Success Story
Conversion completed over
hourwindow, with minimal business disruption.
Challenges
nConvertfromSAPECCwithina72-hour
downtimewindow.
n“Liftandshift”APOPPDSintoSAPS/4HANA
embeddedPPDS.
nTurnonFioriappswherenewfunctionalitywas
requiredtorunthebusiness.
nMinimaluserdisruptionandchange
management.
Benefits
nSystemsconvertedoverMemorialDayweekend,
withinthe72-hourwindow.
nCut-overwentverysmoothly,withminimal
disruptiontothebusiness.
nProjectwasdeliveredontimeandwithinbudget.
Solution(s)
nSAPS/4HANA(on-premise)
nSAPEnterpriseSupportServices
nSAPValueAssuranceServicePackage
Why itelligence?
nTheexperienceandsuccessoftheitelligenceCOE
teamwiththeS/4HANAconversionprocess.
n itelligenceconsultantshadtherightknowledge
baseandcouldworkwellwiththeSauderteam.
nPositivepriorexperienceworkingwithitelligence.
Sauder Woodworking Makes Strategic De-cision to Convert to SAP S/4HANA
Sauder Woodworking Co., Archbold, Ohio, U.S
TheexperiencelevelsoftheitelligenceCOEteamwereatthecoreofoursuccess.Theteam’sconversionexperience
fromotherprojectssetusupforaremarkablesuccessstory.IfyouarelookingforasmoothtechnicalconversionfromECCtoSAPS/4HANA,consideritelligence.”Jan Arvay, VP Information Systems, Sauder Woodworking Co.
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About Sauder Woodworking
SauderWoodworkingCo.isNorthAmerica’s
leadingproducerofready-to-assemble(RTA)
furnitureandoneofthetopfiveresidential
furnituremanufacturersintheUnitedStates.An
authenticAmericanoriginal,90percentofSauder®
furnitureismanufacturedinArchbold,Ohio—
rightwherethecompanywasfoundedin1934.
Althoughthetownissmall(pop.4,300),Sauder’s
facilityisexpansive.Withsomeofthemost
technologicallyadvancedequipmentintheworld,
thefacilityfeaturesnearly4millionsquarefeetof
space,employsabout2,000workersandhousesa
widevarietyoflocalandimportedmaterials.Sauder
alsosourcesfurniturefromanetworkofquality
globalpartners.
Sauderisaprivatelyheld,third-generation,family
runbusiness,marketingmorethan40distinct
furniturecollectionsinafulllineofRTAfurnishings
forthehome,includingentertainment,homeoffice,
bedroom,kitchenandstorage.Itssubsidiaries
include:ProgressiveFurnitureInc.,adesignerand
importerofwoodbedroom,diningandaccent
furniture;andSauderManufacturingCompany,a
leaderinchurch,educationalandhealthcare
seating.OthermarketsegmentsincludeSauder
FuneralProducts,alineofwoodcasketsandother
funeralindustryproducts;andWoodTrac®,alineof
woodceilingsandclosetsystemsforresidentialand
commercialmarkets.
Why Make the Move?
SauderWoodworkingmadethechoicetobean
earlyadopterofSAPS/4HANAinordertoposition
itselftotakeadvantageofnewfunctionalityrather
thanbuildingsolutionsin-house.Thecompany
wantedtosetitsowntimelinetooptimizeitsuseof
thenewS/4HANAsuite,ratherthandeferandbe
rushedtochangemodulesassupportbegantodrop
offontheolderECCsolution.
Sauderhadalreadyinvestedseveralyearstomove
fromalegacysystemtoSAPECC.Theywantedto
savemoneyonimplementationcostsandgettoSAP
S/4HANAquicklysotheycouldgleanvaluefrom
thenewproductsuite.Theprojectcoveredthe
movementofallECCdataandfunctionality
(configuration)andPPDSsystemstoSAPS/4HANA
1709,HANA2.0.
ThecompanyhasalargefootprintofSAPsystems,
withover1,600usersconductingbusiness
transactionsandshopflooremployeesinteracting
withSAPviaMIIorthroughRFterminals.In2018,
Sauderprocessed1,661,225salesorders,1,624,169
shipments,894,664productionreceipts,14,438,089
warehousemoves,and1,624,684invoicesthrough
theSAPsystem.Itisthecompany’sback-end
businessprocessingmachine.
Thiswasalsoamajortechnologyinfrastructure
transformationfortheSauderITtechnicalteam,as
theymovedfromtheirlegacyIBMiSeriessystemsto
acompletelynewplatform.Thenewsystemrunson
DellserversandSANsinaVMwarevirtual
environment,sotheSauderteamhadtolearnnew
conceptsandtoolstosupportthenewsystem.
Thankstoalong-termpartnershipwithSymmetry,
theiroutsourcedSAPBasisteam,Sauderdidnot
havetomakethemoveontheirown.
What’s Next?
NowthatSauderWoodworkingisrunningonSAP
S/4HANA,theyarewellpositionedtoassistand
enablethestrategicgoalsofthebusiness.Theyplan
tooptimizetheiruseofS/4HANAinphases,starting
withFinance.
Company: Sauder Woodworking, Co.
Industry: Consumer Products
Products: Furniture
Number of employees: > 2,000
Revenue: $500 million
Headquarters: Archbold, Ohio
Website: www.sauder.com
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