Effective Integration of Trade Promotion Management Software with Demand Planning System and SAP ERP

Summary

A Dutch SAP-consulting company had purchased a legacy-technology trade promotion management (TPM) product and needed it tightly integrated with a Demand Planning System and SAP ERP — with high effectiveness and on a short timeline. INNERLUXES staffed an experienced team that analyzed the requirements, produced the technical documentation, and delivered the TPM-SAP integration on time and within budget.

About the Client

The Client is a Dutch-based consulting company focusing on SAP consulting for the food, pharmaceutical, and agricultural sectors. The Client provides design, implementation, and support for custom-tailored processes in finance, logistics, sales, maintenance, and quality control.

The Challenge

The Client purchased an innovative trade promotion management (TPM) software product based on legacy technologies. This product lets Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG) manufacturers control trade-promotion management more efficiently — planning, executing, and analyzing promotional initiatives and accessing the KPIs that manage and measure trade-promotion effectiveness, so companies can compare different initiatives and identify which works best. The Client needed to integrate the TPM software with the Demand Planning System and SAP ERP, with the main challenge being to complete the task effectively and on a short timeline.

The Solution

The Client chose INNERLUXES as a competent services provider to handle the project. INNERLUXES formed an experienced team of one business analyst and four Oracle and VBA developers. Throughout the project, both teams maintained a high level of cooperation, which the Client appreciated. They thoroughly analyzed the Client's needs, created an appropriate set of technical documentation, and successfully performed the tight integration of the TPM software with SAP. INNERLUXES's developers also proposed extension, improvement, and support of the TPM-SAP solution to enhance its efficiency — an initiative the Client approved.

The Results

• The TPM software was successfully integrated with SAP.
• The solution was delivered on time and without exceeding the budget.
• Ease of communication and control over on- and off-site teams ensured a seamless development process, and collaboration continues under a Maintenance & Support agreement.

Technologies and Tools

Oracle 9i–11g, PL/SQL, Oracle Forms and Oracle Designer, VBA.