Fortune 100 CPG (Food & Beverage) multinational The Company
The issue was that, like the majority of sizable multinational corporations, this CPG company managed its international operations, which included Brazil, from a SAP Center of Excellence. IT was always on call for day-to-day production support difficulties since outbound Nota Fiscal processes in Brazil are expected to be real-time or the truck is not allowed to depart the loading dock. Their in-house Nota Fiscal solution included various components, including: SAP configuration, a print procedure, a middleware component, and specialised software for Nota Fiscal compliance, which added to the headache’s separate and bespoke nature. Beyond routine maintenance tasks, managing the evolving Brazil Nota Fiscal regulations necessitated modifications and settings for the in-house technology. These upgrades brought up two problems:
- For the internal solution, distinct instances were needed for production, quality assurance, and development. Due to this, the work became more challenging, particularly during the testing and shipment phases.
- Additionally, in addition to the software maintenance, every new nation change required the use of outside consulting services for upgrades, maintenance, and support.
The leadership therefore began exploring for an alternative when a new business requirement for December 2012 threatened the financial team with non-compliance and the logistical teams with an inability to ship.
- current and future SAP configuration concerns were resolved
- decreased support costs over time
- offered business support over the phone, available in English, Spanish, and Portuguese
- guaranteed adherence to any upcoming modifications
- removed several systems and duplicate hardware
- less adjustments now require the services of an independent consulting business
- gave access to a Latin American eInvoicing network that included coverage for Brazil and Mexico among other nations.
The Solution – This food and beverage manufacturer was able to maintain their current global version of SAP, comply with the recently mandated NFe changes, and safeguard their SAP system from future problems by using a SAP Rapid Deployment Template from a vendor focused on SAP and Latin America eInvoicing. Additionally, this CPG company will be able to modernise their SAP system on their terms rather than ones set by the peculiar laws of one particular nation thanks to the Rapid Deployment Template and Latin American eInvoicing Network’s methodology. The Latin America eInvoicing Network maintains connectivity for Brazil Nota Fiscal for Goods, NF for Services, CTe for Transportation Invoices, Mexico eFactura (CFD and CFDI), Argentina AFIP, etc. Changes to the local requirements are managed within the rapid deployment template, which alleviates the burden of constantly updating your ERP every time the local regulation changes.
The Lesson: Managing SAP’s internal software solutions Brazil Nota Fiscal can be complicated and expensive, with many software solutions, maintenance fees, hardware maintenance fees, day-to-day production support, continuing change management, and upgrade support, among other expenditures. Additionally, the majority of in-house solutions are nation-specific. Make sure you are aware of the support problems you are running into throughout both production and updates as your business tries to comply with the Latin American regulations that is continuously changing.