A Blue Ocean Systems Success Story...

Iron Man, Mr. Potato Head, My Little Pony and Blue Ocean Systems work together to open Hasbro’s toy lines in Peru

ron Man, Mr. Potato Head, My Little Pony and Blue Ocean Systems may make an unlikely Fantastic Four, but for Hasbro Latin America they are working to- I gether to open the company's toy lines in Peru. Hasbro Latin America handles Hasbro's entire prod- our first person there just last October, and we uct line throughout all of Latin America, except for are just starting to receive product there now." Mexico. The company's trademark line provides ac- tion toys for boys and girls such as the Transform- "As of today, we have very little experience ers; Star Wars characters; Marvel Products, includ- in using the SAP Business One product, and ing Spider Man and Iron Man; Strawberry Shortcake no operational experience at all, yet," Perez and the My Little Pony line of toys and accessories. said. "But a corporate neighbor of ours here in Miami installed SAP Business One in mid- Hasbro also produces board games such as Monopo- 2007, and I liked that system." ly, Clue, Operation and Twister, as well as Playskool products, PlayDough and Mr. Potato Head for the pre Perez said he wanted to use SAP Business One in -school market. Brazil, but couldn't find anyone there who used it. "But after talking with SAP about the Elias Perez, operations director for Hasbro product, they recommended Blue Latin America said that prior to opening its Ocean Systems, and so we called them office in Peru, the company all orders, and met David Smith." shipping ad plan- ning from its "Blue Ocean Systems knows how to work "David was assigned headquarters in to coordinate and run quickly and efficiently," Perez said. Miami. our project with Blue Elias Perez, Operations Director Ocean Systems," Pe- "Although we Hasbro, Latin America rez said, "and we had could distribute the advantage that our line of toys Blue Ocean Systems and games in Peru from our headquarters here already had people working in South America." in Miami, we wanted to start our own distribu- tion system directly," Perez said. "We contacted Blue Ocean Systems in October 2009." he said, "and after a telephone confer- Perez noted that Hasbro already was using SAP R3 in ence call Blue Ocean Systems performed a a major upgrade of its U.S. and Canadian opera- demonstration of SAP Business One online." tions, and was using SAP R3 in Miami, Brazil and Chile. Hasbro, however, was unable to integrate its "Blue Ocean Systems knows how to work quickly system into Peru, Perez added, and "had to find a and efficiently," Perez said. "We are already up quick solution for Peru." and running."

"Peru is a brand new office," Perez said. "We hired Perez noted that the Peru project was approved

A Blue Ocean Systems Success Story…Hasbro in December 2009, "and we were up and running in "That was the most difficult issue," he said. "You March." need a package of localization you can plug in and be legal right away per corporate and gov- "And it took that long only because of all the holiday ernmental regulations." down time in December and January," he added. SAP Business One "We worked is a "proactive sys- directly with "Our expansion plans include a new office in tem," Perez said. Blue Ocean Colombia and we will definitely use Blue Ocean "It takes time to Systems, and Systems and SAP Business One there, as well." implement. And David Smith in although it's not as particular, Elias Perez, Operations Director flexible as SAP's throughout Hasbro, Latin America R3, you can apply the entire pro- localization easier cess," Perez and make minor said. changes."

"Our first session was in Miami where we drew up Perez noted that "compared to SAP R3, there plans for the system," he said. "After that, we met are a lot of differences. SAP Business One may twice a week, at a minimum, online to discuss the not be as overpowering as SAP R3, but its ad- project as it moved forward." "And finally, we all vantage lies in its smaller size." He also ob- met in Peru for a week to finalize the project," he served that SAP Business One needs less man- added. power to support the system.

Perez said that Hasbro Latin America "hopes to start "That is probably one of the major reasons for billing the first week in May. We are just waiting for going with it, along with its flexibility," Perez our product lines to clear Peruvian customs." said.

Early May will be "the first real operational test of And Blue Ocean Systems' reputation of on the system," Perez said, "and then volume will start time and on budget performance definitely up in July." will be included in Hasbro Latin America's future plans, Perez said. The system includes "basically everything we need to run the Peruvian operations directly from there, "Our expansion plans include a new office in Co- instead of having to buy directly from Miami, as we lombia," Perez said, "and we will definitely use have been doing," he said. Blue Ocean Systems and SAP Business One there, as well." "Now, we will be able to offer the entire Hasbro line "And we may also use Blue in Peru live," he added, with complete control of or- Ocean in Korea as well when we dering, billing, inventory control, customer infor- start our operations there," mation and other functions in-country." he said.

Perez said he "enjoyed working with Blue Ocean Blue Ocean Systems pro- Systems," and has plans to include them in future vides quality personal, Latin American and other operations. "The entire professional, and experienced small business and technology installation worked efficiently and smoothly," he consulting services. We apply big business knowledge and experience to a small business owner’s unique needs. SAP said. "Of course, there are always glitches and im- Business One gives you complete control. plementation problems to solve; it's the nature of www.blueoceansys.com the beast of any IT project." SAP is a trademark or registered trademark of SAP AG in Germany and in several other countries. www.sap.com One part of the project "that took most of the time" was having to localize versions of SAP Business One Copyright Blue Ocean Systems LLC. All rights reserved. to comply with local laws and accounting rules.