From left: Eleanor Jacoba, alliance manager for SAP Philippines; Diane Fanelli, senior VP-Industries and Solutions for SAP Asia Pacific Japan; Therese Benjamarie Serrano, President of Vista Land; Manuel Paolo Villar, corporate planning head for Vista Land; Yasmin Calma, consulting director for Supply Chain Consulting; Carina Aguila, account manager for Supply Chain Consulting; and Jennifer Ligones, country manager for SAP Philippines.

Supply Chain Consulting, a Fujitsu company and an IT software and services provider has been awarded Best SAP ERP Implementation for Vista Land and Lifescapes Inc. and Best SAP Upgrade Project for International Container Terminal Services Inc. (ICTSI) (as the Implementation Partner of SAP Philippines for ICTSI) at the SAP World Tour 2009, in recognition of the company’s implementation of customized SAP solutions for its customers.

The year 2009 has been a notable year for growth and success for Supply Chain Consulting, as it continues to push through with expansion plans in the Philippines and globally, aided by its recent acquisition by the software giant, Fujitsu. The acquisition provides Supply Chain Consulting with a global reach and massive support base for its clients.

“The SAP awards are an achievement for Supply Chain Consulting, and acknowledge our excellence in identifying, implementing, and sustaining solutions that work for our customers. Receiving two awards this year cements our commitment to our clients and to our plans here in the Philippines,” Jan Biezepol, Supply Chain Consulting managing director for Asia said.

SAP awards are given by SAP to outstanding partners who have shown excellence in enhancing the customer experience with the use of SAP. The implementation of SAP addresses critical issues such as innovation and an improved return on investment.

ICTSI and Vista Land are in the ports and terminals, and real estate industries, respectively. The distinct business models and were provided customized business solutions showing Supply Chain Consulting’s strength in gaining insight into businesses and implementing industry-leading business solutions that improve decision making across an organization. Supply Chain Consultingprovides SAP enterprise resource planning solutions, which supports more than 25 industries and 43,000 customers worldwide.

“After a thorough assessment of SAP partners, we chose Supply Chain Consulting because of how they proposed to strengthen our business through top-of-the-line SAP ERP services. Supply Chain Consulting implemented a customized ERP solution that has not only helped streamline our business processes, but also reinforced and improved our resource management. We are impressed and satisfied with the way Supply Chain Consulting provided us with world-class service, and we look forward to having a continuous working relationship with them.”

“These awards do not only serve as testimony to the excellent performance of Supply Chain Consulting but also a reflection of the partnership and commitment of SAP Supply Chain Consulting to provide extreme value to our customers,” Biezepol added. “We look forward to continuing our commitment to quality and providing the best-available solutions for our customers here in the Philippines.”

Fujitsu, a  provider of business, information technology and communications solutions today announced that it has expanded its SAP and Oracle portfolio through the acquisition of the Australia and South East Asia operations of Supply Chain Consulting Pty Ltd, a market leader of SAP and Oracle enterprise solutions and services.

Fujitsu’s purchase of Supply Chain Consulting centers on the capabilities and reputation of its people and Fujitsu is committed to supporting this high value expertise as it aims to expand related offerings and services that it brings to market across Australian, New Zealand and South East Asian markets.

“The acquisition of Supply Chain Consulting extends our investments in the SAP and Oracle segment and will allow us to offer our customers unprecedented choice from a single provider of services and capabilities in the mid-tier, as well as the necessary scale to service the larger enterprise,” said Rod Vawdrey, CEO, Fujitsu Australia and New Zealand. “By combining Fujitsu and Supply Chain Consulting, we have one of the strongest portfolios of SAP and Oracle solutions, customers and capabilities and this will globally enhance Fujitsu’s expertise and offerings in this area.”

Fujitsu is now able to deliver innovative business solutions across new geographies. Fujitsu’s SAP and Oracle consultants will be supplemented by off-shore capabilities in the Philippines, providing additional global benefits to customers with offices, facilities and services located globally.

“The acquisition will strengthen the expertise that our clients rely upon and will enhance our ability to present a strong offering in the Australian and South East Asian markets,” said Vawdrey. “Our focus on delivering service excellence continues to be our most important priority”.

