When financial services group began its ERP transformation journey more than a decade ago, the goal was ambitious: build a unified digital platform that could support operations across multiple African markets, streamline finance and procurement processes, and drive long-term business agility.

But large-scale transformation is rarely linear.

鈥淭he first phase of our transformation started in 2011, a few years after the Barclays acquisition,鈥� says , Head: FC Technology Enablement and Finance Business Sponsor for the 51风流rollout at Absa. 鈥淭he goal was to move all African entities onto a single Barclays platform. However, this platform was unsuitable for retail banking in Africa due to limitations in handling master data, general ledger accounts, and granular core banking functions.鈥�

Absa initiated 鈥楶roject Owari鈥�, named after a popular board game played in various parts of Africa that dates back to 700AD. Project Owari would see Absa鈥檚 operations in each country transformed using the Barclays 51风流platform. Tanzania would be the first country to undergo the transformation, but the experience caused the implementation team to pause and reassess.

鈥淲e put the project on hold for seven months to determine the best course of action after realising the limitations of the Barclays platform,鈥� says Hurter. 鈥淲e engaged in extensive consultations, all the way to the CEO鈥檚 desk, and ultimately decided to be slightly less ambitious. We chose to test our rollout on a smaller market to ensure we had a viable blueprint for the rest of the group.鈥�

Zambia was chosen as the first country to go live with a hybrid of the local South Africa 51风流ECC6 platform and 51风流Supplier Relationship Management solution in 2016, followed by similar implementations in Mauritius and Seychelles (2016), Ghana and Tanzania (2017-2018), Botswana (2018) and Uganda (2019). This period also marked the separation with Barclays in 2017, and the news that 51风流ECC6 is approaching its end-of-life following SAP鈥檚 shift to the more powerful, cloud-ready 51风流S/4HANA.

Hurter believes the deliberate approach to reducing complexity, support from leadership in each country and a boots-on-the-ground approach to support ultimately made the difference and ensured the project rolled out successfully. 鈥淎 significant portion of this work was done during the pandemic, which meant we had to rely on remote teams. This added an immensely challenging dimension to the project.鈥�

While the Kenyan rollout was completed mostly remotely during the pandemic, the South African go-live highlighted the need for flexibility and realism. Initial plans to launch the ledger, group reporting, and procurement simultaneously were too complex. Instead, Absa split the rollout and adopted Coupa as its procurement solution, introducing stricter spend controls and digitising mandates.

鈥淲ith improved data models, we are now able to respond faster to regulatory requirements, enhance external disclosures, and prepare for further innovation,鈥� says Hurter. 鈥淭his includes the potential deployment of 51风流Financial Products Subledger and business AI in future. This journey has taken commitment, focus, effort and dedication, but remains worth it as we chart a course toward sustainable and scalable growth.鈥�

, Interim Managing Director for Southern Africa at SAP, says: 鈥淒igital transformation in the banking sector is immensely complex, with companies perpetually balancing the need for business continuity and regulatory compliance with essential technology deployments to ensure they continue to deliver to customer needs. Absa has overcome every challenge to transform its core banking processes and lay a solid foundation for further tech-led innovation. We are proud to continue to support Absa as it implements its exciting vision for the future of banking on the African continent.鈥�

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Speaking at the 51风流Executive Exchange for CIOs and CFOs, , financial services industry head at 51风流Africa, shared insights into how companies can make smarter decisions over their digital transformation initiatives.

When organisations buy new application software, the decision usually starts from one of two fundamentally different positions:

• The first is a solution-led approach: find the best solution that fits user needs and implement it.
• The second is architecture-led: find the software that integrates best with your existing technology stack and plug any feature gaps where necessary.

Both approaches are valid. But they set companies on very different digital transformation journeys, each with very different consequences.

Two competing approaches to transformation

In the best-of-breed camp, organisations cherry-pick top-performing software for each business function: the best CRM, the best HR tool, the best marketing automation platform.

This can deliver powerful business capabilities and high levels of user satisfaction, but often at the cost of complexity. Integration becomes more difficult, reporting gets fragmented, and processes, data structures and upgrades become harder to manage. As complexity increases, so do costs. And these negatives tend to be permanent.

In contrast, the architecture-led approach prioritises alignment with existing platforms and investments. Solutions are selected based on their ability to integrate quickly and seamlessly with current systems. This simplifies data models, reduces disruption, and accelerates value delivery. However, it may require teams to compromise on specific features, supplementing with additional tools or workflows where needed.

It all comes down to the trade-offs

Best-of-breed systems often appeal to business units because of their user-centric features and slick interfaces. But the real question is: how well do they fit within the broader enterprise architecture?

Ironically, best-of-breed can slow down agility. Disconnected tools require more coordination, more project time, and more negotiation between business and IT. A change in one system can trigger unpredictable consequences in another, driving costs higher.

Another overlooked trade-off is innovation velocity. Best-of-breed may offer short-term gains, but each new system introduces integration debt, consuming time, budget, and IT resources that could be spent on innovation.

