German confectionery giant Haribo is grappling with significant supply chain disruptions due to challenges in implementing SAP’s S4/Hana enterprise software. Since October, Haribo has been transitioning its fragmented IT landscape—which included aging systems from the 1980s across multiple countries—onto a unified SAP platform. However, the complex integration has resulted in notable delays, reducing Haribo’s ability to fulfill orders swiftly. This has led to empty supermarket shelves and a sales slump, with the company’s iconic Goldbären (Gummy Bears) experiencing a 25% drop in sales this year.
SAP implementations are notoriously complex due to their scale and impact on all areas of business operations, including production, inventory, finance, and HR. According to IT analysis firm Avispador, SAP’s newest S4/Hana package, though powerful, often lacks practical references from real-world implementations, leaving companies vulnerable to unexpected challenges.
Haribo is not alone in facing SAP-related obstacles. A history of failed or abandoned SAP projects among major corporations illustrates the difficulty of such large-scale transitions. German retailer Otto and Deutsche Bank abandoned costly SAP projects due to insurmountable complexities, while Deutsche Post and Edeka faced massive budget overruns. Lidl, Haribo’s competitor, invested nearly half a billion euros into an SAP project over seven years, only to cancel it when goals became unachievable within reasonable costs.
Despite the setbacks, Haribo is determined to continue its SAP rollout, seeing it as an essential move to modernize its IT infrastructure. A company spokesperson asserts that progress is being made, and Haribo remains committed to completing the transition. This case reflects broader challenges in implementing SAP systems but underscores the vital role of IT modernization in today’s business landscape.
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