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With SAP IBP to the Single Source of Truth: Central Planning Solution for Greiner Packaging International

The requirements of internationally active production companies for a modern planning solution are evident:

  • Several locations spread across different countries should be able to work together as efficiently and centrally as possible.
  • In addition, a clear presentation and consolidation of a large number of products is required.
  • Based on this, forward-looking logistics and capacity planning is essential.
  • Effective supply chain management is crucial for transparency as well as control of the entire supply chain – from raw material procurement and inventory management to the coordination of suppliers and distributors.

All this was and is true for Greiner Packaging International GmbH. Therefore, the company started looking for a tool to support these diverse planning challenges – in combination with a competent partner for the execution. The declared goal: to make Sales & Operations Planning more efficient and to raise it to a higher level. And these aspirations fit the product SAP IBP as well as us as scc. This is exactly why it was clear to us from the very beginning: We are the right partner for GPI and SAP IBP is the perfect solution for Greiner Packaging International GmbH that meets all requirements. We made the many advantages clear in discussions, workshops and during initial practical preliminary work, so that GPI was also convinced of a collaboration within a very short time. 😊

Why SAP IBP?

SAP Integrated Business Planning is a cloud-based solution that enables efficient and reliable business planning. With IBP, sales planning, production planning, demand forecasts, procurement planning and much more can be implemented automatically. For this purpose, classic planning and forecasting functions are combined with modern machine learning and, based on predefined key figures and existing company data, IBP ultimately ensures efficient planning and fact-based decision-making. Users also appreciate the cloud solution's appealing user interface, the many options for creative and informative dashboards, the highly professional, management-ready analyses, and the extensive options for simulations and what-if scenarios. SAP IBP thus provides more visibility in planning, creates the basis for active, anticipatory action and reduces reactive firefighting.

In 8 months to a successful, agile and efficient planning tool

But let's now return to our collaboration with GPI. The official starting shot for this came in September 2022. The first step was to demonstrate the possibilities with SAP IBP and reconcile them with GPI's challenges and requirements. First and foremost, this included the fact that the solution had to be implemented in such a way that it could be used at all locations - albeit initially only in Austria and Switzerland. Instead of having to cope with high expenditures through the short-term acquisition of machines - in order to be able to manage production peaks - good planning - based on historical data, AI and user-friendly options to be able to incorporate market development know-how at different aggregation levels - was to ensure reliable forecasts regarding demand quantities. Such forecasts, which can be generated thanks to Demand Planning (= sales planning), form the basis for the subsequent answering of important questions such as: Will machines run into a bottleneck? Do arrangements have to be made for outsourcing production or for pre-production? Is it even possible to produce the forecast quantities? Will new machines have to be purchased for this? Another challenge was to clearly display the many different articles and product designs in a planning system and, in addition to record their historical data.

The joint journey from the first kick-off meeting to the go-live at the end of April took a total of 8 months. In order to ensure a smooth process, continuous coordination was carried out. For example, weekly jour fixes were held and after each implementation phase, workshops were organized with all project participants at GPI in order to run through the innovations directly in the system and to be able to make any necessary adjustments immediately. Very soon after the start of the collaboration, we put the theory we had discussed directly into practice. We developed a prototype that was continuously adapted over weeks and months and thus optimally tailored to GPI's needs. In a final user acceptance test, the new IBP solution was then put through its paces by a larger group of GPI stakeholders with regard to all possible processes and use cases. Finally, at the end of April, the go-live took place. This marked the end of a project that was absolutely dear to our hearts.
"The cooperation was characterized by a good combination of competence, fun and motivation. There was a very good working atmosphere between scc and GPI throughout and you could tell that everyone was working towards one goal in a solution-oriented way from the very beginning: To jointly implement a tool that takes S&OP planning at GPI to a new level."

From Austria and Switzerland to all over the world

Within Greiner Packaging International GmbH, Austria and Switzerland served as so-called early adopters. Therefore, in addition to representatives of Greiner Packaging International, employees from Austria and Switzerland were primarily involved in the project. However, the requirement from the very beginning was to use the system to achieve a global single source of truth for all departments and locations of GPI. This means that in the future, every employee from every country in the Greiner network should be able to access the same data and information in real time, make adjustments at the appropriate aggregation level depending on their function, and run simulations of possible future scenarios hands-on. In addition, flexibly adjustable and visually appealing dashboards provide an ideal basis for decision-making in review meetings and targeted communication within the organization. Currently, rollouts are already taking place in other Greiner Packaging International GmbH branches - outside of Austria and Switzerland.
"The project was extremely successful. With scc as our strong implementation partner, we were able to implement SAP IBP cost-efficiently and quickly. Despite the challenging framework conditions, scc managed to fully meet our requirements in the FMCG sector. The jointly developed SAP IBP solution provides us with comprehensive transparency along our supply chain and thus marks the beginning of an exciting further development."

Submission for the SAP Quality Award 2023

Successful projects deserve to be awarded prizes. And that is exactly why we, together with Greiner Packaging International GmbH, submitted the IBP implementation as a successful project for the SAP Quality Award. Whether we will be among the lucky winners will only be decided in the next few weeks. But what is already certain today: For everyone involved, the entire implementation from start to go-live was a true success project!
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