F.I.L.A.’s digital transformation is reshaping the future of creative expression

Fabbrica Italiana Lapis ed Affini (F.I.L.A.), an Italian company with manufacturing plants and commercial branches in more than 150 countries all over the world, has chosen Capgemini as a partner for its business and technology transformation project aimed at building a common culture and shared digital processes for all of the Group’s brands

Client: Fabbrica Italiana Lapis ed Affini (F.I.L.A.)

Region: Italy

Sector: Manufacturing

Client’s Challenges: The F.I.L.A. Group needed to combine the control requirements of its network of companies with a higher degree of operating flexibility

Solution: F.I.L.A. implemented a new control system, developed in collaboration with Capgemini and deployable within each of the Group’s brands, to define common rules for all corporate processes and centralize the management of disparate business models into a single, global system

Benefits

• A single core operating model deployed across 20 companies and in over 150 countries
• Improved efficiency as the result of a single way of working
• A single system for the centralized management of multiple business models
• Implementation of logistics infrastructure for all of the F.I.L.A. Group’s products
• Better use of economies of scale for country-specific distribution networks

Building a single Group

Founded in 1920 in Florence and managed by the Candela family since 1956, F.I.L.A. has established itself as one of the world’s leading manufacturers of products focused on creative expression, with dozens of brands and thousands of products distributed on every continent. Through several waves of geographical expansion and penetration into new markets, combined with the acquisition of many important companies within the visual arts and plastics industries, F.I.L.A. has experienced rapid and continuous growth. Some of its most famous brands include Giotto, Tratto, Das, Didò, Pongo, and Canson from Daler-Rowney, as well as products for various markets, from education to fine arts.

In order to manage its global status, F.I.L.A. decided to implement a structured transformation program to leverage new manufacturing solutions that could be deployed to all Group companies to strengthen customer relations. This program was designed to optimize the distribution model, reshape intercompany coordination, and transform a series of local companies into a single, global entity.

Business transformation and enabling technology

To create a core model that combined control requirements with operational flexibility, the F.I.L.A. Group chose Capgemini as its partner. Capgemini was ideally suited to provide the company with expertise and established manufacturing best practices due to its extensive experience working with the SAP S/4HANA solution. The partnership enabled F.I.L.A. to rapidly embark upon a real business and technology transformation journey.

F.I.L.A. and Capgemini worked together to develop a new ERP platform based on SAP S/4HANA^®, which was initially implemented in 20 companies and then extended to the entire Group. As part of the development process, the partners identified a common operating model for all companies, defined a Group-wide chart of accounts, and implemented monitoring and controlling processes for investments and common current expenditure. In addition, the platform provided a unique model of accounting-financial and operational-commercial reporting, shared marginality control of both products and customers, and a standard process for identifying and classifying products that would enable F.I.L.A. to effectively manage an increasingly complex supply chain.

A single system for the management of every business model

The new control model, which defines common rules for all Group companies, led to the implementation of a centralized management system for several business models. This integrated all the typical processes of discrete production and distribution into a single way of working.

The extensive transformation project also reshaped F.I.L.A.’s demand-planning and logistical distribution model, leading to the creation of new infrastructure for all of the Group’s products, which was previously difficult to implement. In addition, thanks to the harmonization and sharing of product coding and the implementation of a common system, F.I.L.A. was able to better leverage the economies of scale of its country-specific distribution structures, making them available to all brands and local markets.

The project consists of a multi-year plan that involves the extension of the SAP solution to the whole Group and optimizes the company’s core processes thanks to the integration of innovative, cloud-based solutions within the SAP ecosystem. Such solutions include advanced sales forecasting systems, which are crucial in responding to dynamic market demand and the increasing speed of new product development.