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Faced with growing demands for traceability, food safety, cost control and sustainability, SAP Public Cloud ERP has established itself as the benchmark in the agri-food ERP sector.

In recent years, SAP has opted for industry specialisation to ensure the competitiveness of the companies that place their trust in it. A bet on the future that is already proving a winner with the announced end of monolithic ERP systems.

And this is the choice our client Alpina Savoie also made for its move to the Cloud.

Here’s the story…

Logo Alpina Savoie

Scope of work on the SAP S/4HANA Public Cloud conversion project for Alpina Savoie

Background to the SAP S/4HANA Cloud ERP conversion project with Alpina Savoie

At Sileron, we were very familiar with the agri-food ERP system for which we carried out this new SAP Cloud conversion project! It was an SAP ECC 6 ERP system with numerous custom developments. And the fact that we knew it so well was no coincidence.

As a TMA Sileron client, we had been responsible for corrective, preventive and evolutionary maintenance, as well as user support for the Alpina Savoie ERP system for two years.

Project summary:

Number of users of the solution 50 users
Project scope National roll-out of the S/4HANA Public Cloud ERP in an agri-food industrial environment
Initial ERP SAP ECC 6 with numerous custom developments
Selected ERP S/4HANA Public Cloud
Challenges
  • Improving Alpina Savoie’s profitability analysis through better monitoring of production costs
  • Integration of a new company (HEIMBURGER) into the SAP application landscape with standardisation of systems
Recommended ERP Cloud migration strategy Bluefield
Interfacing with non-SAP systems Yes, several. Among others: Switch from Esker to CIM (SAP)
Technical specifics
  • Integration of the S/4HANA Public Cloud ERP with an MES (Aquiweb, production management software)
  • Migration of the IWM module whilst strictly maintaining the organisation of the factory, warehouses and storage locations to facilitate adoption of the solution
  • Support in the creation and implementation of BI reports in SAP Analytics Cloud (based on the new SAP model using CO-PA financial analysis)

Why did Alpina Savoie choose SAP S/4HANA Public Cloud ERP for its agri-food ERP system?

Being able to manage factories, manufacturing, logistics and cost tracking in real time was a key priority for our client. And their objective was clear!

”By migrating to S/4HANA Public Cloud, our client Alpina Savoie aimed to improve its profitability

Winston – SAP S/4HANA Public Cloud Consultant

In practical terms, this involved:

1

Improving internal processes using “SAP Best Practices for the food and beverage industry”

For SAP, standardising business processes is a crucial step towards achieving operational efficiency. And that is precisely the point of migrating to a solution such as S/4HANA Public Cloud.
By redefining clear and uniform procedures, teams gain in speed of execution and accuracy. But that’s not all! Standardisation helps ensure better compliance monitoring and adherence to industry standards. Not to mention that once processes are standardised, it becomes easier for the company to identify areas for improvement. Data collected from standardised processes enables better performance analysis and targeted innovation.
2

Optimising TCO

Another major advantage of a SaaS Cloud solution lies in the budgetary aspect. By adopting SAP S/4HANA Public Cloud, the company avoids the costs associated with purchasing and maintaining hosting hardware. By opting for the Cloud version, with servers managed directly by SAP, substantial savings can be achieved.
3

The ability to switch quickly to the new solution

In this project, as is often the case, time constraints were a key factor. Alpina Savoie needed to deploy its new ERP within a limited timeframe. Thanks to the ‘turnkey’ nature of the S/4HANA Public Cloud solution, combined with the Sileron accelerated migration methodology.

Overview of the S/4HANA Public Cloud ERP conversion project with Alpina Savoie

In practical terms, this involved:

As with every project at Sileron, a scoping study, also known as a DDA (Digital Discovery Assessment), was carried out. This ensured that the processes specific to Alpina Savoie’s agri-food sector were fully supported by the Public Cloud version.

This involved:

  • analysing the requirements of the business, functional and user teams,
  • defining the scope of the new SAP ERP system,
  • recommending the S/4HANA Public Cloud solution.

The challenges encountered 

With an ageing ECC6 ERP system that had undergone numerous custom developments, our teams carried out extensive adaptation work, particularly in the Logistics area.

The legacy SAP CO-PC module was also a sensitive issue, as it is central to cost control and margin analysis.

Certain technical specificities unique to Alpina Savoie were also taken into account. The first concerned the integration of the new ERP with a manufacturing execution system (MES). In this case, this was the Aquiweb software. The second concerned the IWM module, which was successfully migrated to the new ERP whilst retaining the organisation of the factory, warehouses and various storage locations. The aim was, in particular, to retain the design of the handheld scanner screens (also known as RF terminals) to encourage adoption of the solution.

Benefits already evident for the client

But that was without taking into account our team’s expertise. At Sileron we firmly believe that having a specialist project team is essential for this type of project. And so it was our expertise in the CO-PC (industrial management control) and PP (Planning and Production) modules that made all the difference.

As a result, we enabled the client to:

  • simplify their monthly closing procedures for cost calculation (particularly work in progress): Alpina Savoie now benefits from a ‘continuous inventory’,
  • benefit from an intuitive and user-friendly ‘dashboard’ for monitoring production and analysing costs.

Next step: the implementation of electronic invoicing software

In practical terms, this involved:

As September 2026 approaches and the new Finance Act comes into force, Alpina Savoie, a major French company, will need to comply with the requirements for electronic invoicing.

To help them achieve this, at Sileron, we offer:

And if the deadline seems close, don’t panic! This upcoming project will be launched in 2026 and will be completed in a matter of weeks.

Are you looking for an agri-food ERP and want to switch to SAP S/4HANA Public Cloud? Or are you looking for a digitisation solution for your agri-food ERP?

This article was written by Tiphanie Le Gall with the participation of Winston Sydney-Smith, SAP S/4HANA Public Cloud expert at Sileron and translated into English.

SILERON
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