Datavapte Powers Global SAP Implementation for Shred-IT

Shred-IT is a leading global organization with over 30 years of experience providing secure shredding and document storage services for confidential information. Operating across 150 locations worldwide, including North America and most of Europe, Shred-IT also managed a significant manufacturing operation, producing its own shredding containers and devices used on its fleet of trucks. 

This ambitious project aimed to integrate the full suite of SAP software, encompassing services, billing, finance, manufacturing, and procurement. 

Shred-IT faced a multitude of significant challenges in their global SAP implementation: 

• Vast Geographical Scope: Deploying SAP across 150 diverse locations presented logistical and data management complexities. 

• Decentralized Legacy Data: The absence of an enterprise-wide data solution meant that data was localized across numerous systems, making data conversion to SAP an immense undertaking. The data was often inconsistent and required significant cleansing and transformation. 

• Complex Business Processes: Integrating Shred-IT’s diverse operations, including service delivery, manufacturing, and intercompany billing (where the head office billed its various locations for containers and shredding devices), into a unified SAP system was highly intricate. 

• Intercompany Billing Complexity: The internal sales of manufactured goods introduced a layer of complexity in setting up and managing intercompany billing processes within SAP. 
• Multilingual and Multicultural Environment: Implementing a global solution necessitated addressing different languages and cultural nuances across the various operating regions. 
• The primary goal was to implement this complex SAP solution without negatively impacting Shred-IT’s customer service and delivery model. 

Shred-IT partnered with Datavapte to augment their internal team with experienced SAP professionals. Datavapte provided consultants with deep expertise in the specific SAP modules critical to Shred-IT’s implementation, including: 

• Procurement (MM) 

• Manufacturing (PP) 

• Data Management 

• Service Delivery (SD-SL) 

• Distribution (SD) 

• Finance (FI) 

• Billing (SD) 

Datavapte’s consultants worked closely with Shred-IT’s business users to understand their unique requirements, develop the scope of work, and configure the SAP system accordingly. They played a crucial role in the challenging data conversion process, assisting in the extraction, transformation, and loading of data from disparate legacy systems into SAP. 

Furthermore, Datavapte provided invaluable support during the post go-live phase, assisting business users with the new system, answering questions, and resolving any minor issues that arose. 

Datavapte’s strategy focused on: 

• Deep SAP Module Expertise: Providing consultants with demonstrable experience and a thorough understanding of the SAP modules being implemented. 

• Independent and Proactive Approach: Delivering consultants who could work autonomously, manage their tasks effectively, and proactively communicate progress and potential issues. 

• Strong Business User Engagement: Ensuring consultants could build rapport with business users, effectively gather requirements, and translate them into viable SAP solutions. 

• Comprehensive Implementation Support: Offering support throughout the entire project lifecycle, from initial implementation and data conversion to post go-live assistance and issue resolution. 

• Focus on Timely and On-Budget Delivery: Committing to meeting project timelines and budget constraints. 

The partnership with Datavapte had a significant positive impact on Shred-IT’s global SAP implementation: 

• Seamless Customer Experience: Despite the complexity of the implementation, Shred-IT successfully met its goal of minimizing disruption to its customers. The transition to the new SAP system was largely transparent to their client base. 

• Successful Global SAP Go-Live: Datavapte’s expertise and support were crucial in the successful deployment of the full suite of SAP across Shred-IT’s extensive global network. 

• Effective Data Migration: Datavapte played a key role in navigating the complex data conversion process, ensuring the successful migration of data from diverse legacy systems into SAP. 

• Enhanced Internal Efficiency: The implemented SAP system provided a unified platform for managing Shred-IT’s diverse operations, laying the foundation for improved efficiency and data-driven decision-making. 

• Strong Post Go-Live Support: Datavapte’s continued support post go-live ensured a smoother transition for business users, facilitating adoption and resolving issues efficiently. 
• On-Time and On-Budget Delivery: Datavapte consistently met its commitments, contributing to the project staying on schedule and within budget.