IBM Case Studies Grupo Hefame: Managing hundreds of thousands of orders every day to deliver on time to a growing customer base

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	Grupo Hefame: Managing hundreds of thousands of orders every day to deliver on time to a growing customer base IBM

Grupo Hefame: Managing hundreds of thousands of orders every day to deliver on time to a growing customer base

IBM

Technology Category	Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) - Cloud Storage Services Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) - Hybrid Cloud Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) - Private Cloud
Applicable Industries	Pharmaceuticals
Applicable Functions	Logistics & Transportation Sales & Marketing
Use Cases	Inventory Management Supply Chain Visibility
Services	Cloud Planning, Design & Implementation Services System Integration
Challenge	Grupo Hefame, a pharmaceuticals distributor based in Spain, was facing increasing competition in the industry. The company aimed to overtake its closest competitor to become the second-largest distributor in Spain. However, as its business grew, the demands on Grupo Hefame’s SAP systems were increasing. The company realized that its existing server and storage infrastructure would soon become unable to support its operations, and decided to look for a fresh platform to support its growth objectives. Read More
About Customer	Grupo Hefame is a pharmaceuticals cooperative based in Murcia, Spain. The company distributes pharmaceutical products through a network of offices and warehouses across Spain, and is currently among the three leading pharmaceutical distributors in the country. The company relies on SAP solutions to drive operations smoothly, including order management, logistics, and invoicing. As the company's business grew, the demands on its SAP systems were increasing, leading to the realization that its existing server and storage infrastructure would soon become unable to support its operations. Read More
Solution	To support its infrastructure renewal, Grupo Hefame engaged experts from IBM Business Partner AGEDOS Business Datacenter. AGEDOS Business Datacenter proposed an active-active data center configuration based on IBM® Power System S824 servers connected to IBM FlashSystem® solid-state storage offering ultra-low latency, and cost-efficient IBM Storwize® V5000 disk systems. Virtualized with IBM PowerVM® software and running the IBM AIX® operating system, the new environment is configured for high availability with IBM PowerHA® software. The IBM Business Partner also helped to virtualize Grupo Hefame’s storage environment by implementing IBM SAN Volume Controller built with IBM Spectrum Virtualize™ software, defining an active-active storage architecture based on IBM San Volume Controller Stretched Cluster. Read More Log in to view content
Contents

Technology Category

Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) - Cloud Storage Services

Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) - Hybrid Cloud

Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) - Private Cloud

Applicable Industries

Pharmaceuticals

Applicable Functions

Logistics & Transportation

Sales & Marketing

Use Cases

Inventory Management

Supply Chain Visibility

Services

Cloud Planning, Design & Implementation Services

System Integration

Challenge

Grupo Hefame, a pharmaceuticals distributor based in Spain, was facing increasing competition in the industry. The company aimed to overtake its closest competitor to become the second-largest distributor in Spain. However, as its business grew, the demands on Grupo Hefame’s SAP systems were increasing. The company realized that its existing server and storage infrastructure would soon become unable to support its operations, and decided to look for a fresh platform to support its growth objectives.

About Customer

Grupo Hefame is a pharmaceuticals cooperative based in Murcia, Spain. The company distributes pharmaceutical products through a network of offices and warehouses across Spain, and is currently among the three leading pharmaceutical distributors in the country. The company relies on SAP solutions to drive operations smoothly, including order management, logistics, and invoicing. As the company's business grew, the demands on its SAP systems were increasing, leading to the realization that its existing server and storage infrastructure would soon become unable to support its operations.

Solution

To support its infrastructure renewal, Grupo Hefame engaged experts from IBM Business Partner AGEDOS Business Datacenter. AGEDOS Business Datacenter proposed an active-active data center configuration based on IBM® Power System S824 servers connected to IBM FlashSystem® solid-state storage offering ultra-low latency, and cost-efficient IBM Storwize® V5000 disk systems. Virtualized with IBM PowerVM® software and running the IBM AIX® operating system, the new environment is configured for high availability with IBM PowerHA® software. The IBM Business Partner also helped to virtualize Grupo Hefame’s storage environment by implementing IBM SAN Volume Controller built with IBM Spectrum Virtualize™ software, defining an active-active storage architecture based on IBM San Volume Controller Stretched Cluster.

Impact #1	With its business systems running on a high-performance, high-availability IBM platform, Grupo Hefame can process thousands of orders during business-critical peak times without the threat of unplanned downtime.
Impact #2	The company now handles peaks of up to 500,000 order lines daily, helping it to deliver without delay.
Impact #3	The new IBM platform has enabled Grupo Hefame to cut its monthly invoicing process in half, thus improving efficiency and customer satisfaction by reducing payment delays and errors.

Impact #1

With its business systems running on a high-performance, high-availability IBM platform, Grupo Hefame can process thousands of orders during business-critical peak times without the threat of unplanned downtime.

Impact #2

The company now handles peaks of up to 500,000 order lines daily, helping it to deliver without delay.

Impact #3

The new IBM platform has enabled Grupo Hefame to cut its monthly invoicing process in half, thus improving efficiency and customer satisfaction by reducing payment delays and errors.

Benefit #1	50% increase in SAP application performance support reliably on-time deliveries
Benefit #2	99% acceleration in business analytics reporting enables better decision-making
Benefit #3	50% faster invoice processing achieved, for greater accuracy and efficiency

Benefit #1

50% increase in SAP application performance support reliably on-time deliveries

Benefit #2

99% acceleration in business analytics reporting enables better decision-making

Benefit #3

50% faster invoice processing achieved, for greater accuracy and efficiency

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Overview

Grupo Hefame: Managing hundreds of thousands of orders every day to deliver on time to a growing customer base

Operational Impact

Quantitative Benefit