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Irish Distillers Limited - S/4HANA Smart Re-Use™

IDL is the largest distiller of Irish Whisky and a subsidiary of Pernod Ricard. For these projects, we were able to rely on our proven Smart Re-Use™ approach, an integrated method where we examine the best way to design a transition to S/4HANA on a customer-by-customer basis.  

Why Irish Distillers chose McCoy  

Strategic objectives 

  • Ambition to grow from 12 to 20 million boxes of whiskey annually.

  • IDL wants to achieve this with the existing bottling plant and workforce. The emphasis here is on 'exception based' processes and far-reaching automation and digitalization.

  • An upgrade of the ERP landscape to SAP S/4HANA was a precondition for enabling the new way of doing business.

  • This makes the required insight a reality and allows the company to focus on its growth ambitions.

McCoy as a partner

As McCoy & Partners, we enjoy securing a project. But we find it even more important that we get to return after completing that project. Prior to the project we had already assisted IDL with a number of change requests, but more importantly in (preparing for) the go-live of projects. In this way we show that we are able to anticipate the customer's needs and that we are always there for them when they need us. 

In many projects, external factors such as changing legislation are mentioned as risks. In this project we actually came into contact with them. By switching quickly and intensively, also with the local authorities and tax experts, we were able to develop and implement a solution that avoided high import duties.

What they got out of it

  • A state-of-the art ERP landscape that forms the basis for growth

  • Cost reduction, automation of management and the benefits of a hyperscaler (the SAP landscape was also migrated to Microsoft Azure during the project).

  • Following the implementation of SAP S/4HANA, Irish Distillers launched improvement programs in the finance domain and supply chain planning that directly contribute to the business ambition.

How we achieved this together

Three success factors were crucial to making the mentioned results a reality:

  • Taking the first step towards S/4HANA. Instead of expanding the existing landscape (APO and ECC) with modules and customizations, the choice was made to invest in a future-proof solution.

  • Thinking along and making decisions. Together we chose the right solutions by focusing on the business drivers and future wishes and requirements of IDL.

  • Remote cooperation with the project organization in Dublin. A successful go-live within budget and time despite the challenging circumstances surrounding COVID-19. A result we are particularly proud of.