Superquinn is implementing an integrated enterprise resource planning (ERP) solution and is claiming to be the first grocery retailer in Ireland and the UK to do so. The Irish retail group is understood to be spending several million euro on ‘mySAP Retail’ from the business-software provider SAP.
The solution will be used to consolidate and integrate the company’s entire management information systems. Implementation is already under way and the entire project is due to be completed by the middle of next year.
The SAP system is primarily intended for use in Superquinn’s support offices. The package comprises a number of integrated modules, including Supply Chain, Financials, Customer Relationship Management, Quality Assurance, Talent (HR) and Data Warehousing. The new system will deliver fully planned end-to-end business process analysis, fully integrated with financials.
A reporting feature in the new system will provide Superquinn with real-time data, which it can put to use for calculating actual customer spend, making forecasts, planning demand, controlling inventory and replenishing shelf stocks. The data supplied by the ERP package will also provide greater levels of customer information to Superquinn, such as details of buying patterns, which will in turn allow the retailer to target promotional offers more effectively.
Since establishing a new distribution facility last year, Superquinn has been speeding up the time for ordering goods to place on its shelves. It is now receiving products on a daily basis and the SAP system is allowing the retailer to manage this process better, said Superquinn deputy chairman Eamonn Quinn. “It is giving us a much better in-stock position,” he said. “That is the ultimate measure of how an investment like this works.”
The ERP system will also allow Superquinn to communicate more effectively with its suppliers via Electronic Data Interchange (EDI). “We had it on a very limited basis but we really held off on it until we did this,” Quinn added.
By Gordon Smith
