Julia Weiss from Steiff on Strategy Work with Data and Teddy Bears

“Strategies alone are paper tigers.”

After Switching to the Cloud, Cuddly Toy Specialist Steiff is confronted with new data strategy questions. As a senior data analyst, Julia Weiss is responsible for the practice-oriented planning and implementation of technological components in the future-oriented traditional company.

Julia, Teddy Bears and Data — How does that go together?

Very good! Every professionally operated business is planned and managed with the help of data. In fact, in addition to plush toys and toys, we also make fashion for children and babies through Margarete Steiff GmbH. Our group also includes AIGO-TEC. As an automotive supplier, we manufacture valves for tire pressure monitoring. Data plays an important role for us in all of these areas.

Now I'm wondering how teddies and valves fit together.

Steiff has always been a family business. After Margarete Steiff brought her favorite creative nephew into the company at the end of the 19th century, he developed a valve cone after the First World War, made it ready for series production and finally supplied the German Tire Industry. Today, AIGO-TEC serves customers from the automotive and industrial sectors all over the world.

Does the importance of data differ in these areas?

It doesn't matter whether you build and sell teddy bears or safety components. On a meta-level
The general requirements are similar. With Steiff, we are certainly looking for a very likeable brand with a cuddly factor, but we also have to provide facts and figures. That's where data comes in. We are professionally positioned in all areas and want to make data-driven decisions.

Since when has the topic of data been present in your companies?

I myself have been working for the Steiff Group since 2019. When I started out as a performance analyst in the digital web shop sector, there was an awareness of the importance of data, but there was still a lack of some tools that you are used to from larger corporations. A lot of work was still being done with Excel and the topic wasn't even centrally located yet.

The last five years are certainly a period of time in which the data-driven business in many Germans
The company has gained enormous importance.

This is also the case with us. In the last two or three years in particular, we have switched to modern structures. Of course, as a medium-sized company, we are struggling with the usual hurdles, such as budget issues. It is also not easy to find personnel with data know-how, especially at our somewhat remote location.

You are now a senior data analyst.

Since the year before last, that's right. The entire data project was brought into IT and thus into the holding company. The need in the specialist departments was recognized and it quickly became clear from the organizational point of view, which must be put on top, because data initiatives only work with the backing of management. In this way, not only is a use case launched here and there, but we can also look centrally and consider what we can do on a large scale. One of the first topics back then was Cloud. For colleagues in IT, these were new challenges that we were able to overcome well in the new setting.

When did the topic of data strategy first come up?

We are pursuing an IT strategy for the Steiff Group. We have recognized the need for a data strategy project in the past and have subsequently implemented it. We already implemented the first projects in operation 4.0, for example MES data connections in order to be able to monitor the process of manufacturing goods from raw material to finished product. We want the machine to make data-based decisions, but first we need to be able to tap into this data in its entirety. This means creating basics, having a storage area for data and being able to organize it.

“Having a lighthouse project is important.”

What application scenarios do you see in the future?

By Working with Taod, we have learned that we need to work in a more use-case driven way and not have a single big bang in mind. Having a lighthouse project is important.

It is an advantage that you are located in IT as a data expert.

Yes, this gives us an even more differentiated view of the whole topic. We recognize that we must have a suitable data architecture ready that we can continue to build on. That is sometimes also the challenge: to have technical understanding in the background and to raise awareness of the technological significance in the data context across the company.

Because technology and strategy are closely interlinked.

Of course when people talk about 360-degree customers at future conferences, for example, that's a great vision. But to do this, we must first be able to use the appropriate data; we may not be there yet. We are only relevant on the market with data, that is clear to everyone. We just have to consistently go down the path to that goal.

“We are only relevant on the market with data.”

What exactly does it mean for you to only be relevant on the market with data?

Data will continue to be a strategic resource in the future and will therefore be an issue in IT in particular. There won't be a strategy that doesn't also require data and technology. Even for us as a company that produces plush toys. Frank Rheinboldt, CEO of Margarete Steiff GmbH, once put it very strikingly: I think you can't cuddle with a cell phone. Sure, you cuddle with teddy bears because they have emotional value. But how do we remain relevant in the long run? How do we reach target groups who will buy less brick-and-mortar in the future? Through which touchpoints? We must set priorities in order to become better known and to internationalize. We must ask ourselves: How can we survive as a company in the long term with knowledge that we can simply generate through data and facts and make decisions based on this?

‍What role should data play at Steiff in the future? Is the teddy becoming more digital?

We always have run our business in the various sectors in a data-oriented and fact-oriented manner. Improvements can only be achieved if the KPIs are measurable. I can only design and improve what I can measure. For us, everything therefore revolves around the further digitization of processes. In addition, we are pursuing classic topics of customer contact, which should become more targeted and modern. We would like to get people between 15 and 40 years of age excited about our brand even more intensively. Data helps us do this.

You just mentioned lighthouse projects that are important to break down the big bang in use cases. When did you realize that you needed a concrete data strategy for this?

