Hindustan Unilever Limited (HUL), a leading Indian consumer goods company, implemented SAP solutions to streamline its business operations, integrate processes internally and with business partners, and meet the demands of modern retail. The two-phase implementation included SAP ERP, SAP NetWeaver Process Integration, and other SAP solutions. SAP NetWeaver PI allowed HUL to integrate legacy systems with SAP and exchange data seamlessly both internally and with partners regardless of their IT systems. This improved supply chain efficiency and HUL's ability to respond to customer demands.

1. HINDUSTAN UNILEVER LIMITED (HUL)
LEADING CONSUMER GOODS COMPANY
FULFILS BUSINESS OPTIMISATION GOALS
WITH SAP
QUICK FACTS
“With SAP NetWeaver PI, we have Summary Phase 2: SAP Customer Relationship
Name: Hindustan Unilever Limited Management, SAP Advanced Planning &
finally streamlined, advanced and Location: Mumbai, Maharashtra, India Optimisation Production Planning and
integrated our process capability. This Industry: Consumer Products Detailed Scheduling, SAP Transportation
Employees: 15,000 Planning and Vehicle Scheduling
goes a long way in enhancing HUL’s
Website Implementation Highlights
ability to meet the demands of the www.hll.com Rollout in two phases. Phase 1 went live
modern trade.” in September 2007
Key Challenges
Arrival of modern trade in India Why SAP Solution
KS Arunkumar, IT Group Manager, Hindustan
Legacy systems and business SAP is Unilever Group’s global premium
Unilever Limited
infrastructure were unable to meet IT solutions provider
transaction and process capability SAP NetWeaver PI enables process-
requirements of the modern trade centric collaboration
Project Objectives Key Benefits
Optimise business operation and simplify Streamlined business operations
IT management Improved information sharing with partners
Achieve process consolidation internally even if they are not using SAP’s solutions
and across the value chain Increased supply chain efficiency through
Preserve investment of legacy inventory process-centric collaboration across the
and cash-to-order management system enterprise—internally and externally
for business partners Enhanced value of legacy system
Integrate with business partners’ IT
infrastructure quickly and seamlessly Implementation Partner
IBM
Solutions and Services
Phase 1: SAP ERP Central Component Hardware
5.0, SAP NetWeaver Process Integration IBM
(SAP NetWeaver PI), SAP NetWeaver
Portal, SAP Supply Chain Management
(SAP SCM), SAP Solution Manager, SAP
NetWeaver Business Intelligence (SAP
NetWeaver BI), SAP NetWeaver
Composition Environment (SAP
NetWeaver CE)
SAP NetWeaver Success Story
Hindustan Unilever Limited, India

2. HINDUSTAN UNILEVER
LIMITED (HUL)
LEADING CONSUMER GOODS
COMPANY FULFILS BUSINESS
OPTIMISATION GOALS WITH SAP
The demands of a competitive market require a solution that
supports process-centric collaboration internally and across
its value chain. To address this, HUL found the answer in
SAP NetWeaver Process Integration.
The fast moving consumer goods orders in the most cost efficient tight communication links with its
(FMCG) industry is an unforgiving one. manner. This is even more critical in external business partners. However,
“If a retailer’s shelves are empty of a the emerging modern trade scenario. the task of ensuring seamless
manufacturer’s product, he will simply connectivity between its IT system with
fill them with a competing product,” “The distribution of goods across the that of its distributors was not an easy one.
says KS Arunkumar, IT Group Manager, country in the right quantity, right time
Hindustan Unilever Limited (HUL). and at the right place is already one of For instance, the company was using an
the biggest challenges we face.. In in-house developed e-business system
This challenge of ensuring that the order to thrive in the era of modern to manage the replenishment and order
business is optimised to cater to ever- trade, we need to deliver a service level fulfilment process. This was done by
changing market demands is an issue that is higher than what the industry exchanging and synchronising inventory
that HUL is deeply familiar with. is used to and operate a supply chain and sales data between itself and its
Established in 1931, this stalwart of the which is superior to our competitors’,” distributors.
India FMCG market is a subsidiary of says Arun.
the world-renowned Unilever Group. “But because our customers had
Behind HUL’s vast business footprint Business Optimisation Hurdles multiple, disparate systems of their
that spans 4,000 distributors is an entity The first part of HUL’s business own, integrating our system with theirs
consisting of 15,000 staff as well as optimisation strategy to enhance to facilitate data exchange was a big
multiple factories, warehouses and efficiency involved consolidation of headache. Furthermore, the e-business
branches. its warehouses and branch offices. system was a customised module.
It streamlined its business systems So as our business grew, there were
It is not easy keeping its house in order concurrently too, and it was in 2003 problems scaling it to fit our constantly
but it found a perfect solution to its that HUL discovered the limitations changing business needs,” he adds.
business management needs with SAP. of its incumbent enterprise resource
planning (ERP) system. In a distributed general trade
Modern Trade Challenges environment, HUL has implemented
HUL’s SAP journey started in 2004 “The old system just couldn’t scale up a standard distributor management
when it decided to streamline its to meet future transaction and process system. To cover the extended supply
operations in order to address the capability requirements of the modern chain, the distributor operations needed
emerging market challenges. trade,” explains Arun. to be tightly integrated with its internal
ERP solutions.
Market fundamentals require HUL to At the same time, HUL knew that
ensure availability of its products so that business optimisation and supply chain This system is functioning well, HUL
it can respond quickly to customers’ efficiency cannot be achieved without wants to preserve its investment in
2 SAP Partner Success Story