“Our dedicated teams have always focused on business results for our customers. We are now in a position to offer a broader range of solutions and services to support our customers’ investments in SAP and Oracle throughout their investment lifecycle. This is very exciting news for our people, our customers and our partners,” said Ian Hodge, managing director, Supply Chain Consulting.

For more information about Fujitsu partners or other solutions and offerings visit www.fujitsu.com.

SAP and Research In Motion (RIM) recently announced the availability of an integrated solution that provides customers with anytime, anywhere access to the SAP Customer Relationship Management (SAP CRM) application on BlackBerry smartphones.  The new BlackBerry Sales Client for SAP CRM, which was recognized at SAPPHIRE 2009 with a Pinnacle Award for Innovation, is now available from RIM, giving sales reps simple, secure, real-time access to customer information in SAP CRM with the same seamless and intuitive experience they have come to expect from BlackBerry smartphones. The new solution is being showcased by SAP and RIM at SAPPHIRE.

As enterprise mobility using smartphones becomes a business necessity, SAP and RIM are working to address the needs and expectations of business users through an integrated solution that enables secure real-time access to SAP CRM.  The integrated solution benefits organizations with enhanced employee productivity and service while empowering mobile users with the ability to access critical customer information on the go. The integrated solution also leverages the inherent security, management capabilities and efficiency of the BlackBerry Enterprise Solution, and introduces a number of key innovations for mobile CRM, including:

•          Instant Access to Up-to-Date Information - In just one or two clicks, users can gain access to up-to-date client information from a BlackBerry smartphone, including contacts, sales leads and logged activities. This seamless and intuitive CRM experience is made possible through deep integration between the SAP CRM application, the BlackBerry Sales Client for SAP CRM, and core BlackBerry smartphone applications.

•          Push-Based Notifications - The new solution can automatically deliver or “push” all customer data updates in the SAP CRM system immediately to the user, as well as pushing sales leads immediately to the sales representative’s BlackBerry smartphone inbox with one-click access to the new information.

•          Access to CRM Data Anytime, Anywhere - Users rely on their BlackBerry smartphones for access to people and information on the go. This new solution enables contacts and account information to be continuously accessible on BlackBerry smartphones, and a local cache system allows access to certain information even if the user is outside of network coverage.

•          Industry-Leading Security - SAP’s established enterprise application security combined with the renowned wireless security of the BlackBerry Enterprise Solution provides end-to-end encryption to help protect confidential customer information whether stored on a BlackBerry smartphone, in transit, or in the SAP CRM application. IT administrators can also securely deploy the BlackBerry Sales Client for SAP CRM to users over-the-air. 

“The integration of SAP CRM with BlackBerry smartphones provides simple, quick mobile access to customer information,” said Bob Stutz, corporate officer and member of the executive council, SAP.  “SAP and RIM have converged the worlds of applications and mobility on BlackBerry smartphones, empowering mobile users through continuous access to essential information that leads to increased sales, service, effectiveness and overall performance. We look forward to our continuing co-innovation with RIM to support mobile workers in reaping the benefits of real-time mobile access to enterprise applications in a secure setting.”

“SAP and RIM are setting a new standard for mobile CRM with a highly refined and secure user experience that will enable even greater adoption,” said Jim Balsillie, Co-CEO, Research In Motion. “This innovative new solution elegantly extends valuable customer information in SAP CRM to BlackBerry smartphones by leveraging the BlackBerry platform’s core strengths, including reliability, real-time push technology, deep application integration, and market-leading security. Together, we are delivering the best in enterprise mobility.” 

For more information, please visit  www.blackberry.com/sap

Aside from banks, the global retail industry has been hit hard as consumer spending decreased because of the effects of the global economic crisis. The world’s biggest consumer, the US, spent 9.4% less from last year, and companies are working hard to effectively address the low inventory-to-sales ratio, currently at 1.43. However, Asia is gaining ground in consumer spending, and Chinese consumers are taking the lead with increased retail spending of 15.9% in 1Q09. For the Philippines, leading economists from the University of Asia and the Pacific are predicting a steady increase in private consumer spending of 4% in 2009.

