As competition in the retail industry heats up and customer demands evolve, PT Eigerindo Multi Produk Industri chose SAP All-in One IS-Retail (Industry Solution for Retail) version for its IT backbone system to stay on top of the game.

Bodypack, Eiger, and Exsport are famous brands in Indonesia and known for its quality bag and fashion lifestyle products – furthermore Eiger is also well-known outdoors equipment brand. However, not many people seem to know that the three brands came from the same parent company, PT Eigerindo Multi Produk Industri (PT Eigerindo MPI).

Based in Kopo, Bandung, PT Eigerindo MPI was established since over two decades ago only to become the best quality producers of fashion lifestyle products with international standard.

The company has successfully made its brands to become top of minds for bags and lifestyle products through consistent hard work, strong will, and commitment overtime to produce best quality product and build reputation. Each brand is designed to cater a specific need. Exsport, for example, caters school life, hang out, and travel products; Eiger for those who love the outdoors, and Bodypack for urban lifestyle.

PT Eigerindo MPI quality products lead to with several prestigious recognition, such as the Upakarti from the Indonesian government, The Sahwali Award for environmental commitment, Arch of Europe Gold Star Award for Quality for commitment to the highest standard, and registered among 250 Indonesia’s Original Brand by SWA magazine.

All those awards and recognitions clearly strengthen PT Eigerindo MPI presence in the domestic retail industry. Who would imagine what used to be a home industry with two sewing machines could turn into a huge company with distribution network across the archipelago.

Opportunity in the Bag

The success story of PT Eigerindo MPI started when its founder, Ronny Lukito, lost his dream to continue his education to university. Coming from a poor family, the third child of six and the only son in the family decided to help with his parent business of making bags.

Since high school Ronny had begun helping his parents on making and selling bags, from buying the raw material, dealing with the packaging and display, working as cashier, to delivering it to their customer. This experience turns out very helpful when he began his own business.

Started with a couple of sewing machine and some fabrics, Ronny created Exsport as his first brand and tries to market the product to retailer Matahari. But it wasn’t easy, after a series of rejection, Ronny’s product made it to the retailer shelf on the 13th attempt. Afterward, he tried to open up new sales network with other partners in different cities. Ronny strength is that he knows very well about market opportunities and challenges to deal with.

As the business grow, production was scaled up. The production facility was expanded to six thousand square meters as the bag began to fill in shelves in major department store like Matahari, Ramayana, Gunung Agung, and Gramedia. Ronny may be lost one of his dreams but he achieved his other dream to become a major player in the bag industry. Now, he even have his own network of stores.

In a brief period, Ronny’s business expands to four big companies. Besides PT Eigerindo MPI, Ronny also controls PT Eksonindo MPI, PT EMPI Senajaya, and CV Persada Abadi. All four is run under B&B Inc., own by Ronny.

Omni Customer

Hard work, strong will, and dedication from time to time is PT Eigerindo MPI commitment. This is in line with the company’s vision: To Become Global Leader of Innovation and Trend Setter in the Lifestyle Business. Thus, PT Eigerindo MPI is known as a company that continuously giving inspiration and brings innovation on quality products.

And despite all the success, the company still maintains its commitment and reputation. One is by launching the Bless Project.

Bless Project is a business process project for all PT Eigerindo MPI employees aiming to make their workplace even better. The project is expected to motivate employees to develop a better business process and create a better innovation for the company and others.

The project started in 2011 when PT Eigerindo MPI began to use its in-house ERP system called Smart Desire System (SDS).

Back then, SDS already met with the company needs and was trusted to handle the company’s business process for the coming years. However along with the changing technology, human and consumer behavior follows.

“Customer no longer coming to the store to buy products. Instead they go shopping online. But they actually want more than just buying products online,” says Christian Hartanto Sarsono, Managing Director PT Eigerindo MPI.

Christian says customer nowadays no longer look for products information online or to buy products online. They also need a channel that could fulfill their needs, give them suggestion and freedom in terms of shopping options and product delivery.

Aware of the shifting in consumer behavior to omni-customer, PT Eigerindo MPI prepares anticipation steps. The first is to replace the company’s ERP system, which is a crucial thing because SDS no longer accommodates business process to serve omni-customer.

In 2010, before the company use the SDS, the management had actually studied several ERP system available for handling business process. One that got their attention was SAP All in One. But the company decided not to take it since it wasn’t yet necessary. Later in 2014, the company turned their eyes again to SAP.

“We changed our pattern, setting apart our distribution and manufacturing. SAP All in One could also strengthen our proposition to omni-customer,” says Christian.

Productivity and Accuracy

In 2016, the implementation of HANA based SAP All in One IS-Retail at PT Eigerindo MPI started. The implementation vendor chosen was PT SOLTIUS Indonesia (SOLTIUS), which has a deep experience in similar business, as well as having a complete and systematic template and documentation.

“We also look at the support they provide and their level of competence, to see what benefit we could get,” Christian explains.

It was the right decision to make. The implementation was as scheduled. The training and technical assistance, which usually took three months, was done faster thanks to the intensive support provided by the SOLTIUS team. The operator at PT Eigerindo MPI only took one month to master all SAP All in One module implemented. The modules itself consist of SD (Sales & Distribution), MM (Materials Management), WM (Warehouse Management), FI (Financial Accounting), and CO (Controlling).

Many benefit obtained by the company after the SAP IS-Retail along with its supporting functions such as the POS Data Management (POSDM) and SAP Analytics (Data Warehouse and Dashboard) go live in January 1, 2017. All of the SAP ERP functions integrate well with other system such as POS and Handheld used for warehouse operation, creating a smoother business process. Some of the features there were not available, such as to measure each of the retail stores and warehouse performance is available thanks to the report created by SAP ERP and SAP Analytics. This feature was impossible because the inaccuracy in the reports and the time needed to gather the data’s. After using the SAP the problem no longer exist because accurate data is available and transaction records are done better and integrated to ensure accuracy.

Many other benefits brought by SAP, but the one that manages to get the most attention is the speed and accuracy in business process. Furthermore, with the improvement in the accuracy in every business line, complaints regarding inaccuracy immediately dropped since the first month after implementing SAP and productivity improved as well. Team performance in the company gets better and better, in the warehouse where speed and accuracy matter most, shipment to stores and customer significantly improved

With a team that easily adapt with changes, PT Eigerindo MPI merely had any difficulties with the new system. This clearly satisfies the company management considering the amount of investment to adopt the SAP ERP system.

“So far SAP ERP is very helpful and could adjust with the company’s vision and mission,” says Christian.