IPS Case Study

Challenge: Contributing to Faster Consolidated Closing for the Toray Group

Timely disclosure of financial results—including consolidated reports—is increasingly seen as a key indicator of corporate value in today’s markets.

As a core trading company responsible for the Toray Group’s overseas operations, Toray International (TI) recognized that playing a leading role in shortening the group’s financial closing process would not only fulfill group objectives but also enhance its own corporate value. This initiative began with a concrete effort to leverage SAP ERP as an integrated information platform.

Beyond ERP Implementation

TI had already implemented SAP ERP using the IPS Public Package (Trading Company Model), which had significantly streamlined its internal closing operations. SAP’s comprehensive ledger database had become a valuable source of operational insights.

With this foundation, TI aimed to shift into a new phase: leveraging data organization-wide to increase productivity and improve operational quality—not just running the ERP system, but actively using the information it held.

Results Achieved Through SAP BW

SAP BW (Business Warehouse) provided an infrastructure that allowed users to work with the comprehensive ledger data using familiar tools like Microsoft Access and Excel. A new project was launched to accelerate the financial closing process using BW.

As a result, what had already been shortened to a 3-day closing process through SAP ERP was further reduced to just half a day with BW. Additionally, the two-week task of preparing consolidated reports was shortened to one week.

Prior to these implementations, TI struggled to meet the April 14 submission deadline for consolidated financials. With SAP ERP, the deadline was met for the first time—and with BW, the submission was moved up by an additional week.

Overtime during closing periods, which once averaged around 100 hours per employee per month, was reduced to 60–70 hours. The success of these efforts not only improved TI’s own financial processes but also contributed significantly to the Toray Group’s closing timeline, earning the project internal recognition in the form of the company’s President’s Award.

Company Overview

Founded	December 20, 1986
Employees	380 (April 2003) / 563 (as of March 2022, domestic only)
Capital	¥1.6 billion (2002) / ¥2.04 billion (2022)
Sales	¥191.1 billion (2002) / ¥570.1 billion (2021)
Industry	General Trading Company
Business	Handles a wide range of products including textiles, chemicals, machinery, and apparel—mainly focused on overseas trade
SAP Scope	Implemented modules for procurement, inventory, sales, financial accounting, and controlling The accounting module and a model sales department were brought live over the first year, followed by a phased go-live for the remaining sales departments over the next six months. SAP BW was also implemented as an additional solution.
Implementation Period	SAP ERP: November 1999 ~ July 2001 SAP BW: September 2002 ~ August 2003