3. “In order to thrive in the era of
modern trade, we need to deliver a
service level that is higher than what
the industry is used to and operate a
supply chain which is superior to our
competitors’.”
KS Arunkumar, IT Group Manager, Hindustan
Unilever Limited
this area. This meant that the new ERP Component (SAP ECC), SAP distributors’ IT systems. This essentially
solution must be able to integrate with NetWeaver PI, SAP NetWeaver enhances the replenishment and order
this back-office application too, so Business Intelligence (SAP NetWeaver fulfilment process.
that HUL can continue to leverage BI), SAP NetWeaver Composition
and maximise it well into the future. Environment (SAP NetWeaver CE), “We are happy with the results. With
SAP NetWeaver Portal, SAP Solution SAP NetWeaver PI, we have finally
Process Centric Collaboration Manager and SAP Supply Chain streamlined, advanced and integrated
In 2004, HUL decided to revamp its IT Management (SAP SCM). our process capability. This goes a long
system with SAP. “This is very much in way in enhancing HUL’s ability to meet
line with the Unilever Group’s decision Ease of Integration the demands of the modern trade,”
to have SAP as our standard IT solutions Arun says that it is early days yet in concludes Arun.
provider, using its feature-rich enterprise determining the quantitative benefits
solutions and deep experience in the of this SAP investment. However, return
consumer goods industry to execute on investment (ROI) is not all that
our global transformation strategy,” matters.
says Arun. This strategy aims to
streamline and standardise business “What is most important is that through
processes across all its global the SAP NetWeaver platform, we are
operations in order to accelerate able to consolidate and exchange
business transformation and drive business-critical data across not just
significant IT simplification. our internal processes with ease but
externally with our partners, suppliers
But what sealed the deal for HUL was and customers too.”
SAP NetWeaver Process Integration
(SAP NetWeaver PI). Mr Arun explains For instance, HUL is able to fulfil its
further, “(It) enables process-centric aim of retaining its investment in Central
collaboration not just internally, but Unify and Unify—thanks to SAP
across HUL’s extended value chain. NetWeaver PI. This is because without
And it doesn’t matter what our partners’ this software, HUL would not have been
IT infrastructure consists of. SAP able to integrate the legacy inventory
NetWeaver PI facilitates communication and order-to-cash management system
and an exchange of information with the rest of the SAP-based system
between multiple applications with ease, he explains.
regardless of whether it is an SAP
or non-SAP solution.” Another SAP NetWeaver component
that HUL is most impressed with is the
Phase 1 of HUL’s SAP implementation SAP NetWeaver Portal, which is
went live in September 2007, this currently used for customer collaboration.
signalled the end of its legacy ERP By replacing the e-business system with
and e-business systems. The solutions this portal meant that HUL no longer
deployed include SAP ERP Central have to worry about integration with its
SAP Partner Success Story 3

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2008/02
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