We required a modern solution to underpin our company digitisation strategy.

Facts & Figures

March 2021

Company Facts:

Company: frigemo ag

Industry: Food production

Number of employees: approx. 950

Project Facts:

Implementation of SAP S/4HANA

Simultaneous implementation at ten sites

Leader in the fresh convenience sector

Digital evolution – a corporate strength

The frigemo Group produces and sells fresh and frozen produce. Based at 17 sites across Switzerland, it is one of the strongest players in the convenience food sector. Each day, the group’s 950 employees supply 400 tons of goods and fulfil over 3,000 customer orders. The company is famous for the fries that it has been exclusively producing for McDonald's at its site in Cressier (NE) since 1976. Seven tons of fries per hour!

Challenge

As the company continued to grow, its operations became more complex, with the majority of its make-ready processes still paper-based until recently. There was significant catching up to do, both here and in terms of standardising the group’s various systems. The ageing ERP systems needed to be replaced with up-to-date software. “We required a modern solution to underpin our company digitisation strategy. The previous systems were not fit for the future,” explains Baptiste Gremaud. The main focus was on paperless working, efficiency improvement, process analysis and optimisation and developing automated data exchange.

Several locations
SAP S/4HANA also needed to be rolled out simultaneously across ten different locations. This was nothing short of a Herculean task, particularly in respect of the trading companies. “When goods arrive, they need to be picked and then sent straight back out,” says Baptiste Gremaud, giving a flavour of the fast-paced nature of the business. “We needed to be sure that at least 80% of operations would be guaranteed once the system launched.”

Solution

The company’s objectives were set. Due to the fenaco cooperative’s existing SAP systems, an SAP solution was necessary. But there were no comparisons available within the rest of the convenience sector at the start of the SAP S/4HANA implementation process. “There was no standard solution. Thanks to Swisscom’s support, we were able to incorporate and implement our own requirements,” says Chairman of the Management Board, Beat Wittmer, with pride. frigemo suddenly found itself in the lead.

The company has taken the first step to a digital future and Beat Wittmer believes that the big bang implementation has been hugely successful. “The very next day, we were able to guarantee between 80 and 95% of all operations, depending on the area in question. Today, we are significantly further ahead. By implementing SAP S/4HANA, we have managed to digitalise our processes and we are now in the position a company like ours needs to be.”

Tangible benefits
frigemo clearly hopes to increase its efficiency and effectiveness through the new SAP system, with quantifiable improvements expected to follow. “We have not seen an increase in efficiency thus far. However, over the next two to three years, we expect to see a significant increase in efficiency alongside a tangible reduction in costs,” explains Head of Finance, Baptiste Gremaud. “At present, it is more important that the new system enables us to develop our electronic data exchange professionally.”

Relevant real-time data
Customers want a straightforward and comprehensive ordering and supply service with the provision of corresponding real-time data. Beat Wittmer thinks this will be possible in the near future. “SAP S/4HANA allows us to make relevant product data digitally available to customers at any time.” To achieve this, frigemo will need an interface containing up-to-date product data from suppliers. In the meantime, Baptiste Gremaud is already thinking about another opportunity for digitisation: “If chefs in restaurants and canteens make their menu planning digital, orders could be sent direct to us on that basis.” Including fries, of course.