One of the world’s leading brewers embarked on a full SAP implementation as part of business transformation. Advanced Planning was critical for managing supply chain performance across thousands of individual product lines.
The customer network was complex. Off-trade and on-trade customers. Various routes to market. Many distribution channels. The planning challenge was enormous.
SAP’s Supply Chain Software should have been the solution. The technology was sophisticated. The implementation was complete. The system was live.
But users had other ideas.
Users were choosing Excel spreadsheets over the new planning system. The exodus was comprehensive and embarrassing. Expensive technology sat unused while people returned to familiar tools.
This wasn’t subtle resistance or gradual adoption challenges. It was outright rejection. Users had voted against the system with their feet.
The business transformation project faced a crisis. How do you transform operations when users refuse to use the transformation tools?
The client approached Pivot to understand what had gone wrong. The diagnosis was clear and damning.
“When we came to work with Pivot we began to understand the set-up we had was complex and not well understood by the team,” said an executive.
The implementation was technically correct but practically useless. It didn’t align with business processes. The complexity served no business purpose. Users couldn’t understand how to get value from the system.
Pivot’s challenge was significant. Rework the solution to align with business processes. Train planning teams properly. Ensure ongoing support.
The blueprinting stage examined business processes and requirements against software functionality. Implementation proceeded in three stages to ensure proper support and system optimization.
Technically, GATP (Global Available to Promise) was one of the biggest challenges due to its complexity. But Pivot’s expertise made the difference between theoretical functionality and practical usability.
“One of the key things that I admired about Pivot is their post-implementation support. These guys were sitting down with the users. That played a big part in making sure people could use the system after go-live.”
Because Pivot consultants sat with users, they understood their daily challenges. And could help them suceed with the system. This wasn’t remote support or documentation – it was direct engagement.
The transformation was complete. Users abandoned Excel and embraced their transformation. The system delivered improved customer service and better, more efficient stock management.
Everything aligned with best practice and met short, medium, and long-term planning needs. The global solution finally fit the business.
The Supply Chain Business Transformation Manager’s appreciation for consultants who “understand best in class business processes, not just the system” captures a key difference.
The previous implementation focused on system functionality. Pivot focused on business outcomes. The result was technology that users actually wanted to use.
Pivot didn’t just fix the system – they fixed the relationship between users and technology.
The Excel exodus ended. Users returned. Business transformation could finally proceed with tools that people used and valued.
And we did it by making complex systems feel simple and valuable to the people who use them every day.
