New ERP platform for Ritter Sport

Ritter Sport built a completely new IT system for the Austrian plant and then successfully integrated it into the global ECC landscape within just three months. The go-live went completely smoothly - despite the many restrictions caused by the pandemic. Production was able to restart promptly. 

Ritter Sport's main plant in Waldenbuch in Swabia, south of Stuttgart, is located in a nature reserve. No further expansion is possible there from an operational point of view, and expansion areas are not available. This was a problem for the famous family business, because the chocolate manufacturer is successful and would like to continue growing. Therefore, those responsible had already been on the move in the market for some time in search of a possible acquisition.

Suddenly, an opportunity presented itself in Austria: Competitor Mars Austria decided in October 2019 to close its chocolate plant in Breitenbrunn, which had been in operation since 1973. Ritter Sport did not hesitate for long and grabbed it. "For us, of course, this was a benefit because we were able to set up new production lines relatively quickly in an intact environment.", explains Asmus Wolff, Managing Director Supply Chain and responsible for IT at Ritter.

Carve-in the field office

A key challenge of such transactions is to implement the complex processes of a carve-in in the shortest possible time, effectively and with high quality. Asmus Wolff: "We had an extremely demanding time frame, we only had six weeks for the entire production startup, and within those six weeks we had to completely disassemble and reassemble the plant once."

There was no longer any infrastructure, everything had to be reinstalled. And of course, for those responsible, it was also a matter of setting up completely new processes in another country. To do this, a comprehensive process analysis had to be carried out. Ritter had six weeks for planning and six weeks for installation.

Preparation for S/4

January 15, 2021 was a tough go-live date that had no alternative. "That worked out excellently. When our IT base was in place, I was very happy that we were allowed to get started with the further preparations", explains managing director Wolff. "When building the system, we wanted to be very close to the SAP standard and close to the future S/4 reality, because at the company headquarters in Waldenbuch, we will soon be converting our ERP core system to S/4 Hana. That was a challenge because we already had to think into the future here."

At the same time, however, it was possible to carry out various optimizations in SAP. For example, a separate accounting area with independent controlling was set up in Breitenbrunn, Austria. Ritter thus has optimized control variables and the Finance department can derive them better from the system. In the logistics area, Ritter has switched to handling units. This improves transport handling and the tracking of shipments. In the area of quality inspections, Ritter managed to replace an outdated proprietary process with a modern solution. 

Workshops in the pandemic

"The collaboration between cbs and Ritter worked excellently, even though most of the process workshops were held virtually throughout due to the pandemic", praises IT decision-maker Wolff. Travel was hardly possible during the project. "That wasn't so easy in the initial planning and getting-to-know-you phase, but we managed it well."

The conclusion of those responsible is positive. "We are very satisfied. cbs provided us with optimal support in many complex issues with its SAP expertise. Ritter benefits from integrated end-to-end processes that work flawlessly. The transformation project was consistently successful: in time, in quality, in budget!", Wolff summarizes.