, both locally, and internationally,” says Michael König, Vice President of Sales at CHG-MERIDIAN Austria. “Overall, ANDRITZ particularly appreciates that we offer a uniform approach for all countries and can coordinate all processes globally.” “CHG is a partner you can rely on and one that offers pragmatic approaches”, Brunnsteiner adds.

The next steps

Together with Brunnsteiner, who is defining the rollout strategy with his CFO, discussions have already been held with numerous ANDRITZ subsidiaries on whether and how they would like to participate in the financing rollout. “The collaboration in Austria and Finland works very well, and the preparations for the rollouts in further countries are going to plan. The advantage here is that we can use the experience gathered in our initial projects to scale our processes accordingly,” says König.

Almost all of the assets returned to CHG-MERIDIAN at the end of the lease are given a second life. Used equipment is sustainably refurbished and prepared for further use at the company’s technology centers. This is an integral element of CHG-MERIDIAN’s circular economy approach and is the perfect complement to ANDRITZ’s ‘We Care’ sustainability strategy, to which all employees feel duty-bound. “From a financial, technological, and environmental point of view, the CHG-MERIDIAN portfolio is a perfect match for us,” says Brunnsteiner.

“As an engineering firm with a global presence, we need a partner that can provide services wherever we have foreign subsidiaries. And we need a partner that can offer the right leasing solutions for our ever-evolving IT infrastructure. CHG-MERIDIAN meets all these requirements to the highest degree.”

Mario Brunnsteiner, Head of IT Finance and Contract Management, Group IT, at ANDRITZ

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