3 examples of companies that used ERP successfully to support their business strategy and business model.

This week I will look at some examples od companies that have successfully used ERP in their business.

ERP is widely used by large organisations to integrate the management of internal and external resources.

I will look at three companies that used Enterprise Applications successfully to support their business strategy and business model.

Amazon is one of the largest companies in the world who have successfully implemented ERP into their company. Amazon’s business model is based on an e-commerce platform of buying and selling products, either with directly sourced products or through their third-party seller marketplace. At Amazon, their strategy is to prioritise the customer and offer a diversified range of products. The company has used SAP software since 2008 as they stated their previous software would not allow them to meet long-term goals. The company has implemented SAP across various departments such as finance, purchasing, and inventory control. Implementing SAP has allowed each of these individual functions in the business to have easy access to information across the organisation, which is essential for such a complex company. It also means the company has an integrated inventory management system which is hugely beneficial on such a large scale.

Another company that uses ERP systems in their business is Starbucks. Starbucks operates a chain business model of coffee shops, which is where most of its revenue comes from. According to Starbucks, their strategy centers around providing high-quality products and offering a premium customer experience. Starbucks uses Oracle Symphony ERP which is a cloud-based software that automates many activities. Oracle ERP provided the company with information on revenue, sales data, operations, and more. Starbucks has implemented a ‘point-of-sale’ data warehouse using Oracle, which allows baristas to send the order data back to the ‘cloud’. The company first implemented the software in 2002. At the time it allowed the company to streamline their supply chain as well as keep track of all data.

Finally, another company that uses ERP in their organisation is Cadbury’s. Cadbury is over 120 years old, and is now run by an American food company, ‘Mondelez International’. The company provided confectionary, mainly chocolate products, in over 60 countries. They aim to differentiate from other companies in the chocolate industry by offering high-quality products using top-quality cocoa beans and variety. The company implemented SAP into their company as they were facing issues with fulfilling manufacturing and distribution needs, the company needed to redesign their supply chain and procedures. The implementation of SAP allowed for increased warehouse management, faster expansion, and better efficiency. It also resulted in huge cost savings for the company. The company chose very efficient vendors which prevented any slip-ups happening during the implementation phase.

Many organisations have seen the benefits of using ERP to reach their goals as a business.