In 2020, NEC Corporation embarked on a project to modernise its indirect materials procurement by implementing the full suite of SAP Ariba solutions as part of its journey to becoming an intelligent enterprise with SAP. The company hoped to cut spending, streamline operations, and improve compliance in its procurement processes by leveraging a cloud-based system. It was the Kanagawa-based NEC Management Partners Co. Ltd. that was the first to deploy the solutions, followed by the rest of the Group’s subsidiaries in Japan and throughout the world.

Last year, NEC opened its Transformation Office to expedite its corporate transformation in terms of management, business operations, and human resources (HR) while also helping the company foster growth and meet the objectives outlined in its Mid-Term Management Plan 2025. As part of the project, the Tokyo-headquartered corporation intends to develop a knowledge base about the construction and reform of digital infrastructure. According to NEC, it also plans to build a reference model available to customers in order to assist them in addressing issues regarding transformation.

Fast forward to 2022, the company once again teamed up with the German tech giant and reinforced its cooperation aimed at initiating innovation, generating business opportunities, and adopting the latest SAP solutions. Thrilled about the new strategic collaboration with SAP, NEC Corporation President and Chief Executive Officer Takayuki Morita said in a press release:

“With this new alliance, we will further strengthen our collaborative relationship. SAP will help NEC’s corporate transformation by providing their best practices from their own digital transformation. They will also provide their latest solutions.”

Partnering with SAP in Digital Transformation Programs

Morita noted that the NEC Group — particularly its subsidiary ABeam Consulting Ltd. —- has the largest number of SAP consultants in Japan, in addition to having end-to-end ICT services and a long history of implementing SAP solutions. Under the agreement, the company will continue to utilise SAP S/4HANA as its next-generation mission-critical platform to maintain end-to-end processes, maximise standard functions, and embrace Business Process Intelligence (BPI) to increase efficiency.

Moreover, NEC intends to use the Business Transformation as a Service (BTaaS) offering RISE with SAP across its group companies globally to help deliver the integrated solutions required for transforming the business. Morita further shared:

“These solutions create the “social value” that is shared by both NEC and SAP’s corporate philosophies. We aim to contribute to solving the issues faced by our customers and by society. I look forward to a successful partnership and working together with the SAP team.”

The company also aims to leverage SAP technologies to generate innovations based on a common corporate philosophy of creating social value. When it comes to biometrics technology and infrastructure, NEC said that it will rely on the expertise of both companies in areas such as 5G, supply chain management, and sustainability.

Meanwhile, SAP CEO and Member of the Executive Board Christian Klein believes the cloud and innovative technologies are the foundation of digital transformation in every industry. He said that customers turn to SAP as they are modernising their IT landscape and transforming their businesses. Looking forward to the company’s strategic collaboration with NEC, Klein added:

“With NEC, one of our most trusted partners, we support them on this journey and even accelerate their transformations. Using RISE with SAP, NEC and SAP will help many companies in Japan to make those transformations a success.”

“SAP will also support NEC’s corporate transformation based on SAP’s knowledge of our own transformation. With this partnership, we take both our collaboration and our customers’ transformations in Japan to the next level,” he concluded.

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As COVID-19 continues to spread and cause unprecedented economic disruptions, businesses and consumers alike have had to pivot and adapt to the new normal and the accelerated shift in digitalization. It is critical now more than ever for enterprises and the global community to embrace digital technologies and build a more sustainable society.

Since its foundation in 1898, NEC Corporation—then known as  Nippon Electric Limited Partnership—has been committed to providing “solutions for society” that ensure the safety and assurance of people, support fairness in society, and boost efficiency in economic activities. As a self-proclaimed social value creation company guided by its corporate message of “orchestrating a brighter world,” the company aims to facilitate digitalization, remote and safe working environments, and labor-saving initiatives to further contribute to producing new social value projects. 

In a press release regarding the company’s response to COVID-19, President and CEO of NEC, Takashi Niino said:

“Even during this global crisis, the NEC Group is continuing business operations so as to serve our valued customers, partners, stakeholders, and people around the world by working to support the social infrastructure and enabling a more safe and secure environment. All while giving the highest consideration to the safety and health of NEC Group employees and their families.”

Becoming an Intelligent Enterprise with SAP Solutions

As part of its digital transformation strategy in becoming an intelligent enterprise with SAP, NEC Corporation started its project to modernize its procurement of indirect materials with SAP Ariba solutions. With the cloud-based procurement system, NEC expects to reduce spend, enhance operational efficiency, and increase compliance in its procurement process. NEC Management Partners Co. Ltd.—based in Kanagawa, Japan—will be the first to roll-out the solution, with the rest of the group companies both domestically and globally to follow.

NEC Corporation will be implementing the full suite of SAP Ariba solutions from strategic sourcing to payment:

• SAP Ariba Strategic Sourcing Suite – SAP’s software solution that supports a single, closed-loop, source-to-contract solution bundle for managing materials sourcing and suppliers across all spend categories 
• SAP Ariba Buying and Invoicing – a user-friendly procure-to-pay (P2P) software solution that features streamlined catalog maintenance and a configurable interface

With these solutions that are connected to SAP Ariba’s robust supplier network, NEC Corporation will be able to negotiate the best-value sourcing agreements, achieve sustainable savings, gain better control over global spend, and simplify commerce.

Additionally, NEC is also set to introduce the following SAP software solutions to enable remote work and to achieve more efficient and advanced analytics:

• SAP Signature Management application by DocuSign – a solution that allows organizations to keep documents 100{aa282f308afcc222aaa21b0478c79e01a8fedd01972e2180867097bd93930f22} digital and send them for signature from within their workspaces for a seamless, end-to-end electronic contracting process
• SAP Process Mining application by Celonis – a data-based approach to business automation that helps identify opportunities for automation and improvement, as well as prioritize, structure, and streamline projects
• SAP Analytics Cloud – SAP’s business intelligence (BI) solution that utilizes machine learning technology to highlight key business drivers and insights for better business decision-making

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