Pic 1. Illustrative picture of a global Corporate Real Estate portfolio
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When people think of STIHL, they picture precision engineering, craftsmanship, and reliability — values that have defined the German company since its founding in1926. From its iconic chain saws to a comprehensive range of outdoor powertools, STIHL has grown into a global leader with operations in more than 160 countries.
Yet behind the manufacturing excellence lies another complex asset — the real estate portfolio that supports STIHL’s worldwide operations. From production sites to offices, warehouses, 3PL distribution centers, and sales subsidiaries, managing and understanding this diverse portfolio had become an increasingly demanding task.
To address this challenge, STIHL’s Corporate Real Estate Management (CREM) department set out to modernise how it oversees its global property portfolio. The goal: create a unified, transparent, and efficient system that brings together all property-related data from across the STIHL Group.
That’s where Assetti came in.
Before introducing Assetti, STIHL faced a challenge common among multinational industrial companies: real estate data was dispersed across multiple countries, formats, and local systems. Each subsidiary managed its own data, often using spreadsheets or local databases. This made it difficult to gain a clear, consolidated overview of the company’s total real estate footprint.
Axel Overath, Director Real Estate Portfolio Management at STIHL, explains:
“With Assetti we were able to create a global real estate asset inventory for the first time in STIHL’s history, which will greatly benefit us in identifying and realising opportunities as well as cost savings within our global real estate portfolio.”
The creation of this global real estate inventory marked a turning point. For the first time, STIHL could see and manage its properties — no matter where they were located — in a single, centralised system.
When STIHL began evaluating potential asset management solutions, the company was looking for more than just another database. The CREM team wanted a flexible, easy-to-use system that could unify real estate management globally while respecting local differences and operational realities.
After a detailed assessment, Assetti was selected as the partner. Its Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) model, strong track record among professional real estate investors and portfolio managers, and robust data management capabilities made it the right choice.
Assetti’s solution offered exactly what STIHL needed:
— A centralised platform that aggregates data from multiple sources
— A configurable user interface (UI) adaptable to STIHL’s requirements
— Multilingual and multi-currency support for a global organisation
— Access control features ensuring appropriate visibility for different user roles
— A system that is fast to deploy, easy to adopt, and scalable over time
One of the most significant outcomes of STIHL’s Assetti implementation has been the creation of a unified vocabulary for real estate across the company.
Previously, each region and business unit might have used its own terminology, definitions, and processes to describe assets, leases, or maintenance data. This led to inconsistencies and made group-wide comparisons challenging.
By introducing Assetti, STIHL was able to standardise definitions, metrics, and terminology globally. Every business unit now speaks the same “real estate language.” This alignment not only improves internal communication but also enables faster, more reliable reporting and decision-making.
A core benefit of Assetti for STIHL is how it balances local autonomy with central oversight.
With Assetti’s intuitive UI, local teams around the world can easily input and update data directly into the system. At the same time, the central CREM team gains real-time visibility into the entire portfolio, ensuring consistency and accuracy.
This distributed-yet-centralised model has changed how STIHL handles data management. Instead of data flowing slowly through spreadsheets or email attachments, information is captured where it originates — locally — and instantly consolidated into the global portfolio view.
This approach has proven both efficient and empowering. Local users take ownership of their data, while the central team can focus on analysis, strategy, and value creation rather than manual data collection.
Implementing new enterprise systems can often turn into long, complex projects involving multiple departments, consultants, and custom development. STIHL’s experience with Assetti was refreshingly different.
Thanks to the cloud-based nature of Assetti and its user-friendly interface, the deployment was fast and straightforward. Rather than embarking on a traditional, large-scale IT project, STIHL was able to roll out Assetti in a phased, agile way, bringing new countries and users online step by step.
Training sessions and onboarding were remarkably smooth. The intuitive design of Assetti meant users could start working with the system after only brief introductions, significantly reducing the need for extensive training programmes.
This resulted in a faster time-to-value and lower overall costs for deployment and adoption. What could have been a complex transformation turned into a practical, user-driven evolution.
Every organisation has its own structures, priorities, and data needs. One of Assetti’s key advantages is its high degree of configurability — without requiring programming or custom code.
For STIHL, this meant the system could be tailored to reflect exactly what the business needed:
— Only the most relevant data fields are shown to users
— Dashboards and reports can be adapted to specific management levels
— Easy adaptation of functionalities and features by the CREM team
This flexibility ensures that users — whether in Germany, the United States, or Asia — see data that is meaningful and actionable for them. It also helps keep the system clean, focused, and efficient.
Assetti’s concept of Customisation through configuration also saves significant time and money, while ensuring that Assetti remains a future-proof solution that can evolve as STIHL’s needs change.
Since implementing Assetti, STIHL has achieved several tangible benefits that have transformed how its real estate is managed globally:
For the first time, STIHL can access a unified, up-to-date view of all its real estate assets. This transparency supports better strategic planning, risk management, and identification of optimisation opportunities.
The establishment of shared definitions and standards across all regions means that data from any subsidiary can be compared and consolidated effortlessly.
By allowing local real estate people to input data directly through an intuitive UI, data updates are more accurate, timely, and complete.
The rapid deployment and ease of use of Assetti have minimised training needs and project management overhead, leading to measurable cost savings.
Assetti’s configurable interface ensures users see exactly what they need, reducing complexity and focusing attention on value-driving metrics.
Thanks to Assetti’s SaaS architecture, STIHL can expand the solution to new locations and business units without technical barriers.
The introduction of Assetti marks an important milestone in STIHL’s digital journey. With a single platform consolidating property data and key performance indicators, STIHL’s CREM team can now base strategic decisions on reliable, up-to-date information.
Dashboards and reports generated from Assetti provide insights into occupancy, and asset performance. These insights support the company’s broader business objectives — from operational efficiency to sustainability and future growth.
Assetti’s ability to integrate with other systems, and its optional modules for ESG and sustainability data, also ensure STIHL can continue developing its property management practices in line with global environmental goals.
The success of the implementation was built on close collaboration between STIHL’s Corporate Real Estate Management, its internal IT teams, and Assetti’s deployment specialists. Assetti’s supported deployment model — which includes data population, configuration, user training, and ongoing support —ensured a smooth start and a solid foundation for global expansion.
With Assetti now in daily use across STIHL’s global organisation, the CREM team continues to explore new ways to leverage the system’s capabilities. From advanced analytics to sustainability reporting, Assetti provides a scalable foundation for continuous improvement and innovation in real estate management.
For STIHL, Assetti is more than a software platform — it’s a strategic enabler that supports the company’s long-term growth, operational excellence, and commitment to responsible management of resources.
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Assetti is a leading SaaS solution for professional real estate asset and portfolio management. It offers a transparent view of property portfolios and metrics, aggregating data from multiple sources into one place. With tools for data management, financial tracking, reporting, and sustainability, Assetti enables organisations to make informed decisions, improve collaboration, and achieve greater efficiency.
“With Assetti we were able to create a global real estate asset inventory for the first time in STIHL’s history, which will greatly benefit us in identifying andr ealising opportunities as well as cost savings within our global real estate portfolio.”
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— Axel Overath, Director Real Estate Portfolio Management, STIHL
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