Waregem, 12 October 2023 – Electrical equipment distributor Cebeo is gradually replacing its forty-year-old customised system with SAP S/4HANA, SAP’s next-gen ERP solution. Cebeo’s finance processes will go live first. When the full implementation is complete, SAP S/4HANA will form the heart of Cebeo’s best-of-breed system landscape. Ctac is supporting the Belgian market leader in this challenging operation.
Cebeo will celebrate its 101st birthday in 2023. Over the past century, the company has grown to become the largest and most important distributor of electrical equipment in Belgium. Cebeo has 53 branches, a state-of-the-art distribution centre and over 1,100 employees. Professional buyers can turn to the wholesaler for every conceivable product, from installation materials, home automation and heat pumps to cabling, lighting and tools. Cebeo’s extensive range includes more than 1.6 million products. More than 50,000 products are available directly from stock. The company now has an annual turnover of more than 800 million euros. Cebeo is expected to reach a turnover of one billion euros annually in the not too distant future.
From customised ERP to SAP S/4HANA
CIO Steven Depuydt is jointly responsible for the digital and business transformation the company is currently undergoing. ‘Our branches, the distribution centre, the webshop; ultimately everything comes together in our ERP solution. We have been working with an in-house ERP system for forty years. Everything we needed was custom-made by our own programmers.’ That customised system no longer fits with the company’s growth ambitions and modernisation. To optimally support Cebeo’s digital transformation, the outdated ERP system is being dismantled and replaced piece by piece. CIO Steven Depuydt: ‘We have opted for a best of breed application landscape with SAP at its core.’
Sonepar, SAP and Ctac
The choice for SAP and Ctac was an obvious one. Cebeo is a subsidiary of Sonepar, an internationally operating family business that is active in the distribution of electrical products and related services in more than forty countries. SAP is one of the three suppliers of ERP systems that Sonepar companies prefer to work with. In the end, it was SAP’s scalability, stability and logistical possibilities in particular that led to the choice of SAP S/4HANA. SAP’s next-gen ERP solution is hosted in a private cloud on Microsoft Azure. Cebeo asked Ctac to take care of the implementation. Ctac had previously supervised a similar implementation at Technische Unie, also a Sonepar subsidiary.
Keep the Core Clean
Cebeo is not only renewing its IT environment, but is also taking the opportunity to standardise its processes and, where possible, take them to the next level. CFO Ingeborg Dierens: ‘Together with Ctac, we are re-evaluating our processes. We are aligning ourselves with SAP best practices.’ Although ERP is at the heart of the operation, most employees will not interact directly with SAP. CIO Steven Depuydt: ‘We work with all kinds of best of breed solutions and add-ons. We choose the best solution for every challenge. Actually, we want to do as little as possible in our ERP. “Keep the Core Clean” is the motto.’
Phase 1: Finance
During the first phase of the implementation, the financial processes will be transferred to SAP S/4HANA. CFO Ingeborg Dierens: ‘This is a great test. It is also a great challenge to think together about ways in which we can set up our processes even better. Continuity is paramount. Our customers should notice as little as possible.’ The finance processes will go live in June 2024. Full implementation is expected to be completed in the course of 2026.
