IPS Case Study

Background

Nichiban’s diverse product lines—from medical supplies to office materials—had led to a highly complex operational system. Prior to SAP, the company relied on siloed legacy systems for accounting, purchasing, and sales, often custom-built or based on disparate software packages. These fragmented systems became a major barrier to realizing its new mid-term management goals from an IT standpoint.

Benefits of Implementation

Under the ISHIZUE 2023 – SHINKA & Transformation plan, Nichiban prioritized the proactive use of AI and IoT to drive business strategy. To break away from a “siloed, individually optimized” model and shift toward “cross-functional, company-wide optimization,” the company standardized and streamlined its processes.

In just one year, Nichiban succeeded in transforming its end-to-end business operations—from sales and production planning to cost management—using SAP S/4HANA.

Key Factors for Rapid Implementation

• Strong top-down alignment across the entire organization
• Thorough planning and investigation during the pre-implementation phase
• Extensive use of SAP standard features and templates
• Unified project vision and clear decision-making criteria via a project charter

Future Outlook

To implement the ISHIZUE 2023 – SHINKA & Transformation plan, Nichiban continues to restructure its core operations by adopting a globally standardized ERP system. The focus remains on streamlining core processes and integrating systems and data—enabling more strategic use of enterprise information.

Company Overview