Global luggage retailer, Samsonite, recognized the Asian market early, and began strengthening its e-commerce and inventory platforms worldwide, but most strategically, in Asia. The world leader in luggage design and distribution partnered with Supply Chain Consulting to roll out SAP modules enhanced by the Supply Chain Software Factory, which includes inventory management, and logistics planning, with a final roll out in April 2009. The investment was a timely move that addressed inventory issues for Samsonite, and flew in the face of IDC predictions that the Asian IT industry will decrease by 7.3% against earlier forecasts. It was previously estimated that spending by companies in the Asia Pacific to reach US$23.4 billion, up 2.9% from 2008.

Jan Biezepol, Supply Chain Consulting managing director for Asia said, “Despite the new realities brought about by the economic downturn, companies in resilient industries such as retail should invest IT that maximize performance, especially in terms of inventory and supply chain management. These allow them to ride out the crisis and position them further for success through long-term reduction on business costs.”

Samsonite Asia’s partnership with Supply Chain Consulting includes the implementation of a SAP system, business process workflow system design, document procedure, and staff training for its Asian operations. The roll out proceeded smoothly beginning October 2009, immediately following the beginning of the crisis. Samsonite Project Atlas, as it is called, has resulted in significant cost reductions for Samsonite in Asia, taken from reductions in time-to-market and information sharing.

“It took a lot of the stress out of the decision for us at a crucial point in time. The solutions we acquired from Supply Chain Consulting enabled a disciplined approach to our scope of works and guaranteed a fast track implementation. Its framework meant we did not get carried away implementing functions that would provide minimal business return and substantially slow down the roll-out. I don’t think many people understand just how much hard work goes in to make a success like this happen so professionally,” Steve Clifford, CIO/ATLAS programme Manager of samsonite Asia stated.

Smart Communications Inc., the country’s leading wireless services provider, became the first Philippine customer to receive SAP certification as a Customer Center of Expertise (Customer COE) for SAP Solutions.  SMART’s certification followed a successful completion of SAP’s skills auditing process in December 2008.  This is a significant milestone for SMART and affirms their ERP systems standards organization-wide.  SMART’s certification also means that the Philippines can be included in the list of countries with an SAP-certified Customer COE.

“Given that SMART is a very dynamic organization, having an IT system which can adapt to the changing needs of the various business units is a must.  The system and solutions must also be simple and easy to use by our employees.  As a Certified Customer COE, the company’s IT Group has instilled the discipline and has grown in maturity as a result of using SAP solutions in its operations.  The team has honed its skill to evolve the SAP solution, making it continuously relevant to the business environment, while maintaining the stability of the systems used in daily operations,” said SMART chief wireless advisor Orlando B. Vea.

SMART COE team, called the IT Corporate Systems Department, spearheaded the integration of various stand-alone systems within the company, and delivered enabling solutions. The team handles ERP-related implementation, maintenance and continuous improvements in support of business requirements.

SMART chief information officer and IT Group head Wilma Cruz said “With SAP, the database of ERP-related transactions has been centralized, simplifying the solution landscape not only for SMART, but also for the PLDT (Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co.) Group.”  For instance, the Finance teams of the PLDT Group are now utilizing the SAP business consolidation system quite extensively to support the continuing expansion of the Group, as well as the need for Sarbanes-Oxley compliance.  Furthermore, the Human Resource Management and Development, Logistics, Purchasing and Properties Facilities Equipment departments are benefiting from the system. Aside from SMART, parent company PLDT, ePLDT, Inc. and other subsidiaries also use SAP.

A Customer Center of Expertise can serve as the single source of truth – and hub – for functional collaboration between the business and IT units, and between the organization and SAP, with SAP Solution Manager providing the necessary infrastructure. “The Customer COE can help increase the transparency of business processes, and limit downtime to boost system and process availability,” said Jennifer Ligones, Country Manager, SAP Philippines.

In order to achieve primary certification under the Customer COE, there were five key areas that were reviewed, namely contract management, support desk, information management, coordination of innovation requests and service planning. “Customers should really leverage the Customer Center of Expertise as this ensures business continuity, innovation and protection of investment, business process improvement, and the reduction of total cost of operations,” said Juergen Reinhardt, Vice President of SAP Active Global Support in South East Asia.

“SAP is truly proud to count SMART as the first Customer COE certified customer in the Philippines.  This is a milestone for both SAP and SMART because it affirms our commitment in pursuing excellence in the implementation and ongoing use of SAP. We hope more companies follow this lead moving forward,” Ligones added.