Capgemini has in recent months won two large digital transformation projects. The management and technology consulting firm is helping Cathay Pacific Airways with a major upgrade of its finance and procurement functions, and the company is supporting home appliances manufacturer BSH Hausgeräte with a global overhaul of its IT architecture.
Finance & Procurement transformation at Cathay Pacific Airways
With a fleet size of over 140, and a flight network spanning 190 countries, Cathay Pacific Airways is one of Asia’s larger airline companies. Facing stiff competition, the Hong Kong based company is continuously seeking ways to optimise operations, while growing client service avenues. Against the backdrop, Cathay Pacific Airways last year launched a large strategic programme with the aim of improving its finance and procurement operations. Titled ‘Horizon8’, the programme will according to Raymond Fung, who leads the initiative, following go-live create several valuable benefits for the airline, including more transparency in spend, improved route profitability insight and faster plus more accurate financial reporting.
To facilitate the improved finance and procurement operations, Cathay Pacific Airways decided to implement SAP S/4HANA. The solution will cover end-to-end procurement and financial transactions, while also serving the airline’s needs on planning and budgeting, financial consolidation, profitability analysis, and business intelligence and reporting. A key factor in the decision for SAP S/4HANA was the system’s in-memory computing functionality, which allows Cathay Pacific’s users to gain instant access to detailed, real-time information.
Over recent months a team of over 100 professionals have been working on the setup, data migration and implementation of the new business processes. The programme is supported by Capgemini, which has provided a team of airline experts and SAP functional and technical consultants. Commenting on the partnership with the airline, Sumit Nurpuri, Capgemini’s Chief Operating Officer in South-East Asia said, “This transformational project at Cathay Pacific Airways is a testament to Capgemini’s significant aviation and SAP software experience across the world. We are delighted that the programme will (once live) enable one of the world’s top airlines to benefit from cost efficiencies and new digital capabilities in the years to come.”
The programme is according to both parties on track to go-live next month, covering 3,000 of Cathay Pacific’s users across 30 countries.
Last year, in similar technology-led projects in the aviation industry, Transavia, the low-cost carrier of Air France/KLM, hired Capgemini to support a NetSuite OneWorld implementation. Rival firm Cognizant were meanwhile recruited by Etihad Airways to improve the carriers’ digital guest experience, while Air Mauritius turned to IBM and KPMG to oversee the revamp of its technology operations.
IT architecture overhaul at BSH Hausgeräte
With more than 58,000 employees operating in around 50 countries globally, BSH provides a wide range of home appliances under fourteen well-known brands such as Bosch, Gaggenau, Neff and Siemens to customers worldwide. In a bid to improve the order experience for its B2B customers, BSH turned to Capgemini.
Capgemini is collaborating with BSH to enhance the company’s IT architecture, maintenance and development services. The project will help BSH to achieve its digital transformation vision by improving its worldwide B2B commerce portal, as well as increasing BSH’s retail efficiency and agility. Working closely with the client, Capgemini’s team carried out a review, rebuild and rerun of BSH’s B2B order management solution using SAPUI5, a user interface (UI) development toolkit for HTML5 that simplifies the task of building and deployment on multiple devices. The project was delivered with Agile methodology and collaborative sessions between the business, IT and design teams were held at Capgemini’s Applied Innovation Exchange in Munich, a space that is set up to accelerate the deployment of innovative products and services.
The upgraded order management solution has, according to BSH, a simplified IT architecture, is responsive to multiple mobile devices, and enables retailers to offer a better customer experience to consumers on the shop floor. It also makes use of analytics platforms, including Adobe Analytics, to provide the company with more valuable insights about customers.
The solution was first rolled out in the Netherlands in November 2016, and is following a global roll-out set to reach 20 markets in total by the end of this year. Commenting on the transition, Joachim Johannes Reichel, CIO of BSH, said: “Renewing our order management solution was a project we saw essential to further strengthen relationships with our B2B customers. We have already witnessed an improved customer experience while gaining more actionable data-driven insights from the roll-outs, too. The project is a lighthouse regarding what can be achieved when multiple IT, business and design teams work together.”
Remarking on the partnership with Capgemini, he stated, “Capgemini brings to the table deep architecture know-how, UI/UX design competency and a profound business understanding in a highly collaborative approach – a key success factor for this project.”
sourced from www.consultancy.uk