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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