Area: Food industry / meat and delicatessen processing
Role: Sub-project management & senior consultant (lead consultant)
Focus: SAP PP & myMEAT Food Solution
Bell AG, headquartered in Basel, is one of Switzerland’s leading food manufacturers and part of the Coop Group. With production sites in Switzerland, Germany, France and other European countries, Bell produces high-quality meat, poultry, charcuterie and convenience products.
At its site in Kriens (Switzerland), Bell operates a central meat processing plant which, in addition to traditional production, offers a modern concept for personalised meat and convenience products in the premium segment.
As part of the group-wide IT modernisation, Bell planned to introduce a new SAP ECC system (greenfield approach) to replace existing, partly heterogeneous systems.
The aim was to integrate the Kriens site into the SAP system landscape (roll-in) and thereby create a uniform process and data basis for production, logistics, purchasing and quality management.
Project objectives:
- Development of a future-proof SAP ECC platform as a greenfield implementation
- Harmonisation and integration of production, procurement and quality processes
- Introduction of SAP modules in the areas of PP, MM, QM, SD and myMEAT
- Use of best practice processes to standardise the IT landscape within the Bell Group
- Establishing a basis for digital transparency, traceability and real-time production control
The project was strategically complex from the outset, as several operational and IT transformation strands ran in parallel:
- Coordination of SAP implementation with ongoing production lines and shift operations at the Kriens plant
- High requirements for food safety, batch traceability and temperature monitoring
- Integration of existing systems and interfaces (e.g. scales, labelling, production data acquisition)
- Tight schedule between evaluation, feasibility analysis and group approval
- Differing objectives between central IT strategy and operational plant requirements
These challenges necessitated a detailed evaluation phase with feasibility and profitability analyses.
- Introduction of an integrated production and logistics platform based on SAP myMEAT
- Development of an integrated process model from order to delivery
- Add-on integration (DPS, DGS, DGC) for digitising cutting and mixing processes
- Real-time integration of weighing stations and scanning solutions into the SAP process chain
- Development of a customised MRP tool for production planning and control
- Definition of a rollout template for additional locations
- Intensive key user training and process documentation
During the evaluation and concept phase, various scenarios for the introduction of SAP ECC were examined in collaboration with Bell and the departments involved. The analysis covered process designs, integration scenarios and the assessment of technical and organisational requirements.
However, as part of the Group’s strategic realignment, the project was halted before final approval for implementation was granted.