Case Study: a Latin American engineering firm improves profitability analysis and cuts inventory costs with IBM and SAP

A Latin American engineering firm improves efficiency with enterprise-wide profitability analysis

A Latin American engineering firm faced a significant challenge after an acquisition, as its new unit relied on aging, decentralized systems that produced unreliable financial data. This prevented the company from understanding product line profitability and identifying operational inefficiencies, hindering its ability to compete. To address this, they partnered with IBM for a solution.

IBM implemented a comprehensive suite of SAP ERP applications, supported by IBM DB2 software running on IBM Power Systems. The implementation and ongoing management were handled by IBM Global Business Services. This solution provided the firm with accurate, enterprise-wide data, enabling them to reduce inventory by five days and cut inventory costs by over $150,000 annually. The project also released cash flow and saved $200,000 in labor costs in the first year.