Nestlé accelerates growth with AI-driven digital core upgrade

Nestlé has successfully completed the first part of a major upgrade of its global digital core with the world's largest-ever SAP upgrade to SAP S/4HANA Cloud Private edition. This milestone in Nestlé's digital transformation strengthens the company's ability to drive growth by improving its operational efficiency and its responsiveness to evolving consumer trends. It will also free up resources to invest in Nestlé's iconic global brands.

Nestlé's upgrade to the next-generation SAP technology will enable the deployment of AI at scale to achieve better insights as well as the automation and improvement of processes across the company's business operations. It includes embedding SAP's AI copilot directly into Nestlé's core business systems to help employees access insights, automate routine tasks, and make faster, more informed decisions. This will help Nestlé better respond to changing consumer trends and retailer needs and improve efficiency in areas such as supply chain management, procurement, order fulfilment for retailers and investment prioritization.  

Anna Manz, Nestlé CFO and responsible for Integrated Business Services, said: "Driving growth through innovation is a top priority. We are transforming our business to invest more boldly in the best opportunities. We need to combine great consumer insights and innovation with flexibility and scale, to provide great quality products to consumers around the world when, where and how they want them. This upgrade will help us build multi-year innovation pipelines, more agile production and digital-first marketing and sales platforms for areas like cold coffee, therapeutic pet food and modern cooking aids."

The move means that 50 000 Nestlé users across 112 countries in the company's Asia, Oceania and Africa region are already able to benefit from the new system's capabilities. Thanks to Nestlé's streamlined tech architecture, the company will be able to complete the upgrade across the rest of the Group within only two years, significantly faster than similarly sized peers.

Thomas Saueressig, Member of the Executive Board of SAP SE, Customer Services & Delivery, said, "Nestlé's successful go-live of SAP S/4HANA Cloud Private Edition showcases how scale can be a strategic advantage for innovation. As one of the world's most recognizable and forward-thinking companies, with the go-live on SAP S/4HANA Cloud Private Edition, the company exemplifies how cutting-edge technology empowers global brands to anticipate consumer trends, optimize operations, and deliver exceptional experiences at scale."

Nestlé's SAP Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) software connects core business processes, from manufacturing and sales to supply chain, finance, and human resources, end-to-end in a single system, enabling streamlined operations and improved decision-making. This unmatched global ERP core and strong data foundations are the basis for Nestlé's global digital transformation.

Chris Wright, Head of Nestlé IT and CIO, said, "We are building a future-ready enterprise - one that works smarter and faster. Having a common ERP system as our backbone is already a tremendous advantage for Nestlé. It provides a unified platform and data foundation that allows us to execute end-to-end and have visibility across our entire company and beyond. With the upgrade, we gain more flexibility, capabilities and insights that will help us roll out new products globally faster to meet the needs of our customers and consumers. And with the use of AI and automation at scale, we'll drive efficiency and effectiveness, throughout our value chain."

Examples of what the upgrade will further improve include:

• Next-generation intelligent order fulfillment for retail customers in-store and online, matching supply with demand in real time. With greater reliability and flexibility, it will ensure shoppers always find the products they want, when and how they want them.

• Real-time, data-driven decision-making for consistency across reporting and planning processes.

• Automated and standardized procurement processes in the cloud across global operations, meaning real-time spend visibility and significant cost savings.