Switching systems while maintaining full operating capacity requires a lot of planning, testing and care to successfully pull off. This was the project at ARLA Foods Westbury site in 2018-19. The site was acquired from First Milk in 2016.
The switch from SAGE to SAP will bring the site in line with the rest of the ARLA Foods business. This ERP system that is widely used in large organizations across many industries and is considered one of the most robust and popular ERP systems on the market.
Integral to the project was a robust plan and training program for the entire site so that the switch could be completed within 24 hours and the site be back at full operating capacity immediately after Go live. A full Hypercare package covered the following two months.
Project involvement
Performance feedback
Arla Foods has a complex management structure and requires a high degree of flexibility for financial accounting and powerful consolidation abilities. When Arla Foods acquires companies, it wants to immediately include them in its financial and management reporting setup to achieve transparency from the start. “You need to be very clear about cash flow and profit and loss before you can move up the finance value chain,” says Rose-Nielsen. “That means aligning and streamlining financial processes by uniting internal management and external financial accounting.”
With the SAP solutions, we have the foundation for a single global financial centre
Morten Rose-Nielsen, ARLA Foods
