Bridor (the LE DUFF Group) supports its development with SAP S/4HANA intelligent ERP

The LE DUFF Group is a leading restaurant and bakery company based in France. It is present in 100 countries around the world through its 1,250 restaurants and bakeries and 15 production sites. The LE DUFF Group employs 30,000 employees, with an annual turnover of more than €2 billion.

“Since its inception in 1976, the LE DUFF Group’s turnover has doubled every 5 years”, explains Ronan Le Janne, Transformation & IS Director. “The group’s main subsidiary is Bridor, a manufacturer specializing in premium frozen bakery products, which accounts for 45% of the group’s turnover. Bridor is quickly becoming a global player, and must have a modern information system with processes that can support this strong organic and acquisition-led growth.”

The LE DUFF Group has been using SAP solutions since 2002. Bridor’s SAP ECC ERP, however, had become outdated. “Bridor had fallen somewhat behind, the last SAP technical upgrade took place in 2012. Dealing with this technical debt was becoming a critical issue, as it could be problematic, particularly when adapting the IS to the tax regulations of the countries in which we are opening subsidiaries.”

An ambitious project

Management decided to redesign Bridor’s IS, migrating to an SAP S/4HANA ERP, while also redesigning its business processes. The company was faced with two tasks: the technical conversion to a new ERP and the auditing of its key processes.

For this reason, it decided to look to VISEO for support. “We had already identified VISEO as a potential candidate, as it specializes in both retail and manufacturing, the LE DUFF Group’s two business activities,” Ronan Le Janne continued. “VISEO also has a good understanding of SAP S/4HANA in the agri-food sector. Its teams are therefore experienced and able to give us relevant advice. Other positives are an understandable and effective methodology, as well as good adherence to the culture and values of the LE DUFF Group.”

Bridor’s ERP covers a broad scope: finance, purchasing, sales, production, inventory, etc. “Our plants operate 24/7 and they all rely on our SAP ERP, which is the reactor core of our industrial and supply chain processes. It is a system that also works 24/7 and is difficult to shut down. That’s why we wanted to include as much transformation as possible in this project.”

Hybrid migration 

Midway between Brownfield and Greenfield, hybrid migration, known as Bluefield, makes a technical migration to SAP S/4HANA possible without the burden of legacy, with necessary information being reintegrated upon completion of development. “Hybrid migration has allowed us to reclaim our system and simplify it by precisely redefining its scope and functions,” says Ronan Le Janne.

Auditing key processes and scoping workshops have resulted in more than 100 business developments, including:

• the redesigning of organizational structures;
• implementation of SAP CO-PA and General Ledger;
• implementation of Bridor and Group P&L in SAP;
• implementation of forecasting, planning and S&OP processes in SAP IBP.
   

Launched in April 2021 with the scoping phase, the project continued until the end of 2022, for a start-up of SAP S/4HANA on January 1, 2023.

“Given the complexity of the project, it went very well. Strict organization, unwavering involvement of the lines of business, and a high level of responsiveness by VISEO allowed us to keep to the schedule that we had laid out in 2020. As of January 2, 2023, large volumes of transactions have been recorded in our SAP S/4HANA ERP. Since then, we have not seen a loss of productivity, and the number of incident tickets remains under control. It’s a great start and a great success for the LE DUFF Group.”

Some work on the finance side is underway in the first quarter of 2023, and support for the change will be required to familiarize the teams with some new functions and processes. But the project is coming to an end, is on time and on budget. “A successful project, with an unbeatable quality/price ratio,” concludes Ronan Le Janne. Next step is the adoption of SAP S/4HANA Retail.