Austria's #1 in HVAC Wholesale
About Frauenthal Handel Gruppe
Frauenthal Handel Gruppe is Austria's #1 wholesaler in the HVAC (SHK) sector and among the top three players in the DACH region. With over €855 million in revenue, 1,600+ employees, 70+ locations, and a product catalog of 1.6–1.7 million items, Frauenthal operates one of the most complex wholesale environments in Europe.
Increasing Complexity in Centralized Tendering
The Situation Before Scalera
Frauenthal's central offer management team processes thousands of tenders annually for the entire Austrian market — fully manual, highly detailed, and under increasing time pressure.
- Process: Centralized tender handling by a team of 12 FTEs
- Complexity: 1.6M+ products with heterogeneous brand and product logic
- Pressure: Shortening submission deadlines and rising personnel costs
- Constraint: Scaling required proportional hiring
"Processing times are constantly decreasing while personnel costs are rising. Increasing efficiency was a strategic priority for us." — Florian Bouchal, CSO & Board Member, Frauenthal Handel Gruppe
Scaling Limits of Manual Offer Management
Impact on Business
The existing setup created structural bottlenecks:
- Throughput Ceiling: 2–3 hours required per large tender
- Hiring Dependency: Growth tied directly to additional headcount
- Cognitive Load: Complex product mapping across brands and categories
- Operational Risk: Increasing backlog risk under peak demand
AI-Driven Precision at Scale
How It Works Now
Scalera enables Frauenthal to automate and standardize tender processing across its centralized offer management:
- AI Analysis: Automated recognition of tender positions within seconds
- High-Precision Matching: Mapping to relevant products across 1.6M+ SKUs
- Learning System: Continuous improvement through historical data and feedback loops
- Structured Output: Ready-to-use offer base for rapid completion
90%+ Precision & 2× Faster Processing
Measurable Results
The implementation delivered significant improvements in both efficiency and quality:
- >80% Overall Precision, with 90%+ accuracy on structured bills of quantities
- 2× Faster Processing: Large tenders reduced from 2–3 hours to ~1–1.5 hours
- Scalable Throughput: More tenders processed without additional headcount
- Full Rollout: System deployed across the entire central offer management
"We achieve over 80% precision overall — and already exceed 90% for bills of quantities." — Florian Bouchal, CSO & Board Member, Frauenthal Handel Gruppe
"What used to take 2–3 hours now takes about half the time. At our volume, that makes a huge difference." — Markus Grafl, Head of Central Offer Management
Why Scalera: Structure Over Hype
Why Frauenthal Chose Scalera
The success was not driven by AI alone — but by combining technology with structured execution. Three key success factors enabled 90%+ precision:
- Strategic Management Commitment: Executive-level prioritization, early IT involvement, and clear objectives
- Active Change Management & Team Champions: Internal champions driving adoption, continuous feedback loops using real tenders
- Systematic Data Architecture: Data discovery and harmonization across systems, structuring of product logic and categorization, integration of business rules (e.g., margins, cross-selling)
"Scalera is a partner that truly responds to customer needs and is always available." — Markus Grafl