Beverages manufacturer establishes platform for future digital transformation
Implementation
DXC’s migration factory — a sophisticated approach to data migration that uses code remediation, prepackaged workshop content for simplification items and other toolsets — was integral to the project’s success, says Bakker. The methodology allowed the project team to examine Frucor Suntory’s current system configuration and process map and adeptly highlight what configurations, customizations and reports were essential to the new platform.
“It also assisted us in working out what items in the old configuration wouldn’t work on the new platform. DXC’s global expertise was bought to bear on this complex task. It allowed us to identify over 100 simplifications, which we then set about rectifying.”
Bakker states that the migration was challenging due to the age of the ERP system.
“When a system has been in place that long, you will always have skeletons in the closet revealed when you upgrade the system. We regularly encountered historical issues, and it is a testament to DXC’s expertise and collective IP that they were not only identified but solutions found to mitigate any negative impact. We moved through the migration in a very systematic way and dealt with issues as they arose.”
To organize the cut-over effectively, Bakker brought something unique to the table — a decision-making tool he calls a ‘go-live wheel’ with every part of the business represented.
“It is a way of ensuring we know each department’s criteria before going live. So, for example, the business’s commercial arm wanted to ensure customers were receiving stock and could do pre-invoicing successfully — those were its bottom-line conditions before it would give the green light.”
As go-live approached, Bakker says the wheel was actively in play. “We knew exactly what the ‘go’ ‘no go’ calls for all our senior stakeholders consisted of. It was an element of the whole-of-business approach, which proved very successful.”
Bakker ensured the project team’s testing strategies matched the criticality of each business process. “Month-end reporting, for instance, is only done once a month, but it must go smoothly; otherwise, you end up with accounting and audit problems almost immediately.”
Three migration dress rehearsals were staged to test all impacts, and Bakker says the actual go-live went exceptionally smoothly. “There was an informed debate about what date to choose for go-live, and we were guided by the wishes of the business rather than coercing a date set by us.”
