SAP Business Transformation StudyConsumer Products

GRUMA STANDARDIZING BUSINESS PROCESSES TO SUPPORT GROWTH

QUICK FACTS

Financial and Strategic Benefi tsImproved visibility and control across •operationsImproved decision making at corporate level •through more reliable informationSharpened competitive edge with scalable •and flexible business platform Improved communication across business •units with process-oriented platform Increased confidence in regulatory •compliance and financial information

Operational Benefi ts • Reduced time to integrate new acquisitions by 50%Reduced time to close books by 80%, •allowing more time for financial analysisDramatically reduced manual reporting •processesRemoved reporting process from •dependence on IT

GRUMA is the worldwide leading producer of corn flour and tortillas and sells its products in over 50 countries. To support its expansion strategy into new markets in countries with diverse cultures and new product requirements, GRUMA opted to standardize its opera-tions on the SAP® ERP application. By establishing a common technology plat-form that supported country-specific variation, GRUMA made it much easier to expand, assimilate, and integrate the acquired companies.

Industry Consumer products – food

Revenue US$3.2 billion

Employees 19,000

Headquarters Monterrey, Nuevo León, Mexico

Web Site www.gruma.com

SAP® Solutions and Services SAP® ERP application; SAP solutions for governance, risk, and compliance; SAP Services offerings

Implementation PartnerIn-house expertise

Key ChallengesStandardize systems to support global •expansion and acquisitions Replace disparate IT architecture with •an integrated, flexible systemAccommodate varying international •governance regulations and settings Increase enterprise-wide visibility •Manage the business in real time •

Why SAP Was SelectedIntegrated platform with comprehensive •functionality Tools to accommodate global operations •Best business practices within the solution •Ability to align with international governance •regulations while enabling greater control

Implementation Best PracticesDefined GRUMA best practices template •to be replicated internationallyInvested in new user training •Set up implementation team with technical •as well as business expertiseUsed SAP® Services offerings to support •regional specifications and requirements

Low Total Cost of OwnershipEliminated legacy systems and maximized •existing infrastructure to support operations Leveraged existing in-house expertise •Consulted with SAP support services •to establish localized settings, instead reinventing the wheel internally

Gaining Flexibility and Agility

When GRUMA began operations in Mexi-co in 1949, its objective was to modernize the traditional Mexican masa and tortilla industry through industrialization and by introducing more ecologically sound and efficient processes. GRUMA achieved this goal and is now the worldwide leader in corn flour and tortilla production. When the company sought to duplicate its suc-cessful business model and expand into new markets, GRUMA looked to the SAP® ERP application to facilitate the process.

“We wanted to use SAP software as our standard business management platform to support international growth. As we expanded in the Americas, Europe, and Asia Pacific, we needed a software solu-tion that could accommodate country-specific variances for taxes, product requirements, and currencies, and even language and cultural differences,” says Juan Carlos Vela, GRUMA’s CIO. “We were already using the software, so we knew it could meet our business require-ments. And we knew we could work with the SAP Services organization to help us develop a global template to speed the rollout to newly acquired companies, and then adapt the software as needed to meet local requirements.”

Speeding Processes with a Global Template

To ensure synergistic value and rapid integration of new acquisitions, GRUMA

established a predefined template that met approximately 85% of the business requirements of acquired companies. This dramatically minimized the work to be done at the local level. In addition, the software’s ability to handle the Unicode character set enabled GRUMA to quickly introduce the software to its Chinese operations.

“The SAP software is an important tech-nology enabler,” comments Vela. “We’ve been able to manage organic growth and quickly merge new acquisitions using our in-house resources. With GRUMA’s SAP expertise, we have been able to aggres-sively decrease the implementation costs and timelines.”

By making use of built-in SAP software functionality and internal SAP software and business process knowledge, GRUMA’s implementation team was able to quickly adapt the software to local requirements, and at the same time exe-cute the change management processes to ensure rapid end-user adoption.

Achieving Worldwide Business Goals

By establishing a global rollout template, GRUMA was able to speed the integra-tion process with minimal disruption to day-to-day operations. “SAP software gives us the support we need to expedite our growth strategy,” Vela adds. “It enables us to quickly capitalize on the synergy we’ve created through our acqui-sitions and reduces our operation and administrative costs.

“GRUMA now manages in real time, so we can quickly react to market changes and new customers’ requirements,” continues Vela. “From our data center in Monterrey, Mexico, we can monitor our operations in Shanghai and assess their performance through key perfor-mance indicators.”

Looking Ahead

With its solid operational base, GRUMA’s IT team will be focusing on strategic projects to create additional value for its stakeholders. For example, GRUMA wants to integrate more tightly with its business partners by expanding its use of the SAP Supplier Relationship Manage-ment application. It also wants to enhance relations with its customers through more diligent use of the SAP Customer Rela-tionship Management application. But it doesn’t end there. “Top management has changed the way it views our IT depart-ment,” Vela explains. “IT has evolved from a cost center to a value-creation area. We’re looking to SAP to help us leverage our use of technology and enable our growth plan.”

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“GRUMA has been able to successfully integrate its acquisitions and organic

growth, based most importantly on its strong human capital and having

SAP [software] as its business platform among other factors.”

Juan Carlos Vela, CIO, GRUMA