For more than 35 years, Lanka Walltiles PLC and Lanka Tiles PLC have dominated the Sri Lankan market as the country’s best-known ceramic and porcelain tile producers and exporters. Having been a part of the Group for almost a decade, Swisstek Ceylon PLC and Swisstek Aluminum Ltd. are also now recognized as leaders in their industries. These businesses primarily target the international markets of the US, the UK, the Middle East, the Maldives, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, France, Singapore, Hong Kong, Japan, and Bangladesh.

This year, the Lanka Walltiles Group of Companies was honored to get the Great Place to Work certification. Since its inception, the Sri Lankan business has been dedicated to providing consumers with reliable and high-quality products. According to Mahendra Jayasekera, Managing Director at Lanka Walltiles Group of Companies, the Group’s long-standing success can be wholly credited to its employees, its vision for the way in which it cares about its workers, as well as the way in which it operates as a business. 

Furthermore, Jayasekara said that the Group is automating business processes with streamlined, data-driven decision-making across employee and partner experience, customer-centricity, and profitability by capitalizing on cutting edge technology that will enable it to dive into unexplored growth opportunities. As such, the Lanka Walltiles Group of Companies has teamed up with SAP to undergo a transformation journey after realizing the importance of being agile in the face of ever-shifting market conditions and customer demands.

“As we modernize our business, we’re striving to bridge the gap between the supply and demand for quality tiles locally and ensure we meet consumer demands in a rapidly growing market.”

The intelligent enterprise resource planning (ERP) system SAP S/4HANA Cloud will enable the Lanka Walltiles Group of Companies to become an intelligent enterprise, able to achieve operational excellence and provide enhanced customer experiences. Additionally, the Group is looking to use the SAP cloud ERP software in order to digitally transform its business and become more agile, efficient, and responsive to customer needs.

Utilizing the SAP Cloud ERP Solution for Business Transformation

In Sri Lanka, Vallibel One PLC is regarded as one of the most innovative and strategically diversified leading corporations. Vallibel One PLC has 55 subsidiaries, including the Lanka Walltiles Group of Companies, giving it a significant presence across key thrust sectors. The company is a market leader in tiles and sanitaryware, as well as in the financial sector, the aluminum industry, the plantation industry, the consumer goods industry, and the leisure and entertainment industry.

With the help of SAP S/4HANA Cloud, the Lanka Walltiles Group of Companies can make use of advanced technologies in order to gain a competitive advantage. The AI and analytics capabilities present in the solution intend to allow organizations to process large amounts of data quickly and accurately, making decision-making easier than ever before. Not only does SAP S/4HANA Cloud provide real-time insights, but it also aims to enable businesses in expanding into new markets.

Expressing SAP’s delight to aid Vallibel One Group’s transformation program to become an intelligent, sustainable enterprise, Rajeev Singh, Vice President and Head of Midmarket at SAP Indian Subcontinent, said in a statement:

“Through our solutions, we aim to enable the company to establish an integrated business platform that delivers industry-adaptability and cloud benefits that can take advantage of newer business opportunities.”

Meanwhile, Dinusha Bhaskaran, Managing Director at Vallibel One PLC, sees the SAP system as a crucial business enabler that will help the company realize its vision of improving the customer and employee experience. She also emphasized the importance of agility and innovation in building a company that can weather any storm in its operations.

“I am confident that SAP’s industry-centricity offerings and processes will further support Vallibel One’s journey to become an intelligent, sustainable enterprise,” Bhaskaran concluded.

The post SAP Cloud ERP Software to Help Transform Lanka Walltiles appeared first on InsideSAP Asia.

Commenting on the fresh food company’s decision to implement SAP ERP system, QDama CIO Zhou Lin said, 

“As a multinational company, SAP has accumulated a lot of experience and basic framework processes. After years of industry experience, [we believe] the stability of this system is guaranteed; secondly, the rigor of the SAP ERP system is relatively high.”

He adds,

“Finally, the SAP ERP system is stable and compliant. The mature and stable background [of SAP] will help build the foundation for Aunt Qian’s next business globalization strategy.”

Digital Transformation with SAP ERP

Founded in 2012 by Jisheng Feng, Song Tan, and Weihua Feng, Qdama strives to provide only the freshest products and adheres to its slogan of “never selling overnight meat”. Unlike most traditional supermarkets, every day before closing its stores, QDama’s meat inventory is emptied. 

The company also implements what they call a “time-sharing discount” model in selling its meat products—a unique business model where prices are lowered starting at 7:00 pm and discounts increase every half hour. According to QDama, this strategy helped it increase overall product turnover by 40{aa282f308afcc222aaa21b0478c79e01a8fedd01972e2180867097bd93930f22} to 70{aa282f308afcc222aaa21b0478c79e01a8fedd01972e2180867097bd93930f22}, and contributed to the company’s rapid growth rate. At present, QDama has over 2,300 stores, and has an annual sales revenue of over CNY 10 billion.

