1. SAP Business Transformation Study
Industrial Machinery and Components
PELICAN PRODUCTS
SUPPORTING GROWTH WITH A
CONSOLIDATED BUSINESS PLATFORM
Industry
Industrial machinery and components
Revenue
More than US$300 million
Employees
1,200
Headquarters
Torrance, California
Web Site
www.pelican.com
SAP® Solutions and Services
SAP® ERP application, including modules
for financials, sales and distribution,
human capital management, global trade,
and procurement; SAP NetWeaver®
Business Warehouse component
Implementation Partner
Fujitsu
A global leader in the design and
manufacture of advanced lighting
systems and rugged protective cas-
es, Pelican Products Inc. is also rec-
ognized as one of the fastest grow-
ing companies in the United States.
This innovative company decided to
consolidate its worldwide operations
on a single instance of the SAP® ERP
application – gaining greater opera-
tional transparency and establishing
a platform for continued growth.
QUICK FACTS
Key Challenges
• Support company’s aggressive growth
strategy
• Consolidate a large application landscape
• Gain greater transparency across global
operations
• Become a more process-driven enterprise
• Establish 1 version of the truth
• Reduce support costs
Implementation Best Practices
• Had strong executive commitment
• Conducted several rounds of product
demos
• Dedicated company’s best talent to project
• Established standard processes based on
best practices
• Focused on effective change management
• Built user confidence with comprehensive
training
• Managed project scope with phased
rollouts
Financial and Strategic Benefits
• Established platform for further growth
and acquisitions
• Improved interoperations among global
locations
• Gained ability to extend e-commerce
capabilities to new acquisitions
• Enabled real-time supply chain analysis
• Gained a consolidated view of shared
customers and vendors with accurate
master data
• Established a more consistently defined
organizational structure
• Improved decision making and planning
with real-time access to operational data
Why SAP Was Selected
• Tier-1 business software
• Recognized support for global
infrastructures
• Leadership in discrete manufacturing sector
• Superior product road map and stable
go-forward strategy
• Synergy between Pelican’s and SAP’s
strong brand recognition
Low Total Cost of Ownership
• Completed multiple rollouts on time
• Minimized customizations
• Used lessons learned to drive down costs
in subsequent project phases
• Consolidated disparate applications and
eliminated multiple interfaces
• Reduced need for professional support
services
Operational Benefits
Key Performance Indicator Impact
Improved on-time product delivery +13%
Reduced inventory -10%
Reduced temporary staffing -1 FTE
needed to create key HR compliance
reports and perform tracking activities
and payroll editing
Reduced IT maintenance costs -7%

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“We believe Pelican Products will find even further opportunities to reduce costs and
streamline its interface to the customer as we continue to bring new acquisitions
onto our SAP system.”
Steve Hochheiser, Global IT Director, Pelican Products Inc.
“You Break It, We Replace It –
Forever”
Pelican Products Inc. manufactures flash-
lights, lighting systems, and protective
cases that are virtually indestructible.
In fact, Pelican guarantees it.
This California-based company is recog-
nized for its technologically advanced
products and as one of the fastest grow-
ing companies in the nation. “We have a
very aggressive strategy for growing
Pelican both organically and through
acquisitions,” explains global IT director
Steve Hochheiser. So it was really no sur-
prise when the company began to out-
grow its tier-two business software.
“We had 21 different applications sup-
porting a worldwide infrastructure, says
Hochheiser,“and that was before we
acquired three new companies.”
Pelican executives saw the opportunity to
increase efficiency and improve interoper-
ation among its expanding number of facil-
ities by consolidating operations on a
single instance of the SAP® ERP
application.
Rigorous Planning Delivers Airtight
Rollouts
Before making its decision, however,
Pelican put several products to the test –
evaluating solutions from SAP, Oracle,
and others. Ultimately, SAP’s support for
global infrastructures and its leadership in
the discrete manufacturing sector helped
seal the deal.
Pelican rolled out this large-scale imple-
mentation in multiple phases and with a
focus on its employees. “We started with
core functionality at our Torrance facility,”
says Hochheiser, “followed by the HR
modules, and then rollouts at our European
plants.” Formal change management ses-
sions and comprehensive training were
hallmarks of the project. This diligence
paid off, as Pelican was up to speed quick-
ly. As director of operations Shailesh
Bambarderker recalls, “We were able to
invoice from day one.”
Rock-Solid Benefits
Today, Pelican has improved operations
from its business office to the shipping
dock. “We significantly reduced our
amount of manual tracking,” says Dana
Brooks, HR manager at Pelican. Instead of
disparate spreadsheets and manual data
merges, Pelican now relies on online
access to consolidated employee informa-
tion and integrated systems for functions
such as HR and payroll. Among the bene-
fits are greater accuracy of time and atten-
dance data and faster reporting. “In the
past it could take six hours to prepare the
labor reports required by equal employ-
ment opportunity and veteran regulations,”
says Brooks, citing one example. “Now it
takes just a matter of minutes.”
Pelican maximizes the value of this real-
time information with enhanced business
intelligence tools. As Bambarderker notes,
“With one or two clicks of a button I can
monitor deliveries and invoicing on an hour-
ly basis, or review the previous day’s work
order completion.” The resulting insights
have helped Pelican sharpen production
planning, reduce inventory levels, lower
IT maintenance costs, and boost on-time
delivery rates an estimated 13%.
The consolidation is also improving visi-
bility and interoperation among Pelican’s
growing number of global companies. A
single source for reliable master data, for
example, gives Pelican a common view of
shared customers. And the company is
also able to perform real-time analysis of
an international supply chain. Further, by
unifying processes and extending func-
tionality such as e-commerce across new
operations, Pelican can present a consis-
tent face to the marketplace.
A Bright Future
Pelican looks to extend its integrated
SAP footprint. This includes manufactur-
ing execution software and replacing a
subscription-based customer relationship
management system. “The company has
already eliminated 17 applications, and
we will continue to consolidate as we
incorporate new acquisitions,” says
Hochheiser, summing up the project.
“We feel that Pelican Products definitely
made the right decision.”