A Successful SAP BW Reporting Platform for Leading Soft-Drink Company

Company Background

This client is one of the largest international beverage and confectionery companies in the world with a market capitalization of more than $10B and annual sales reaching over $8M. With a history stretching back several hundred years, today the company offers products all around the world, with its soft-drink unit being its largest division.

The expertise of Inforte in managing business intelligence projects ensured a stable and reliable BW solution for our client providing consistent and timely information on all business processes for more than 200 users.

Business Issue

The goal of the client was to re-engineer the company's business processes and systems across all business units and to enable a 'step change' in efficiency and sales growth. Consequently, the organization decided to use SAP BW as their strategic reporting platform and to implement SAP BW in all business units.

SAP BW was initially implemented at the company's Asian unit. The soft-drink component of the company was scheduled to implement SAP BW next and wanted to ensure the leverage of the experiences at the Asian unit. At the same time, the softdrink unit desired a partner that would understand their local business needs and have the required expertise to translate this into a viable solution.

Inforte's Solution

The company engaged Inforte to assess the BW implementation, to make suggestions for improvements in Asia and to secure a successful BW implementation at the softdrink manufacturer. In less than two months, Inforte conducted approximately 60 interview sessions worldwide and analyzed the technical landscape as well as the BW architecture and design.

With extensive experience in managing business intelligence projects, Inforte helped the client prioritize and identify the right scope for their BW implementation project. The team then designed and configured the SAP BW solution, conducted unit and integration tests together with process teams and business users, and rolled out the system with a successful go-live.

Business Benefits Delivered

With the implemented BW solution, Inforte has provided the organization with a stable reporting platform capable of delivering reliable performance measures on business conditions and process efficiencies.

• The client can now collaborate with vendors and strategically source materials and services based on vendor performance in regards to purchase price and service levels including delivery time and variances.
• The solution empowers the organization to track shifts in demand for products and brands. They can identify their most important customers, as well as their troublesome customers, by tracking those who delay payment and those who return products by region and plant, thereby identifying significant variances to act upon.
• Reports for the demand controlling area proactively analyze forecast accuracy and consumption situations to enable the client to achieve customer service objectives at the lowest possible supply chain costs.
• Other reports provide visibility of sales volumes per outlet and activity levels for chains, which is used to optimize funding models for forecasting and evaluating funding options for future stores.
• Other reports show the underlying economic profit for customers, products, brands and distribution channels compared to previous years and forecasts.
• Developed training materials and provided knowledge transfer sessions to the BI team based on teams skills assessment.
• Developed best practices documents and guidelines/ procedures for testing, reconciliation, performance management, restatements and disaster recovery.