With the rapid growth of its business and a new global growth strategy, QDama needed an enhanced ERP system to realize its goal of expanding the vegetable market operations, globalization, launching cross-regional stores, and multi-business development. SAP was selected together with Deloitte as the technical consultant to help with building the new omnichannel information system. 

With SAP, QDama expects to accelerate its journey towards becoming an intelligent enterprise through process automation and the creation of a single-store pricing model. The company is also looking forward to leveraging SAP technologies to help them understand customers more deeply and establish an integrated online membership platform.

About QDama

QDama sells fresh food products under four significant categories: pork, vegetables, fish, and fruits. The fresh food retail company operates close to its consumers and follows a franchising model. It has nearly 1,000 stores in the Guangdong province.

QDama has raised a total of $142M in funding over 4 rounds for its business area expansion, online business development, industrial chain integration, national warehouse network layout, and continuous investment in science and technology center. Their latest funding was raised on December 26, 2019 from a Series D round. The retail food company is funded by 10 investors which include Taikang Asset and GenBridge Capital.

The post QDama Selects SAP ERP System to Support its Global Expansion Strategy appeared first on InsideSAP Asia.

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

The post NEC Japan Initiates Transformation into an Intelligent Enterprise with SAP appeared first on InsideSAP Asia.

Incorporated in October 1969, IOI Group is one of Malaysia’s biggest conglomerates. It exports downstream products to more than 85 countries worldwide and is considered one of the leading integrated and sustainable palm oil players globally. The company owns two palm oil refineries in the country and four oleochemical manufacturing plants located in Malaysia and Germany. Its specialty oils and fats manufacturing business is carried out through its associate company, Bunge Loders Croklaan (formerly known as IOI Loders Croklaan) which has manufacturing operations in Malaysia, the Netherlands, United States of America, Canada, Ghana and the People’s Republic of China.

IOI Group’s business operations were previously done manually and in silos. According to Lee, there was no single source of truth and management was unable to make informed decisions quickly, as information was scattered everywhere. The company realized it had to transform and implement technological innovations in order to adapt to market changes as well as new regulatory requirements. To stay relevant, it had to embark on a journey towards digital transformation.

In July 2018, led by Group Managing Director & Chief Executive Dato’ Lee Yeow Chor, IOI Group started on the implementation of a group-wide SAP software system with S/4HANA designed to run on the SAP HANA in-memory database to further drive integration across business segments and enhance overall operational efficiency. The digitalization program was implemented in several roll-out stages to streamline existing diverse and stand-alone legacy systems and led to the creation of ONE IOI Integrated Platform, which the group calls its “Future-Forward Digital Ecosystem.”

The SAP digitalization program aimed to:

• streamline and drive greater process efficiency
• provide solutions to trace products throughout the company’s supply chain
• support faster and more efficient accounting processes through automation and standardization
• strengthen IOI Group’s business fundamentals and ability to create long-term value for stakeholders

SAP Software System S/4HANA for Real-time Decision-making and Analytics

The group-wide SAP software system project was successfully implemented across IOI Group’s corporate and refinery divisions in July 2019. With the system in place, the company derived greater efficiencies in operating and monitoring business operations through efficient financial reporting and accounting processes, accelerated operational procedures, speedy data analysis, and manpower efficiencies.

During the SAP Forward Together 2020 event, Lee further explained how SAP helped IOI Group:

“We use the SAP Cloud Platform to connect satellite applications with S/4HANA to achieve greater business efficiency. With a strong ERP platform, our group can now continue to assess our businesses in real-time, and ensure both producing and sourcing sustainable palm oil priorities continue to be topmost within our agenda. There is no better choice in the market as SAP is the world’s leading ERP software provider with strong capabilities in finance, supply chain, and asset management while having the agility to support plantation industry-specific requirements.”

Lee notes that going forward, IOI Group’s integrated digital approach with SAP will also include other digital solutions. He said the company is in discussions with SAP to further automate and systematize time-consuming manual activities through robotic processing automation.

The post How SAP Software System S/4HANA Transformed IOI Group appeared first on InsideSAP Asia.

Migrating to SAP S/4HANA enabled Zydus Wellness and Heinz India to operate as one unified business. With SAP S/4HANA in place, Zydus was able to successfully consolidate both companies’ consumer packaged goods best practices.

On Selecting Accenture and SAP

Zydus Wellness’ Chief Executive Officer Tarun Arora explains why the company chose Accenture for its digital transformation,

“We selected Accenture for its understanding of our industry, technology credentials and impressive track record in delivering enterprise transformation at scale.”

