Great View to the Future with the Introduction of SAP S/4HANA®

Industry: Production & Trade

Products: Retailer & manufacturer of spectacle frames & sunglasses

Employees: About 700 worldwide (2020)

Headquarters: Schwäbisch Gmünd, Germany

Website: www.menrad.de

Design. Quality. Reliability.

For more than 120 years, MENRAD the vision has been family-owned in the fourth generation and has enriched the eyewear business with high-quality frames and sunglasses from a portfolio of world-renowned brands, including MENRAD, TED BAKER, BOGNER, SCOTCH & SODA, JOOP! and PEPE JEANS. Today, some of these brands are sold in over 100 countries. Headquartered in Germany, the retailer employs around 700 people and owns eleven branches worldwide. As one of the leading German companies in the eyewear industry, MENRAD strives to meet the dynamic requirements of opticians and eyeglass wearers, as well as those of IT. In order to handle the increasing volume of transmissions and to meet customer requirements, an efficient handling of incoming orders must be ensured by appropriate processes and a controlling system: This was achieved with the introduction of SAP S/4HANA embedded EWM.

The Vision. Global Processes in View

Moving away from a historically grown system landscape with many in-house developments and towards global processes close to the SAP® standard – together with NTT DATA Business Solutions, the project was launched under the name The Vision. A central database was established with the goal of standardizing the various international financial systems on SAP FI/CO. Thus, all expectations of a modern IT infrastructure could be fulfilled by the simultaneous introduction of SAP S/4HANA in 8 countries: Germany, Italy, Switzerland, Poland, Austria, France, England and the Netherlands. Thanks to the integrated software component EWM, essential requirements for an Extended Warehouse Management are met. Consistent warehouse processes enable an insight into the order status at any time across the entire supply chain.

Logistics Processes. Run Simple.

With the new solution, MENRAD benefits from efficient warehouse management, goods receipt and shipping- and outgoing goods processes as well as globally harmonized sales processes. The improved master data and inventory quality provided a clear overview of inventory levels in the system, which can be called up in real time using mobile data capture. The connection of SAP to the existing CRM system also ensures a mobile order entry. Combined with our shipping solution it.x-pressADD, the processes at the packing tables are also automated. Due to the direct connection to three different CEP service providers and the system-supported identification of the most suitable one based on various package characteristics such as weight and dimensions, goods are shipped more faster, and customer satisfaction is strengthened in the long term. Realtime analyses also ensure greater transparency across the entire group.

Looking Ahead. Into the Digital Future.

In total, more than 30,000 inventory items and 50,000 storage locations in the area of only 2,000 square meters were migrated to the new solution by using the greenfield approach. In doing so and together with NTT DATA Business Solutions, the standardization and integration of business processes in 8 countries were achieved. Now MENRAD can dispatch almost 700 transmissions daily via 3 shipping service providers – with only 15 employees working in the warehouse. Due to the additional development of a complex “material browser” within the customer order entry, the search for product features such as hierarchy, model or type has never been easier. With SAP S/4HANA embedded EWM, MENRAD has achieved its leading status and also proved it in the IT area, which means that the future solution has created the foundation for further innovation.