On June 19, 1980, students Peter Forscht and Werner Strub and three fellow students founded Abakus GmbH in Karlsruhe, which was renamed "abas" shortly afterwards. The former company for data processing systems developed into a leading ERP provider for production-related SMEs. Remaining loyal to its Karlsruhe location, abas currently employs around 430 people at its headquarters there and at seven other locations in Germany. Further companies are located in the USA, China, India and Poland. In addition, an international partner network provides local sales and support. According to the company, more than 120,000 users currently use abas ERP. Then as now, the objective of the product is to increase process reliability while maintaining maximum flexibility and a high degree of customizability.

Some milestones in the company's history that have paved the way for its current success: In 1996, Abas Software GmbH merged with the development company System III to form Abas Software AG. In 1998, the first software partners were founded in non-German-speaking countries, followed by the steady expansion of the international abas partner network. In 2005, abas and its partners are already represented in 25 countries. Further milestones are the merger with ABAS Projektierung Holding GmbH in 2013 and the generational change in company management in 2018.

The year 2019 marks one of the most significant turning points for abas: Forterro takes over the management as a new investor and creates the conditions for expanding the market position of abas in the future with a holistic solution portfolio and a high level of customer orientation. "abas will remain a leading, future-proof product in the ERP market, which we will continue to develop sustainably," says Richard Furby, who has been the new Managing Director of abas Software GmbH since 2019. As part of the realignment, the company recently merged with the sales company abas GmbH & Co.

The continuous further development of the ERP solution abas ERP as well as the company organization are an elementary building block for the company's success. The insight of company founders Werner Strub and Peter Forscht remains more important and relevant than ever: the company's most valuable capital lies in the minds of its employees - then as now.