Overview
- Nidec Company - Global Appliance (EMBRACO)
- Engine and Compressor Industry
- Country E-commerce directorate
The Company
With more than 15,000 employees in 9 countries, Nidec Global Appliance manufactures and markets products for commercial and residential applications, including refrigeration solutions, motors for washing machines, dryers and dishwashers, as well as components for heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems.
It is focused on delivering a complete and innovative portfolio with high standards of quality, reliability, competitiveness and energy efficiency. The division is part of Nidec Corporation, a leading global manufacturer of motors and components for a wide range of industries, headquartered in Japan.
The business unit produces and markets Embraco refrigeration solutions, which since 1971 has been a global benchmark in technology for the complete cold chain with equipment that serves the domestic and commercial sectors.
Objective
In 2019, Embraco was acquired by Nidec Global Appliance, a division of Nidec Corporation - a leading Japanese company and one of the world's largest manufacturers of small precision motors for a wide variety of applications. The move strengthened its institutional positioning by expanding its market operations, opening a new chapter of growth in the company's history, enabling it to combine synergies between brands and products for domestic and commercial applications, including refrigeration solutions, motors for washing machines, dryers and dishwashers, as well as components for heating, ventilation, air conditioning and refrigeration (HVAC) systems. While the plants that manufacture compressors had SAP active, inherited from the Embraco acquisition, the others were not on the system and had to be quickly integrated, with priority being given to implementation in Austria, followed by Italy, Romania, Mexico, China and an S4-HANA upgrade.
Challenges
Nidec Global Appliance acquired the Austrian plant in June this year. Due to the acquisition process, some challenges became the basis of this business case:
- The rollout had a fixed date for the go-live, which was supposed to be within 5 months.
- Business spread between Austria, Slovakia, Italy and Brazil.
- Travel restrictions to Austria due to the pandemic.
- The BBP workshop was organized remotely.
- Tests organized to be carried out remotely.
- Core processes were changed throughout the project (Sales, Finance, Materials and Production).
- Production didn't have an English-speaking key-user (only German).
- Due to the purchase agreement and bureaucratic details, a number of points had to be detailed regarding the integration and use of SAP
Solutions
- With the restriction of dates, some phases had to be optimized, such as: prioritizing tests of core and high-impact functionalities, recorded training via hangout, a schedule with a set time for each user/process and monitored post-go-live support at Europa time to catch any problems that prevented the business from operating.
- Because of the acquisition agreement, the backoffice had to go live in a first wave, along with data conversion, and in another wave of production, there were many changes and interactions in the planning to suit the delivery date.
- As there was no Key-User (Nidec), the operation was distributed between Italy (direct purchasing, engine sales and customer care), Slovakia Service Center (Billing) and Slovakia (Spiska) with sales planning and logistics and Brazil providing support in corporate processes.
Results
- Breaking paradigms in rollout delivery time
- Flexibility and adaptation to the client's needs, always with a sense of urgency.
- The acquisition and the "service agreement" that had been set for a certain date have been reached.
- Customer trust and partnership.
- BackOffice operation stabilized in record time with better stock management controls, inventory and overall financial consolidation.