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PPC: SAP consolidation to optimise processes and costs

"Collaboration between the teams went exceptionally well. As a result, we were still able to implement the project on time and on budget despite complex challenges." Herman Coetzee, Head Value Management Office, PPC.


Johannesburg, 05 Jun 2014
Geoff Earnshaw.
Geoff Earnshaw.

In 2013, PPC decided to consolidate the SAP instances in its plants in Zimbabwe and South Africa. Britehouse SSD, in conjunction with SNP were awarded the contract for the project. Only three months were envisioned for this project.

The go-live was in February 2014. Due to the nature of the PPC business, it was necessary to use a consolidation approach that would have the least possible impact on the ongoing business operations.

Fact sheet
Solution: SNP Transformation Backbone
Industry: Construction
Provider: Schneider Neureither & Partner
User: PPC

The business called for the migration of all financial and master data as well as the last two years of transaction history for the plant in Zimbabwe. The data were to be transferred to the existing SAP landscape in South Africa. The two different currencies (Zimbabwean rollar and South African rand) also had to be taken into consideration for the financial data. Moreover, the business processes in Zimbabwe contrasted in several ways from those in South Africa (depending on the SAP functional module).

The solution

PPC chose SNP Transformation Backbone as its preferred solution. SNP Transformation Backbone is the world's first standard software that analyses changes in IT systems and delivers standardised implementation, essentially making manual programming work superfluous.

The software automatically identified the complexities of consolidation beforehand and suggested appropriate solutions to manage these challenges. Because the project teams worked closely together, the entire consolidation project was able to be successfully implemented on time and on budget despite the geographical distance between SNP and the local partner.

PPC supported by Britehouse SSD and SNP are now finalising planning activities for a possible second project using SNP Transformation Backbone. This project may start end June 2014.

Benefits

* Project achieved on time and on budget despite complex challenges
* Standardised software ensured that there was no manual programming
* Minimised impact on the business operations
* Successful collaboration between the project teams at PPC, Britehouse, and SNP throughout the entire project

About PPC

PPC is the leading cement producer in southern Africa. Nine cement manufacturing facilities and three milling plants in South Africa, Botswana, Zimbabwe and Rwanda can produce around eight million tons of cement products each year. PPC also produces aggregates, metallurgical-grade lime, burnt dolomite and limestone.

For more information about PPC, please visit www.ppc.co.za.
For more information about Britehouse, please visit www.britehousessd.co.za.
For more information about SNP, please visit www.snp-ag.com

SNP

SNP AG helps companies react rapidly to changes in their business environment. The solution SNP Transformation Backbone enables companies to adapt their IT landscape more quickly and economically to changing market conditions.

SNP Transformation Backbone is the world's first standard software solution that automatically analyses changes in IT systems and implements them in a standardised way. The solution is based on the experience SNP AG has gained in more than 1 500 projects worldwide with its software-related services for business landscape transformation.

In 2012, more than 200 employees in Europe, South Africa and the USA achieved sales of EUR27.2 million. Headquarter of the company founded in 1994 is Heidelberg. SNP AG went public in 2000 and has been listed in the General Standard segment of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange since 2003.

For more information about SNP, please visit: www.snp-ag.com

Editorial contacts

Geoff Earnshaw
Schneider-Neureither & Partner
(+27) 11 510 0510
geoff.earnshaw@snp-ag.com