Sri Lanka’s apparel industry contributes significantly to the country’s GDP, accounting for 15{aa282f308afcc222aaa21b0478c79e01a8fedd01972e2180867097bd93930f22} of the country’s exports and providing approximately 300,000 direct and 600,000 indirect job opportunities. To mitigate the damage of the global pandemic, businesses have invested in technologies such as cloud computing, automation, and data analytics.

Despite the COVID-19 situation, Hela Clothing is an example of a Sri Lankan company that has managed to stand out in the industry with its innovative research and development (R&D) centres.

In recent years, Hela Clothing has been investing in digitisation projects to strengthen its capabilities to better serve clients worldwide and contribute to the development of the garment sector in the country.

The apparel solutions provider for global brands in intimates, children’s wear, and sportswear has chosen SAP S/4HANA to help deliver the digital transformation needed to keep up with constantly changing market conditions. Ruwanthi Fernando, Chief Information and Process Officer at Hela Clothing, said in a press release statement:

“We are fortunate to be experiencing exponential growth even during the pandemic. And we believe that the digital transformation journey we are currently on will help us consolidate the gains we have made, as well as propel us to the next level by facilitating greater innovation and accelerating our growth even further.”

Moreover, Hela Clothing has signed up with Microsoft Azure for an enterprise agreement to implement the SAP S/4HANA landscape and further build on the solution in the future.

Tapping attune Consulting to Implement SAP S/4HANA Digital Transformation Platform

In collaboration with SAP solutions provider attune Consulting, the SAP S/4HANA for fashion and vertical business project will be implemented over the next 16 months and will cover Hela Clothing’s locations in the US, the UK, Sri Lanka, Ethiopia, and Kenya. Fernando explained:

“This SAP platform is one of a number of steps we have taken to empower next-level management at Hela Clothing. Having the right digital capabilities in place is integral to our business especially as brands demand greater transparency in their supply chains and rapidly evolving market conditions require real-time decisions.”

“This is why we have set up a dedicated project office with a dedicated team to implement the SAP solution with the guidance and assistance from technology experts, attune Consulting,” he added.

Recently acquired by privately-held global SAP consulting company Rizing, attune Consulting has been helping organisations in their transition to the digital age by leveraging the latest SAP technologies.

attune Consulting’s co-innovation partnership with the German software giant has resulted in the SAP Fashion Management application — a solution designed to bring all business operations onto a single platform to create cross-channel, integrated fashion companies.

Meanwhile, Sanjeev Walgampaya. Senior Vice President, Asia Pacific at attune Consulting, said that one of Hela Clothing’s main objectives is to stay ahead of the curve in terms of technology and processes in order to match market expectations. He stressed:

“And by choosing an ERP solution in SAP S/4HANA it would enable it to meet current business and management control requirements while providing a robust digital platform to expand the solution footprint in the future. We are excited to bring our experience in implementing SAP fashion solutions at over 70 global companies to Hela Clothing.”

As of March 2020, the SAP S/4HANA for fashion and vertical business solution already has 21 customers in the Asia-Pacific Japan (APJ) region and 121 projects worldwide.

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According to an S&P Global Market Intelligence report, the emerging economies in South and Southeast Asia will be hot destinations for investments due to its opening-up policies, attractive markets, and growth opportunities. Additionally, mergers and acquisitions (M&A) activity in the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region has been active — fuelled by promising returns and growth prospects — as the COVID-19 pandemic accelerates industry consolidation.

A recent example of an active M&A movement in APAC is Rizing’s acquisition of attune Consulting, a software subsidiary of MAS Holdings. Dubbing it as a “significant investment in a Sri Lankan-owned global technology firm,” MAS Holdings stated that Rizing will help attune Consulting in scaling and growing its business in the years to come.

attune Consulting started as an in-house project collaborating with SAP to develop and launch SAP Apparel and Footwear Solutions (AFS). It was officially incorporated in 2006 within MAS Holdings.

Furthermore, MAS Holdings also said that the sale was in fulfillment of its long-term strategic plan which included the divestment of attune Consulting as one of its objectives. Mahesh Amalean, Chairman, MAS Holdings Chairman said in a statement:

“The acquisition by Rizing ensured that attune would benefit from Rizing’s global scale and expertise, and that their customers and employees continue to thrive as part of a leading solutions provider in the fashion and consumer industries.”

Additionally, Amalean also mentioned that MAS Holdings will continue to work closely with Rizing and attune Consulting with regards to the ongoing support and implementation of SAP products and services across MAS Holdings’ strategic business units in Sri Lanka and overseas.   

Leveraging attune Consulting’s Industry Expertise to Strengthen SAP Capabilities

With more than 500 employees globally, attune Consulting has established offices across key regions including India, Australia, China, Hong Kong, Italy, Germany, the United Kingdom, the United States, and the Netherlands to help meet their clients’ global requirements.

In recent years, attune Consulting has helped companies to transition to the digital age by leveraging the latest SAP technology. The global solutions provider’s co-innovation partnership with SAP has resulted in the SAP Fashion Management application, a solution designed to bring all business operations onto a single platform to create cross-channel, integrated fashion companies.

Moreover, Vajira de Silva, Chief Executive Officer, attune Consulting, expressed his delight at the company’s latest venture. He remarked:

“This merging of Rizing’s and attune’s industry knowledge and experience will provide our long-term valuable clients with access to exciting new technologies and talented resources. The strength of the combined companies will allow us to grow into new markets and augment our products and services to better address the needs of existing and new clients.”

Meanwhile, Rizing is a portfolio company of One Equity Partners with offices in 11 countries and provides customers with solutions across Human Capital Management, Enterprise Asset Management, and Consumer Industries. According to the company’s press statement, it believes attune Consulting’s team will help raise its capacity to meet the growing needs for technology solutions that track, manage, and predict customer activity in multiple channels globally.

According to Rizing Chief Executive Officer Mike Maiolo, attune Consulting will help elevate its position across all aspects of the fashion segment and expand its capabilities in SAP Consumer Industries. He further said in a statement:

“Customers from both organisations benefit from this transaction. Now, two of the top SAP Partners in Consumer Industries and Fashion are a united force to deliver unmatched value through combined experience, expertise, and scale.”

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