Ahlstrom Establishes a Global Company Enabled by SAP R/3
Ahlstrom, headquartered in Finland, is a leader in high performance, fibre-based materials serving global niche markets.
- Industry
- Manufacturing
- Country
- Finland
- Alliance partner
- Cisco
- SAP
- Solution
- Finance & Employee Transformation
- SAP
The company wanted to consolidate and establish shared processes and information systems. SAP® R/3® was the preferred ERP platform, where effective change management was critical to success.
Through a partnership with Capgemini the required business objectives were achieved. Best practices and experience gained allows Ahlstrom to support developed applications now, and in future.
Client Profile
A variety of products for health-care, transport, filtration, labelling and packaging consists of Ahlstrom’s fibre-based solutions. With 7,000 employees, the company operates in more than 40 production sites on four continents, with posted annual net sales of about € 2 billion.
Ahlstrom went through significant changes based on a strategy to focus attention on high-performance, fibre-based materials.
Following a merger of administrative functions for disparate business units, the former Ahlstrom Paper Group became a core business. The objective was for Ahlstrom Corporation to be ready for a public listing.
Business Requirements
Integrated processes and systems would improve management control, operations efficiency and reduce costs. It would also pave the way for a single culture for the new group, and strengthen Ahlstrom’s brand and profile, globally. Key elements of the vision were to:
- improve operating efficiency for finance and administration
- facilitate and improve pan-European management control
- optimise use and ongoing support of IT.
In partnership with Capgemini, Ahlstrom started developing a business case for ERP-enabled shared services. Clearly, major business benefits were achievable via shared processes and common systems supporting Ahlstrom globally. With ERP-enabled technology at the core, SAP facilitated the desired level of integration sought. Capgemini’s best practices and experience of change-driven SAP deployment impressed Ahlstrom.
Management therefore asked Capgemini to help transform the strategy into actions that facilitated Ahlstrom to reinforce its brand, globally.
The Capgemini Solution
Ahlstrom and Capgemini managed the project jointly. Typically, concurrent transformation of systems and business processes pose many challenges and the risk of project over-runs is high. Clear and open communication via all channels managed the risks, ensuring that all aspects matched Ahlstrom’s vision and goals.
Project plans, target milestones and effective status reporting steered the project via a ‘change driven’ approach, tailoring Global ASAP® methodology.
Teams adopted a global view of the business. Channels for communication and a common business culture began to emerge throughout Ahlstrom during the project. The global profile of Capgemini was a distinct advantage.
The first phase delivered a “blueprint” for business functions like Recording to Reporting, Invoice to Cash, Purchase to Payment, Management Information and Plant Maintenance. Following this, the team developed a global template to include SAP modules FI- CO, MM and PM.
The challenge to create a template that facilitated rollout without major change was successfully resolved by ensuring clear ownership and keeping sharp focus on critical success factors in all participating countries: Belgium, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway and Sweden.
Ahlstrom wanted to build its own capabilities to refine the template and manage systems in future. A pilot implementation in Finland and Germany allowed team members to gather valuable knowledge and gain experience to meet this objective.
The plans allowed sufficient time to identify sponsors, develop communication strategies and train users. The approach, strong commitment from the global project sponsor and Ahlstrom management ensured success. Best practices were adapted to design the structure of rollout teams. Key roles were:
- team leaders as process owners
- country team leaders
- internal consultants
- template control teams
- individual country teams.
For each role, clear responsibility and dedicated teams were critical for swift and effective rollouts. Support from local consultants from Capgemini brought cultural diversity and experience to bear fruit.
A “wave approach” for each rollout managed disparate systems and varying levels of complexity. This ensured availability of appropriate skills and expertise for each step.
The Benefits
The project pays testimony to effective project management. It also derives a common business culture in Ahlstrom throughout its operations, globally. As many employees were involved in the rollout, the project ensured “buy-in” to leverage the benefits of the new system, fully and quickly.
With information on materials, stock items, vendors and prices now available from all sites, Ahlstrom can negotiate optimum prices. Stock transparency yields further cost reduction. Further benefits include:
- common data structures and consistent reporting
- efficient work preparation
- reduced effort to support accounts receivables functions
- reduced risk to group wide credit
- enhanced quality for invoicing.
The successful partnership with Capgemini leaves a legacy that Ahlstrom can exploit. It is possible to refine the system so that it meets current, and future, business goals and vision.
Written in co-operation with Ahlstrom Corporation