Manish Gupta, a managing director at Accenture who leads its Consumer Goods & Services practice in India, said,

“Implementing SAP S/4HANA® as part of this transformation initiative is a further demonstration of Zydus Wellness’ commitment to become a truly intelligent enterprise that puts the consumer first. We are focused on helping Zydus Wellness bring innovation to market, maximize its business performance and operate even more efficiently.”

Zydus Wellness’ Acquisition of Heinz India

The Ahmedabad-based company completed its acquisition of The Kraft Heinz Company (Kraft)—operating under the name Heinz India—January last year for ₹4595 crore. Heinz India operates with brands such as Complan, Glucon D, Nycil, Sampriti Ghee and Ketchup.

According to a report, with two large manufacturing facilities in Aligarh and Sitarganj, post-product integration, the combined entity of Zydus Wellness and Heinz India will have five manufacturing units, 1800 distributors and 2 million customer touch points.

Zydus Wellness Chairman Sharvil Patel said of the acquisition:

“Closing of this transaction represents a new and exciting chapter for Zydus Wellness as we continue our journey of transformation into a leading player in the wellness domain. Together we look forward to leveraging the strengths of the legacy brands and our capabilities to merge science and innovation and drive value for our consumers and our stakeholders.”

The acquisition provided the best opportunity for Zydus Wellness to scale its operations rapidly and grow its business in the consumer wellness space. But this presented challenges as well: the company needed a highly efficient solution to consolidate and integrate its own business and operational processes and information with the newly acquired Heinz India.

By deploying SAP S/4HANA using Accenture’s myConcerto platform, Zydus Wellness was able to standardize and improve visibility and operational efficiency across its business and set the stage for a new era of growth with Heinz India under its wings. Combining end-to-end infrastructure across all lines of business and geographies with Accenture and SAP gave Zydus the ability to develop, test, pilot and roll-out innovations faster.

Accenture’s myConcerto platform is an insight-driven, digitally integrated platform that orchestrates the power of new SAP solutions and technologies, and Accenture’s industry and functional expertise to create exponential business outcomes. According to Bhaskar Ghosh, Group Chief Executive for Accenture Technology Services, the technology harmonizes SAP technologies, applications and capabilities to amplify business results in the intelligent enterprise:

“Bringing together the best of our innovations, Accenture myConcerto is our latest example of New IT brought to life. We can help maximize business outcomes by harmonizing common business processes and data by industry into a digital platform that can modernize our clients’ IT environments with speed and agility.”

The post Accenture and SAP Transform Zydus Wellness Into an Intelligent Enterprise appeared first on InsideSAP Asia.

Head of SAP.iO Foundries Asia Pacific and Japan, Lalitha Bhaskara, shared SAP’s commitment to Singapore’s dynamic startup ecosystem, which is why the inaugural acceleration program was held in Singapore.

SAP.iO Foundry has been investing in and accelerating entrepreneurs building software which is fueling an early-stage ecosystem of innovation for SAP. Aside from Singapore, SAP.iO Foundries are also located in other major startup hubs like Berlin, Munich, New York City, Paris, San Francisco, Tel Aviv, and Tokyo.

Rise of female entrepreneurs in SAP Intelligent Enterprise startups

Female entrepreneurs made up 40{aa282f308afcc222aaa21b0478c79e01a8fedd01972e2180867097bd93930f22} of the first cohort. This has proven SAP’s belief in diversity which is also in line with the SAP.iO’s No Boundaries initiative.

SAP.iO Foundry Singapore’s first startups include:

1. Adaface – identifies the best engineering talent much faster than conventional interviews by enabling and automating first-round tech interviews.
2. Flowcast – provides greater visibility to customers by using patented machine learning algorithms which utilises untapped, complex data for automate credit decision making.
3. Luxtag – uses blockchain-enabled tech to determine product counterfeits and frauds.
4. Notarum – automates corporate due diligence provided by reducing busywork using a modern workflow tool and offers
5. Pulsifi – uses artificial intelligence to predict outcomes to identify, develop and retain employees.
6. SizeNFit – an e-commerce add-on that helps reduce returns and increase sales.
7. TADA – helps brands attract, engage and retain customers by offering a data-driven customer advocacy and engagement platform.

In celebration of the startups’ achievements, an invite-only demo day for the SAP Intelligent Enterprise will be held tomorrow, November 5, 2019. The event will provide opportunities for corporate innovation leaders to meet and greet startups and to witness a live demo of the solutions they provide.

The post SAP Intelligent Enterprise Brings Startups to Life appeared first on InsideSAP Asia.