Retail Business challenge Salling Group A/S operates more than 1,500 stores across four countries. The organization required a powerful enterprise resource planning (ERP) infrastructure to process its nine million daily transactions. Transformation With over 1,500 store locations, Salling Group is one of the largest retailers in the EU. It relies on an SAP ERP system running on the IBM® Db2® data management system supported by IBM POWER® servers and IBM Global Technology Services® (GTS). As a result, Salling Group keeps costs low, minimizes downtime and outpaces its competitors in terms of efficiency. Results “We have consolidated Salling Group A/S everything on SAP, and USD 520,000 in annual savings that makes us 20% more as a result of consolidation on the SAP efficient than our platform Major retailer chooses IBM for competitors using SAP Centric.” <2 hours of downtime in 2019 savings, resiliency and thanks to load balancing capabilities and —Steen Isdahl, Chief Operating a resilient infrastructure sustainability Officer of Infrastructure, Salling Group A/S 96% reusable hardware Established in 1906, Salling Group is one of the EU’s largest retail groups. Among in keeping with a commitment to its most well-known brands are Bilka hypermarkets, Salling department stores, sustainability føtex supermarkets and Netto discount stores. In all, the organization operates more than 1,500 stores in four countries and employs more than 50,000 people. Salling Group is based in Brabrand, Denmark, and reported revenue in excess of DKK 59.4 billion in 2018. Share this A retail powerhouse providing a particular strategic advantage because they enable the With more than 1,500 shops including organization to replenish its stores department stores, hypermarkets, twice a day. If an item sells out in one supermarkets and discount stores, store, the SAP data empowers Salling Salling Group is a retail powerhouse Group to fluidly move inventory from in Denmark and beyond. The other stores to meet demand. As a company operates 11 warehouses result, customers can rely on Salling and works with more than 7,000 Group shops to have the products suppliers each day. Its customers can they need. shop online or in stores, day or night. Each day, Salling Group processes Furthermore, Salling Group’s shops more than nine million transactions. now offer a click-and-collect option that allows customers to order Salling Group began with a single products online and pick them up in shop in Aarhus in 1906 and has the store. This creates tremendous grown by leaps and bounds in the real-time demand in an industry intervening years. That kind of growth where customers have increasingly doesn’t happen without careful high expectations. To date, according strategizing around everything from of Infrastructure at Salling Group, picture of the truth,” says Isdahl. “Our to Isdahl, Salling Group has a 99.94% brand development to store locations considers remarkable. “You can be competitors have several ERP completion rate for click-and-collect to corporate leadership. As with any impressed,” he says. “Everybody systems, but we have consolidated purchases. modern retailer, technology is of was. We were, too.” everything on SAP, and that makes Another key advantage of the IBM particular importance for Salling us 20% more efficient than our Db2 for SAP software and POWER Group, and the company regularly competitors.” assesses its ERP system. For more A flexible and Systems model is capacity-on- than 13 years, a combination of efficient system Isdahl cites SAP Forecasting and demand that redistributes the ERP POWER, Db2 and SAP technology Replenishment, SAP Allocation workload on an as-needed basis. Clearly, the success of the upgrade to supported by Global Technology Management and the Unified That capability was particularly POWER8 hardware deserves Services has helped make Salling Demand Forecast component of SAP helpful on Black Friday of 2019, recognition, but Salling Group’s entire Group one of the most successful Customer Activity Repository with says Isdahl, when Salling Group online and brick-and-mortar retailers ERP system is equally noteworthy. In was the sales winner across all in the Nordic region. fact, Isdahl credits the organization’s e-commerce sites. 3-layer SAP model as a key “We love working together In 2018, the organization confirmed differentiator for the group. The With such a powerful IBM and furthered its commitment to IBM system, which runs on Db2 on with IBM. We have infrastructure, it’s no surprise that technology when it upgraded from POWER technology, includes SAP developed a strong Salling Group enjoys a strong IBM POWER7® to IBM POWER8® ERP Central Component (ECC), SAP process that’s working working relationship with Global servers. It took just six and a half Customer Activity Repository and really well for us.” Technology Services. Carsten Holm, months to move more than 70 SAP SAP e-Commerce along with roughly Head of SAP Infrastructure at Salling —Carsten Holm, Head of SAP systems to POWER8, a feat that 70 other SAP products. “Our main Group, explains: “We love working Infrastructure, Salling Group A/S Steen Isdahl, Chief Operating Officer advantage is that we have one single together with IBM. We have developed a strong process that’s working really well for us.” 2 sustainable product group on IBM Reaping savings Solution components “If you want to have good POWER. That’s very important to us,” and benefits ® ® stability and good says Isdahl. • IBM Db2 for SAP The business benefits of Salling • IBM Global Technology Services® performance, our advice After so many years and such Group’s Db2 for SAP software and ® would be to use IBM positive results from its Db2, POWER • IBM POWER8 POWER Systems infrastructure are POWER, SAP, IBM Db2 and Systems and SAP infrastructure, • SAP Allocation Management wide and plentiful. One key benefit is IBM Services. It’s a really Salling Group has a simple message in price performance. According to • SAP Commerce Cloud strong combination.” for other companies considering a Isdahl, the decision to consolidate its • SAP Customer Activity similar setup. “If you want to have ERP system on SAP technology Repository —Carsten Holm, Head of Sub- good stability and good performance, didn’t just simplify operations. It also Infrastructure, Salling Group A/S our advice would be to use IBM • SAP ERP Central Component brought about a 100% increase in POWER, SAP, IBM Db2 and GTS. • SAP Forecasting and SAP Application Performance It’s a really strong combination,” Replenishment Standard (SAPS) benchmarks, which ECC and SAP Forecasting and says Holm. he says results in approximate Replenishment and then sending savings of USD 520,000 per year. figures to 11 separate warehouses for grocery distribution the next day. Take the next step Customers, too, reap the benefits of To learn more about the IBM Salling Group’s ERP system. “We Another standout feature of the IBM solutions featured in this story, please count every minute that there’s solution is its reusability. Salling contact your IBM representative or impact to our end users, 24x7,” Holm Group has a strong focus on IBM Business Partner. explains. “Last year, we had a little sustainability and climate friendliness. more than two hours of downtime or This includes promoting organic impact—two hours for a whole year. farming methods, reducing food That is extremely impressive.” waste and cutting down on the amount of plastic packaging in its Holm adds that the organization has stores. The fact that the organization gone nearly 500 days without a delay was able to reuse 96% of its POWER in the daily replenishment run. The stack after upgrading to POWER8 run involves processing transactions servers is meaningful to both Isdahl from all 1,500 stores through SAP and Holm. “IBM is building a Customer Activity Repository, SAP © Copyright IBM Corporation 2020. IBM Corporation, IBM Services, New Orchard Road, Armonk, NY 10504. Produced in the United States of America, May 2020. IBM, the IBM logo, ibm.com, Db2, Global Technology Services, POWER, POWER7, and POWER8 are trademarks of International Business Machines Corp., registered in many jurisdictions worldwide. Other product and service names might be trademarks of IBM or other companies. A current list of IBM trademarks is available on the web at “Copyright and trademark information” at www.ibm.com/legal/copytrade.shtml. This document is current as of the initial date of publication and may be changed by IBM at any time. Not all offerings are available in every country in which IBM operates. 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