F&E GmbH

How F&E GmbH Rethought Its Customer Management with SugarAI

The Research and Development Center (R&D), located on the HAW Kiel campus, serves as a bridge between industry and academia. Its goal is to bring together scientific expertise with the research and development needs of businesses.

Key Facts About the Company

Industry: Education

Target audience: B2B

Location: Headquarters in Kiel

Challenge: Laying the Foundation for Sustainable Growth

As a partner of HAW Kiel, F&E GmbH successfully brings students and industry partners together through its practice-oriented degree program (PBS), creating valuable links between theory and practice. As the program continued to grow, so did the demands on the administration and support of the numerous participants.

The existing processes relied primarily on individual spreadsheets, Outlook, and manual workflows. As a result, it became increasingly difficult to keep track of inquiries, contacts, and processing statuses. At the same time, there was a growing need to make information centrally available and to document processes in a way that ensures long-term traceability.

To ensure a high level of service quality even as the number of inquiries increased, F&E GmbH sought a solution that would create transparency, standardize processes, and noticeably simplify day-to-day work. The goal was to migrate the previously decentralized processes into a centralized CRM system, thereby managing partner relationships, communication, and analysis more efficiently.

This created an opportunity to digitize workflows, save valuable time, and lay the foundation for further growth.

A CRM That Thinks for Itself: Sugar Sell as a Central Platform

The core of the project was the implementation of a CRM system for university and partner management processes. As an experienced SugarAI partner, atlantis dx digitized the following areas:

Custom Data Structure and Partner Management

Setup of Custom Data Objects in SugarCRM
Creation of degree programs as a separate module for the structured mapping of all offered degree programs, including relevant characteristics
Mapping of academic departments as a separate structure within the CRM
Linking partner companies to degree programs and academic departments
Structured management of potential and existing partner companies
Mapping of a standardized partner acquisition process, including follow-ups, tasks, and activities
Transparent overview of partner status, communication history, and process progress

Centralization of previously decentralized work processes

Replacement or supplementation of existing Excel- and Outlook-based work processes
Centralized maintenance of relevant partner, degree program, and department information in the CRM
Improved data quality through standardized structures, fields, and relationships
Transparent documentation of contacts, activities, and responsibilities

Reporting, Dashboards, and Exports

Setup of filtering and export options by partner status, department, and degree program
Creation of exports for trade show, prospecting, and event lists
Setup of dashboards for a better overview and data-driven decision-making
Use of structured CRM data for targeted partner outreach, events, and internal analyses

Outlook and Microsoft 365 Integration via Sugar Connect

Archiving emails directly in the CRM
Synchronizing appointments between SugarCRM and Outlook
Displaying relevant CRM information directly in Outlook, such as details about a specific company or contact
Centralized documentation of emails, appointments, and activities

Customizations

Adapting the data structure to the higher education context
Creation of custom fields and relationships for degree programs, academic departments, and partner companies
Mapping of a specific partner status model
Customization of views, lists, filters, dashboards, and exports
Process-related customizations for partner acquisition, follow-ups, and contact history

Several agencies were evaluated during the selection process. Ultimately, the deciding factor was Sugar Sell’s high level of flexibility, which allowed it to be optimally tailored to the requirements of F&E GmbH through customization.

Digitizing Together: The Collaboration Between atlantis dx and F&E GmbH

At the start of the project, the teams from F&E GmbH and atlantis dx jointly analyzed the existing workflows and defined the future processes. Subsequently, the data—which had previously been maintained manually—was migrated to the new CRM system, and employees received comprehensive training.
F&E GmbH was particularly impressed by atlantis dx’s holistic consulting approach. In addition to technical implementation, the focus was on optimizing processes, automating recurring tasks, and developing a sustainable solution. Together, they created a CRM system that not only digitally maps existing workflows but also specifically improves them.

Customer Testimonial

“Our collaboration with atlantis dx has been excellent: in particular, the friendly, collaborative communication and the fast and reliable support—even when faced with unique challenges.”

Claudia Martens

Project Coordinator for the Work-Integrated Study Program (PBS) at Kiel University of Applied Sciences (HAW Kiel)

Since the system went live in April 2025, the team at F&E GmbH has been actively using the CRM system in their day-to-day work. All relevant information is centrally available, allowing employees to maintain an overview of inquiries, contacts, and ongoing processes at all times.
The comprehensive documentation of all activities enables transparent tracking of processes while reducing administrative overhead. This results in noticeable time savings in day-to-day operations.
Collaboration with practice partners also benefits from the centralized database. Discussions can be conducted in a more targeted and personalized manner, as all relevant information is immediately available. This enhances the quality of care and enables faster response times.
With the new CRM, F&E GmbH now has standardized processes, a unified database, and a scalable solution for further growth. This enables the team to efficiently handle the increasing number of inquiries and sustainably develop its collaboration with practice partners.

Outlook for the Future

In the next step, students could also be represented as their own entity in the CRM. This would allow for an even more comprehensive view of the relationships between students, degree programs, and partner companies. The system provides a solid foundation for the further expansion of university-specific CRM processes. We look forward to continuing our successful collaboration!

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