itelligence, Inc. and Bristlecone announced today the successful implementation of the SAP Advanced Planning and Optimization (APO) solution at Johnsonville Sausage. SAP APO is the planning component of SAP Supply Chain Management, which enables an organization to achieve improved customer service while reducing costs by leveraging demand planning, supply network planning, production deployment and Vendor Managed Inventory (VMI) functionalities.
Johnsonville has deployed the new system in an effort to improve demand and supply network planning. The implementation also required the identification and deployment of functionality to replace legacy planning systems, which began to be phased out in 2005. The successful implementation of SAP APO included all company manufacturing facilities, distribution centers, subcontractors, and VMI locations. As part of the implementation, sales history, customer orders, inventory, product, production and procurement information were imported into SAP APO from the Johnsonville legacy systems. Additionally, planned orders resulting from SAP APO planning runs were integrated into the legacy ERP system.
For the project, itelligence worked with APO implementation partner Bristlecone, and together enlisted their top SAP solution experts. "The Johnsonville project was a substantial effort that required creative solutions," said Steve Short, consulting manager for itelligence. "The reality is, to execute this kind of project the right way takes the right players. itelligence, Bristlecone and Johnsonville brought their best to the table, leveraging the strengths of all three partners."
Particularly unique for the Johnsonville implementation was the fact that it was a stand alone APO implementation involving integration with legacy systems that had to be executed prior to mySAP ERP" said Gregory P. Mekjian, Executive Vice President, Bristlecone. "The team we put together clearly identified their unique needs and came up with an optimal solution design and process change plan, which was completed on time and under budget, and we are very pleased at our collective effort to see them in a successful production environment."
"itelligence's expertise managing SAP implementations and Bristlecone's proficiency in SAP APO worked seamlessly with our own Subject Matter Experts (SME) who continued to sustain business across our peak seasons during the project," said Brian Harlin, master scheduler for Johnsonville Sausage LLC and project manager for the APO implementation. "Our choice in selecting itelligence and Bristlecone as our SAP implementation partners was obviously due to their respective knowledge and proven record in the mid-market CPG arena. With SAP APO in place, we have the confidence to move forward with mySAP in 2007."
"We were overwhelmingly pleased with the results of this project and partnership," said Steve Niesman, itelligence president and CEO. "We all share the passion to make Johnsonville a model for world class supply chain management, as they become an even stronger company moving forward."
About Johnsonville Sausage
Wisconsin-based Johnsonville Sausage is the number one national brand of brats, Italian sausage, smoked-cooked links and fresh breakfast sausage links. Johnsonville Sausage products are available in 39 countries including France, Canada, Mexico, Japan, Hong Kong, China and the United States. Johnsonville employs 1,000 members. Each of them takes ownership of product quality to ensure the excellence and "Big Taste" of Johnsonville Sausage. Founded in 1945 by Ralph F. & Alice Stayer, the company remains privately owned today.
About Bristlecone
Bristlecone, (www.bcone.com) is a global consulting firm focused on supply chain related business process and enterprise technology solutions. Headquartered in Milpitas, CA, Bristlecone helps clients in North America, Europe, the Middle East, India and the Asia/Pacific regions realize high business impact from improved supply chain planning and execution, and has been continually acknowledged by industry analysts as a leader in solutions for the extended supply chain. Bristlecone clients include globally recognized companies such as ABB, Applied Materials, Exxon/Mobil, Freescale Semiconductor, HP, Mahindra & Mahindra, Nike, Qatar Petroleum, Ranbaxy, Silicon Labs, Unilever, and Whirlpool.
About itelligence
itelligence, Inc. is a wholly owned subsidiary of itelligence AG, an international full service solution and consulting company with a global presence in 15 countries. Headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio, itelligence maintains regional offices in Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas and Minneapolis. itelligence provides a broad range of consulting services and customer support options, including implementations, call center, hosting and training services. itelligence is an SAP Vertical Solutions Reseller (VSR) for mySAP All-in-One solutions and an SAP Business Partner and reseller for the Small and Midsize Business (SMB) segment. Itelligence is one of only 12 consulting firms to earn SAP Global Partner status and one of only 6 to earn SAP Global Hosting Partner status.
For more information on itelligence and its SAP solutions, please visit www.itelligencegroup.com.
