FINDUS
A new beginning

Based in southern Sweden, Findus has been market leader for frozen foods in the Nordic countries and other parts of Europe for fifty years. From 1962, Findus was part of Nestlé, the world’s largest food company, but became independent in 2000. Since then, the new management team has focused on strengthening the brand, developing new products and building a complete set of core business processes, together with the IT infrastructure to support them.

A complex challenge
As part of Nestlé, Findus did not exist as a separate entity because production, sales and administration were integrated with the local business units. To create the new Findus meant separating people and assets, then building a support infrastructure from the ground up. For IT and administrative processes, short-term agreements were negotiated with Nestlé to use some of their resources, but only for a limited, transition period.

The inherited information systems landscape was extremely complex because services were supplied on a national basis from Nestlé subsidiaries that did not have common systems or processes themselves. Comments IT Director, Jerker Andersson: “Our aim was to become one company, with efficient, common processes throughout the business. We had to move to a streamlined, more rational structure.” Under the auspices of the “Finesse” change program, the aim was to build a standards-based IT platform, with shared services centers for development and management. The scope of the work involved was considerable – and it had to be done fast. That’s where Sogeti/Transiciel came into the picture.

A key relationship
As Jerker Andersson explains: “The former Swedish regional branch suddenly became the international headquarters for the new Findus. The IT unit was never designed to drive change management on this scale. We needed help.” They found it at the local Sogeti/Transiciel branch in Findus’ home city of Helsingborg. Sogeti/Transiciel became a key IT change partner virtually on day one, providing expertise, knowledge and resources throughout the process to date – and this has extended far beyond provision of staff and materials.

Comments Harry Högdèn, Branch Manager at Sogeti/ Transiciel Sweden: “We have enabled all aspects of IT change, which to date involved building consistent processes around key applications. We now manage IT services for Findus directly; we have also brought in specialists from Capgemini as well.”

A look to the future
Findus and Sogeti/Transiciel people working together have now created a basic template for implementing common processes across Europe. The next step is to roll these out, country by country. As Jerker Andersson says: “We are building a new company from scratch. Sogeti/Transiciel is a key partner because they are the single point of contact for the know-how and experience that we need.”

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