Back then, we started with a proof of concept to see whether the cloud provider and its products, in our case Microsoft, were a good fit for us. The offer is huge, from Snowflake to AWS to Azure. We had a project team, but we didn't know yet which resources we needed to free up. We wanted to find out what such a use case really needs. In order for us to be able to continue sustainably after a pilot, we must clarify requirements and develop our own best practices. The question was how we implement such projects with our medium-sized needs in such a way that we could manage them well later on in administrative terms.

“What would the plan look like in the drawer? ”

On this basis, a lot of topics had probably accumulated that you wanted to think about further in perspective. What were your expectations for the strategy work?

We were looking for a partner who would support us as an extension. We wanted to learn hands-on, but also be able to completely hand over topics. It was important to us to know how we could apply the use case of one subsidiary to group-wide projects. What would the plan look like in the drawer that we pull out so that we can set up a quick setup in the new use case? How do we also continue to architecturally think about the construct in the cloud for the second subsidiary? There is not a lack of use cases, but of structure and prioritization. Within Taod's Data Strategy Framework, we discussed all of these points, went into depth and thought about how we could be future-proof.

What does this strategy work look like in practice?

We used Miro for workshop work. I really liked the methodology. In between, there was always theory input from taod, which was valuable. We had plenty of time to think about our needs and to sharpen them.

In addition to architecture and scaling, were there any other topics in focus?

We discussed the issue of governance. It was also very important to consider what roles there are in the whole process. What does a data engineer versus data analyst versus project manager actually do? What kind of skills do we need to bring along? When someone from the specialist departments approaches us: I would like to have a dashboard from you, there are a lot of questions: Which data tables do you have in which source system, which field do you need where and why, and so on. With Taod's Data Use Case Canvas, we have worked out how we work together in the core team and how IT communicates with the specialist departments. That was very valuable.

What does your role look like?

As Project Manager, I am the contact person for all use cases that are brought to us. For example, if Controlling wants a new cost center report, we try to collect as much information as possible together with the specialist department using the Data Use Case Canvas, we challenge that. Then we approach taod, present the use case to you and get an estimate of expenses. Sometimes we also have topics for which there is still no golden path. We use workshops for this. In the future, we would like to continue learning more technologically and train colleagues in the specialist areas.

To take it to a self-service level?

That would be the long-term perspective, but realistically, it will certainly take some time. If colleagues are currently building dashboards themselves, there is a review process closely supervised by us.

You can see how important the topic of employee skills and enablement was already for you in the strategy project.

The Skills of Our Employees Play a Very Important Role, Because People Make It Happen Strategies alone are paper tigers. It depends on implementation within the allotted time.

How is the strategy working in your everyday life now?

Our way of working and what we had considered in theory were supported by the developed strategy. And even more: the project has formalized structures that we live in data practice today. What also helped us a lot were the recommendations for action. Particularly with regard to architectural issues in the cloud, it emerged which adjustments are still important for us and are also cost-effective in order to avoid wild growth and thus expensive retrofitting. Based on this, we create use cases with the appropriate capacities and know how to keep the infrastructure in the cloud.

You explore the technological components in detail.

Definitely. It was always important to us that we do not obstruct anything and create a good basis from which to dock. The decision for Microsoft Azure We had already liked it. When significant technological innovations, such as Microsoft Fabric“Come on, with you, we have a partner at our side who gives us strategic and practical advice — even at short notice if necessary.”

“But with every use case that we implement and thus relieve someone of work, our strategy will become clearer.”

What impact does the strategy have throughout the company?

It is of course a hot topic, particularly at management level. Since they are otherwise very
Is technologically influenced, it is less relevant for specialist areas. But with every use case that we
Implement and thus relieve someone of work, our strategy will become clearer. This is because the respective department then positively realizes that it no longer just has to process data, but can interpret it directly. He therefore wants to work proactively, not reactively. That's when the strategy becomes more relevant for everyone.

How did you involve the departments as part of the strategy project?

We conducted interviews with managers and recorded their requirements. We track a wide range of different KPIs on the basis of which we conduct our business. The task here was to work together to find out in detail which data product really helps to achieve this in the end.

What was the next step?

Following the workshop phase, taod prepared a proposal for how we could shape our strategy based on our requirements and questions. After a deep dive together, taod showed us a lot of options, across the group for all subsidiaries and with different versions. That support helped us find the right thing. We were always able to work intensively; there was not just a frontal presentation on the topic of strategy.

In the end, we had something in our hands and knew how to start when Use Case X came along. Everything was conceptually planned and also immediately applicable in practice. And: We had the support to abstract it all at management level. That was really helpful.

We're happy about that! How far are you now with your implementation measures?

The action measures from the Strategy project Have all been implemented. We have set up a development environment and are already actively using it. We're already living what we've thought of conceptually, and that's fun, of course. We also already have new topics, for example the use case of connecting APIs. We are planning more Workshops with taodTo further formulate our needs as medium-sized companies. It goes straight to the nitty-gritty.

What do you mean by that?
The processes are great, we work very closely and in a short way. In between, we simply quickly answer any questions via chat. I can easily access a team in the background at any time, which is great.

Thank you for this lovely final word, Julia!

This interview appeared in a similar form for the first time in Issue 01/24 from data! You can find all issues and articles of our biannual magazine here:‍

Data! Magazine: Cloud Services, Data Analytics & AI | taod

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