TOKYO — SAP SE (NYSE: SAP) today announced that Asahi Group Holdings Ltd. (Asahi Group), a global manufacturer of beverages and foods based in Japan, has implemented SAP Ariba solutions to help its domestic group companies digitalize the procurement of indirect materials.
As the domestic beer market declined and demand overseas soared with the acquisition of several premium beer brands in Europe, Asahi Group is strengthening its business and pursuing rapid growth by distributing resources to higher-added-value brands both inside and outside the country.
By selecting SAP Ariba solutions as its sole indirect materials purchasing platform in the cloud, Asahi Group aimed to cut costs, strengthen compliance and improve efficiency and productivity. The implementation began in January 2019 at both Asahi Group and Asahi Professional Management Co. Ltd., which is responsible for Asahi Group’s business management. Asahi Breweries Ltd. followed in July 2019, with Asahi Soft Drinks Co. Ltd. and Asahi Group Foods Ltd. in January 2020. The rest of its group companies overseas will follow. Looking to 2021, Asahi Group aims to achieve ongoing cost reduction and compliance by having 80 percent of all indirect materials spend managed by its procurement team using SAP Ariba solutions.
With a global platform in place for procuring indirect materials, Asahi Group plans to increase collaboration and strengthen relationships with its global network of suppliers, and set standards for evaluating and continually improving its procurement transformation. Aligned with its goal to achieve strategic and sustainable procurement operations worldwide, Asahi Group will consider adopting SAP Ariba solutions for direct materials next.
SAP Ariba solutions help companies around the world maximize procurement efficiency, enhance collaboration with suppliers and focus on sustainability. More than 5 million companies across 190 countries are connected to Ariba Network, making it one of the largest digital business networks in the world. With 25.4 percent market share in 2019, according to IDC,* SAP maintains the top spot in the procurement applications software market with more market share than the next six vendors combined.
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*Source: IDC, “Worldwide Procurement Applications Software Market Shares, 2019: Year of Digitalization and the Cloud,” Mickey North Rizza, Jordan Jewell, Doc #US45245620, June 2020.
Media Contact:
Geraldine Lim, SAP, +1 (415) 418-0945, geraldine.lim@sap.com, PT
SAP Press Room; press@sap.com
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