NTT DATA accompanies an important manufacturing company in its digital transformation with S/4HANA.
Context
This is the success story of a project for a client in the manufacturing sector—specifically, a packaging manufacturer.
When the client contacted NTT DATA, it was starting its digital
transformation and had already chosen S/4HANA as the solution to meet it needs. However, the original supplier selected was not making progress as quickly as the client needed, so it ultimately turned to NTT DATA to implement the tool.
The challenge
The client had a patchwork environment of applications and disjointed procedures, making it necessary to redefine processes in parallel with implementing the tool. Moreover, the approach had to be global, allowing for inputs from all the countries where the company operates. This included subsidiaries that would be onboarded to the system following the initial launch for the companies and factories in Spain.
The challenge was to ensure that production planning was based on objective, rather than subjective data, and that this data was obtained in an agile, reliable and integrated manner.
This situation posed the following challenges for us:
Achieving data integrity: Before implementing SAP S/4HANA, the client had a very scattered process map that involved significant manual work outside of IT systems, resulting in a loss of control of information. The challenge was to ensure that production planning was based on objective, rather than subjective data.
Process traceability: The nature of the client’s business made it essential to precisely pinpoint the status of each order. This was complex, as information was encapsulated and scattered across different departments. The challenge was to ensure agile, reliable and integrated access to this information.
Addressing the financial requirements: Lastly, and just as important, the organisation needed to increase the efficiency of its finances. This goal involved an internal reorganisation to adapt to new processes, with controls and automated processes that would allow the finance department to dedicate its time to more valuable tasks.
The solution
Because we were taking over a project that had already started, the first step was to analyse the situation and the project’s actual progress (definition, development, etc.). Once this phase was complete, we created a feasible plan based on the actual situation at hand, outlining the steps necessary to complete the project, including finalising designs, building the tool, testing, training and launch.
The solution was successfully launched in January of 2020, meeting the set deadlines. Moreover, it did not have an impact on the business—an important factor for a factory that operates 24/7 and ships and receives products daily.
Ultimately, these were the modules implemented:
- Finance (GL, AP, AR, AA, TR) and Controlling (OM, PA, PC, PS).
- Purchasing and Sales.
- Warehouse Management, Production Planning, Quality Management, and Plant Maintenance.
The results
Among the client’s initial challenges, the following goals were achieved:
Guaranteeing a single source of truth, a key factor in monitoring the process as a whole and in enabling financial control (third parties, invoices, collections, etc.).
Streamlining the client’s finances and increasing overall financial efficiency. Analytical accounting is also key when it comes to making the right business decisions.
Ensuring comprehensive tracking from the time of stock receipt up until delivery to the customer (end-to-end) based on SAP Best Practices. This includes the possibility of actual and online stock evaluation.
Managing necessary materials based on real needs tied to sales forecasts, production orders and purchase orders.
We are currently working on the planned rollouts (Germany, Italy, two additional factories in France, Mexico, etc.).
After the solution was deployed for the Spanish subsidiaries, it was rolled out in two of the company’s factories in France in November 2020 and January 2021. It is worth noting that this was an international project that mainly took place remotely as a result of COVID-19. We are currently working on the planned rollouts (Germany, Italy, two additional factories in France, Mexico, etc.).
Additional functionalities continue to be integrated into the template, such as the implementation of a treasury solution add-on scheduled for 2021.
