Assignment
‘We were able to build a suitable and future-proof organisation.’
When he took office, Barber Eegdeman, CFO of Ausnutria, was assigned the challenge to integrate the fragmented ICT landscape. He became responsible for the implementation of the SAP project.
Ausnutria is an internationally operating company producing baby and infant food and partly markets it under its own brand. Their history of various mergers of companies, all of which brought their own non-integrated ERP systems, resulted in a fragmented ICT landscape at Ausnutria. In addition, the company had experienced enormous growth. To better support its rapid growth, the company aimed to transition to a single, modern integrated ERP platform. The choice of software ultimately became the SAP software.
Project
Unexpected complexity
In the first months, it became clear to Eegdeman that the scope of the project was larger than expected. Specific requirements for a production process, for example, turned out to be comprehensive and more difficult to identify. Moreover, he discovered a fragmentation of knowledge and information. ‘Knowledge was scattered across several people and insufficiently shared with others,’ Eegdeman explains. ‘In addition, work had to be done on the project organization within ICT and a strategic plan alignment with Ausnutria’s strategic agenda had to be made.’
A lot of work has gone into ensuring that ICT supports the broad business objectives and the business itself. And that this support is provided in an efficient and high-quality manner. ‘During this period, I have benefited a lot from the experiences of The Independables which they gained at other (also large) organizations,’ Eegdeman says. ‘Because of this, we were able to build an organization suitable for Ausnutria, and simultaneously an organization that is future-proof.’
Not only did the implementation of SAP software pose the necessary challenges, but strengthening the project organization turned out to be equally challenging. ‘The collaboration with the external suppliers (myBrand, The Independables) has worked out well,’ Eegdeman states. ‘Leon has the capacity to quickly understand the political forces within an organization. If it doesn’t work one way, try another one to keep the project progressing and avoid jeopardizing the deadline.’
Results
The project delivered almost all the results Ausnutria desired:
- Business processes are harmonized
- Manual and error-prone Excel registrations have been phased out
- Integrated planning across the factories has been made possible
- The track-and-trace system across the entire production chain (from raw material to final product) is more efficient
- Improved internal control through authorization at job level has been achieved
- Outdated systems have been phased out
Furthermore, the project made it possible to better safeguard the process knowledge within the organization and to train its users better. ‘The new SAP support organization is now up and running in a more facilitating basis for the business,’ explains Eegdeman.