Part of the preparations for a global rollout of an AP automation solution was the design of all data exchanges to and from SAP. Activities included:
Schenker requested to take-over the project management for the so-called “SAFAgoesCloud” project. This project is part of a more comprehensive program whereby the entire data centre of DB will be moved to the Amazon cloud. René Coppens’ role will be to manage the move of all SAFA related infra-structure whereby one of the main challenges is to ensure that all connections to/from SAP can be re-established after the move. A number of servers are in scope of this project whereby the main focus will be on the three servers that run SAP ERP. The move of those servers is planned towards the end of the project, being in September 2019.
Schenker in Chile and Argentina have started their rollout preparations in parallel during a meeting in Santiago de Chile, but will be split later on due to the local differences. For both countries, the operational systems will also need to be enhanced to support the local functionality that SAP offers, making these rollouts challenging in different disciplines. This is also one of the reasons why the preparations are expected to take at least a year before the projects can go live.
The project team members of Schenker in Argentina and Chile
After a year of intensive preparations and parallel projects that become part of the new system landscape, Schenker in Brazil went live with SAP on 1st January 2010 as the first country in the LATAM region. All operational data now feeds into a local system that handles all complex and frequently changing legal (tax) requirements, and this local system then forwards all accounting data to SAP for further processing. This has optimised a number of key business processes significantly and also prepares the organisation for further future improvements.
The SAP users of the São Paulo office of Schenker in Brazil.
Early May, the SAP implementation project was signed off after a successful start on 1st April 2008. The local team had perfectly prepared themselves in between the end-user training and the go-live phases, which was one of the major contributions to the smooth migration. With the completion of this project, the last HAI system in the Asia Pacific region has been replaced.
The accounting and controlling department of Schenker-Seino in Japan with their certificates!
From 18th to 21st of September, the project kick-off for the SAP implementation of Schenker-Seino in Japan took place in the Tokyo head quarters. The organisation already merged with BAX earlier in 2007 and will now start working towards the migration of all accounting operations to SAP in 2008.
The SAP project team members of Schenker-Seino in Japan.
From June 2006 to April 2007, the parallel projects for implementing SAP in Australia and New Zealand were ongoing, resulting in a successful go-live as per 1st May 2007 onwards. René Coppens had the responsibility as project manager supported initially by Foo Joo Liang from the regional office in Singapore, followed by his successor Chin Kee Seng. The local CFO experienced the parallel acquisition of BAX as an additional risk towards achieving the project objectives but stated that ‘proper project management and excellent documentation’ has helped to keep the project progress under control.
The local teams involved 8 members of the organisation in Australia and 3 of New Zealand. In total, some 40 end-users were trained in using SAP in both countries.
From 11th to 13th of June, the project kick-off for the SAP implementation of Schenker Australia and New Zealand took place in Sydney. Participants from Schenker Korea and the new colleagues of BAX Global were also present to prepare ahead for their upcoming projects.
Participants of the kick-off meeting in Sydney in front of Schenker Australia’s corporate office
Schenker Malaysia has started with SAP after half a year of intensive preparations. The local project team involved 5 staff members where each one had his/her individual responsibility within the finance and administration department, with René Coppens as project manager supported by Foo Joo Liang from the regional office in Singapore. The other 15 accounting colleagues were dedicated to gain sufficient experience in the final project phase, which was one of the reasons for a smooth production start up.
Schenker Malaysia with the traditional SAP certificate in Kuala Lumpur.
Schenker Thailand has started with SAP after half a year of intensive preparations. The local project team involved 6 staff members where each one had his/her individual responsibility within the finance and administration department, with René Coppens as project manager supported by Foo Joo Liang from the regional office in Singapore. The other 20 accounting colleagues were dedicated to gain sufficient experience in the final project phase, which was one of the reasons for a smooth production start up.
The Schenker colleagues proudly show their SAP certificate after a successful start
