In 130 years of growth and diversification, Nestlé has never lost sight of their core business: improving the quality of people's lives through high-quality, nutritious, and convenient prepared foods and beverages. Today, Nestlé brands are known on every continent, and some products -- like Nescafe, Carnation and Maggi -- are sold in more than 100 countries (Nestlé.com). .
Information Technology .
In June 2000, Nestlé signed a $200 million contract with SAP to install an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system for its global enterprise. The SAP system was intended to streamline over 200 operating companies and subsidiaries in 80 countries (CIO Magazine, 2002). .
Due to flawed business processes, Nestlé recognized the need for a new information system. In 1997, Nestlé, formed a team to examine the various systems across the company and found troubling redundancies. For example, they were paying 29 different prices for vanilla to the same vendor! With multiple purchasing systems, Nestlé developed a plan that would customize their business processes. This plan included the implementation of five SAP modules: purchasing, financials sales and distribution, accounts payable and accounts receivable (CIO Magazine, 2002). .
Due to the lack of stakeholders' involvement in the planning phase Nestlé experienced employee resistance and a "rebellion in the ranks- and total chaos (CIO Magazine, 2002). In addition, the project took on technical problems. The five modules lacked integration; for example, a salesperson would give a customer a discount, that customer would pay the quoted amount only for the accounting department to view the payment as a partial payment. .
According to CIO magazine, there are five take-home lessons that can be learned from Nestlé ERP:.
1. Don't start a project with a deadline in mind. Figure out the project requirements then determine how long it will take you to accomplish them.