Basel, CH – June 2015
Nortura SA ‒ Example of a Software Evaluation Process
For a bit of variety, we’re not going to tell you about a project that has already started in this article; instead, we’re going to describe a successful software evaluation process. Nortura SA, Norway’s largest meat and egg producer, chose Meat Management by Softproviding and SAP in April 2015. The selection process had a highly professional structure; the different phases are explained briefly and clearly below.
On 24 November 2014, Nortura sent a request for information (RFI) to a range of providers. The purpose of the RFI was to form a general opinion of the providers, make an initial preselection and compare them at this early stage based on the responses received. On 8 December, the RFI responses were presented at Nortura in Oslo.
On 30 January, the request for proposal (RFP) was sent to the providers still in the running after the preselection. As Nortura processes various stock types at a large number of plants along the entire supply chain, the RFP contained over 1,300 questions. Some of these needed to be answered very extensively with a detailed description of how the requirements could be met in SAP with Meat Management by Softproviding.
On 4 March, Softproviding and SAP gave a further presentation in Oslo. The objective was to show selected processes to Nortura and explain the functionality in Meat Management by Softproviding schematically. The requirements mentioned in the RFP were also addressed and the ways in which they could be implemented in Meat Management by Softproviding and SAP were discussed (such as slaughtered stock settlement).
On 12 March, selected Nortura employees had the chance to experience Meat Management by Softproviding in productive use at the sites of various customers in Switzerland. The customers chosen for the reference visits were able to clearly demonstrate that the software solution could cater for different levels of automation and requirements with ease.
Finally, the proof of concept (PoC) took place on 19 March. Nortura provided a document with two processes to be demonstrated on the system in advance. After a specific client had been created for the PoC, it was possible to start building up the master data (materials, cut lists, etc.) and setting up the processes. During the PoC, a third process had to be prepared in 80 minutes and then demonstrated. The processes focused on the following aspects:
- Planning: distribution planning, push/pull planning
- Further processing: including batch weighing, weighing strategies, order pair formation, label printing and shop floor application
- Sales and distribution
The PoC was the final step in the evaluation process to convince Nortura that Meat Management by Softproviding and SAP was the best solution for the meat industry. The basic contractual conditions were then negotiated with the individual providers.
At the same time, initial preparations were already being made by potential implementation partners, as they have to undergo a similar RFP process. There was close consultation with some providers ‒ particularly on the meat-management-specific processes.
On 17 April, it was announced that Nortura had chosen SAP and Meat Management by Softproviding.
The selection of the system integrators is now also well underway and, if all goes to plan, it should be complete before the summer holidays in Norway. We are looking forward to working on an interesting project in Norway!