Global Sportswear Brand Accelerates Business Transformation with
SAP S/4HANA®
In its relentless pursuit to be the “Fastest Sports Brand in the World,” this global sportwear brand required a robust and scalable foundation to help the business run faster than ever before.
The Challenge
Headquartered in Germany, the company’s core mission is to advance global sports through performance and sport-inspired lifestyle product innovation. Staying true to this strategy, the company has undergone an impressive global expansion – currently operating in more than 120 countries.
While this global portfolio is central to the company’s growth goals, the multitude of processes unique to each regional presence posed a significant challenge. Legacy, on-premises applications – which had served as a base for growth for years – were no longer adequate for its expanding footprint.
- Disparate systems: Multiple legacy systems across geographies and business channels hindered the company to drive a cohesive omni-channel strategy
- Lack of scalability: Multitude of customized and disparate systems could not sustain the company’s growth across multiple regions
- Time-consuming processes: Basic functions took significant resources, and time, increasing the total cost of ownership
Strategy and Solution
The company approached the project as a complete transformation initiative. This meant moving to a single and harmonized platform that streamlined processes across countries and languages, and scaled easily as the company grew.
- At the heart of this transformation is SAP S/4HANA® Fashion. For this global sportswear brand, SAP S/4HANA provides the core platform for growth; delivering the agility and scalability needed to drive continuous innovation and ensure seamless integration with external applications.
- The project included the development of a global template across retail, wholesale and eCommerce operations focusing on harmonizing key processes across countries and business units.
- The implementation began with a pilot program in Europe, covering retail, e-commerce, finance and logistics.
- The implementation included SAP BW for operational reporting, leveraging real-time sales data from SAP Customer Activity Repository (CAR) /POS-DTA and data from SAP S/4HANA for sales, inventory, and procurement.
The Outcome
SAP S/4HANA® allows this Global Sportwear Brand to stay agile as it grows and diversifies globally.
Implementing SAP S/4HANA® globally will allow the company to standardize business processes, from inventory management to finance. This allowed the company to replace outdated multiple legacy systems. The solution puts the global sportwear brand in a position to seamlessly grow wherever the market takes it, operating as one unified group.
- Global template with harmonized processes: Successfully built global design of harmonized processes for retail, wholesale, and e-commerce fulfillment with minimum adjustments across EMEA, North America, LATAM and Southeast Asia.
- Enhanced order management via supply assignment and planning processes that will ensure most valuable channels are being prioritized.
- Unified Inventory Management: A single pool of inventory for both e-commerce and retail across Europe, with fulfillment and shipments to 26 countries, all managed from a centralized distribution center in Germany.
- Enhanced Store Operations: Utilized SAP Fiori apps to provide store associates with crucial insights into finance and logistics, improving store operations.
The Solution Covers:
160+
Stores with digitized operations including full-price and outlet stores
27+
Countries with integrated e-commerce fulfillment including e-comm site and 5 marketplaces
Scope of the implementation
Rizing is the prime SI partner across all completed and ongoing roll-outs.
