Building the future: Saint-Gobain drives AI-ready construction.

Integration prompts breakthroughs in construction productivity

At the same time, Saint-Gobain is working with many of the global hyperscalers, building the next generation of data centers. These huge, multi-year, cross-border projects demand unified standards and granular progress detail.

Saint-Gobain wants to allow local independence but must create a new integration layer to unite its disparate systems. This will allow the global business to, in Cernesson’s words, “present one face to the customer”. This improves environmental reporting and allows Saint-Gobain to talk with one voice to global clients.

The ‘OneSG’ strategy is also seen as a foundational opportunity to drive efficiency gains across the business. Automation can relieve repetitive, manual tasks, allowing Saint-Gobain to focus its talent on higher-value projects.

“The construction industry in general has barely seen productivity improvements in the last 40 years. Integration, automation, and real-time data orchestration are key to driving our digital transformation. Increasingly, we no longer sell individual solutions. Many of the projects we are involved in are national infrastructure projects.”

A planned migration to SAP S/4HANA forced the issue, requiring Saint-Gobain to undergo a complete redesign of its information system architecture. Outdated technologies, disjointed data models, and point-to-point integrations were hampering real-time visibility of global performance and blocking the OneSG strategy.

“We needed an integration tool that could connect to both cloud and on-premises systems, including operational technology (OT) environments behind firewalls,” says Cernesson. “It needed to be reusable across technologies such as manufacturing execution, warehouse management, and transport management systems. We needed clear status monitoring and to empower local teams to accelerate service delivery.”

Automating and synchronizing the flow of information around a global business

MuleSoft Anypoint Platform acts as the central nervous system connecting Saint-Gobain’s multiple platforms and establishing a universal ERP. It is a critical component in the redesigned IT architecture, says Cernesson: “It allows us to connect the dots in a manner that is structured, governed, and efficient. MuleSoft brings consistency to an environment involving many stakeholders, many collaborators, and many customers.”

For example, in the case of order management, when an order is created in a customer-facing system — such as a CRM, e-commerce site, or sales portal — the details are instantly captured in an API call. MuleSoft then routes the order data to SAP S/4HANA for processing. This includes triggering inventory allocation, logistics planning, and financial recording. As the order moves through the supply chain, MuleSoft APIs capture these status changes in real time, updating the status and synchronizing with the CRM and other systems.

“The information flow is automatic. Our teams have the information they need, in real time, at their fingertips,” says Cernesson. “A common interface is essential for collaboration.”

The deployment is being made in a phased approach, with Benelux and Romania in the first wave. The much larger French and German businesses, comprising around one third of group revenues, will be in phase two. The project will be completed in 2029.

“Right now, the most important feedback is that we’ve had no feedback,” says Cernesson. “No complaints tell me everything is working as it should.”

Deploying 90 workflows in six months

MuleSoft now serves as the backbone of this unified architecture, connecting business systems in the cloud, supply chain, and on-premises industrial environments. This interconnection now extends to SCADA systems, laying the foundation for a data continuum from ERP to the shop floor. This data certainty provides the necessary proof for carbon footprint and recyclability at a batch level.

For Saint-Gobain, MuleSoft is the foundation for intelligent automation at an industrial scale. Automation promises to unlock new levels of productivity. Real-time connectivity has become a strategic enabler, vital for both operational performance and the long-term sustainability of its systems.

“In just six months, we deployed 90 flows, with a fully embraced logic of reusability,” says Cernesson. “To begin with, we were seeing around 35% API reusability. This has now risen to 57%, and we expect it to go higher.”

Reusability is key to efficient, global integration. By creating a Center for Enablement with MuleSoft at its core, Saint-Gobain has the engine to scale globally and onboard new regions faster. Saint-Gobain can connect countries that haven’t yet migrated to SAP S/4HANA, allowing the business to standardize processes now, rather than waiting for completion of the 2029 rollout.

For users today, integration means an up-to-the-minute view of customer status, warehousing stock levels, and delivery time slots. It enables quotes to be converted to purchase orders in seconds and the automation of claim management. In the near future, with European-wide integration, it will enable use cases where agentic AI manages and actions orders directly.

“Our work is international. We have projects in the Middle East involving architects in London. Our ability to connect the data, with MuleSoft, is critical to international work involving many stakeholders,” says Cernesson. “What’s exciting is that we are only at the beginning.”