Turning the Tide: Rescuing a SAP Retail Implementation and Delivering Success
Client’s Key Challenge:
Raley’s Family of Fine Stores, a major player in the retail industry, faced significant challenges while attempting to implement SAP’s IS-Retail solution. They had partnered with a system integrator to guide them through the first phase of their SAP journey—SAP Finance. However, the integrator lacked the necessary expertise in IS-Retail, which led to costly delays, budget overruns, and inefficiencies in the project.
SAP IS-Retail differs significantly from the standard SAP ERP system, which was originally designed for the manufacturing industry. Raley’s needed a tailored approach that could manage the complexities specific to retail operations, such as Master Data, Inventory Control, Forecasting, Replenishment, Merchandising, and Pricing. Without this retail-specific knowledge, their project was at risk.
Erstreben’s Recommendation:
At Erstreben, we understand that SAP’s Retail solution requires specialized expertise that goes beyond the standard SAP system. Many retailers, like Raley’s, fail to realize that using general SAP consultants can result in costly mistakes, particularly when setting up the foundational elements of the system.
Erstreben’s team quickly assessed the situation and realized that Raley’s needed consultants with deep expertise in SAP IS-Retail. We recommended bringing in our SAP Retail subject matter experts to correct the course of the project. The solution required experienced professionals who understood the retail industry’s unique requirements, including the intricate setup of master data, complex date structures for sites, and efficient management of merchandising and pricing.
Our Approach:
Erstreben’s Project Recovery Group was deployed to rescue the SAP Finance project and ensure its successful completion. We sent a focused, high-impact team of SAP retail experts, each with over a decade of experience in SAP Retail, FICO, BW, Business Objects, POSDM, BASIS, Data Services, and Test Management. Our team's goal was to streamline the project, get it back on track, and complete it within the revised timeline and budget.
Results:
Thanks to Erstreben’s strategic intervention and expertise, Raley’s SAP Finance implementation was completed successfully. The project went live on time and under budget, a significant improvement from the original path it was on. Raley’s can now fully leverage SAP’s advanced retail capabilities to support its large-scale operations, from inventory control to pricing and forecasting, ensuring long-term operational efficiency and growth.
Raley’s trusted Erstreben to guide them through a complex SAP journey, and the results speak for themselves: a successful, on-time, and cost-effective implementation that met all of their business needs.