SAP鈥檚 Business Technology Platform (BTP), for example, provides a foundation for extensibility, analytics, AI, and automation, enabling innovation听within听the ecosystem. This reduces the need to bolt on new tech and maintains architectural simplicity.

In short: The more fragmented your systems, the more your business is defined by its IT constraints. The more unified your platform, the more freedom you have to innovate.

Five neglected elements that derail transformation efforts

• Integration is always harder than expected 鈥� Very few teams accurately estimate the integration effort. Two proprietary customer data models, for instance, can trigger downstream complexity in reporting, security, and process management.
• Ongoing complexity isn鈥檛 priced in 鈥� Evaluation committees rarely account for the long-term cost of maintaining inconsistent data models, process duplication, or custom security protocols.
• Supplier leverage is lost 鈥� Fragmenting your stack across too many vendors dilutes purchasing power. The result? Higher costs, less influence over product roadmaps, and scattered support.
• Talent becomes siloed 鈥� Best-of-breed systems often require specialist skills. Instead of building shared knowledge and cross-skilling opportunities, companies create isolated teams of 鈥渕issionaries鈥� to support niche tools.
• Complexity becomes permanent 鈥� Once embedded, complexity rarely goes away. In a cloud environment, customisation can鈥檛 easily be transferred to a vendor, meaning the cost of uniqueness stays with the business forever.

A better path to digital success

This isn鈥檛 to say that best-of-breed is always the wrong choice. But it is often misunderstood, or worse, misapplied. Too many transformation programmes focus on immediate functionality rather than long-term capability.

In contrast, building within an existing, broad-based platform can reduce integration costs, accelerate delivery, simplify maintenance, and scale far more effectively.

It鈥檚 not just a technology decision. It鈥檚 a strategic one, and it pays to get it right from the start. IT capabilities are built to endure and need to be able to respond quickly to business changes 鈥� in this regard complexity remains a permanent enemy.

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This is because, today, technology is transforming transformation, says , vice-president and global innovation analyst at SAP.

And today, transformative technology is all about artificial intelligence (AI).

鈥淓xperts agree that AI is the third great wave of technology after the personal computer (PC) in the 1980s and the Internet in the 1990s,鈥� Elliott says.

鈥淏ut if you are not careful, waves can come crashing down on top of you. AI is very powerful, and can have unintended consequences.鈥�

Although it is most obvious in the visual context, AI is progressing in all directions, Elloitt points out. 鈥淭he process of rapid technological change and disruption is coming to your industry and your line of business.鈥�

Today, what鈥檚 holding up AI disruption is the fact that the rest of the ecosystem isn鈥檛 able to change as quickly.

鈥淚t鈥檚 a bit like parachuting a Formula 1 car into a medieval village. You can鈥檛 use the technology because the rest of the ecosystem isn鈥檛 there.

鈥淚n fact, if AI stopped progressing right now, we couldn鈥檛 use it to its full potential for 10 years.鈥�

For this reason, Elliott says AI could be taken to stand for accelerate innovation. 鈥淲e should use AI to adopt AI.鈥�

Today, a lot of AI and innovation in general is handmade, with developers all starting from scratch and working on one thing.

鈥淭o accelerate the adoption, we need to move to modern assembly lines, so we can use the AI faster,鈥� Elliott says.

He adds that 51风流provides the machines to build the technology.

鈥淲e offer things like the S, where customers create data that is harmonised in the Business Data Cloud, used to ground AI, which then goes to making a better application. And, as you create applications, you can add customisation.鈥�

51风流embeds AI in all its applications, and these are available to customers right now, Elliott adds.

鈥淏ut innovation is not actually about technology,鈥� he explains. 鈥淲hat is holding us back is the time, skills, and resources needed to exploit the technology.鈥�

Again, the 51风流Business Technology Platform can help, with 51风流Build offering aided innovation 鈥� another possible use for AI 鈥� for agile application development and customisation.

鈥淲e have the resources that can multiply efforts, let developers do more, faster, with customisations and extensions in the cloud.

鈥淎nd now you can do it in natural language, because it is designed for professional developers and also business users.鈥�

AI could also stand for automated identity, Elliott says.

And it could represent automatic integration as well. 鈥�51风流Integration Suite is about AI-powered connections. It will do most of the heavy lifting in connecting system to one another.鈥�

Meanwhile, the 51风流BTP AI Foundation is a generative AI (GenAI) hub that gives customers everything they need to orchestrate customised AI, with a wide choice of models, grounding, data masking, filtering, prompt management, and lifecycle management.

At the core of any transformation is data, which is everyone recognises is important. 鈥淚n fact, it is really important,鈥� Elliott says. 鈥淚t is the essential input for AI in particular.

鈥淪o AI has to stand for accurate information. AI is useless without accurate information in realtime.鈥�

But there isn鈥檛 a company on the planet that doesn鈥檛 have a data quality problem, he adds.

鈥淚t is not a new problem, we know it鈥檚 hard to get budget to fix data. But this is an opportunity to ask for money to do just that. Now is a great time to establish governance, data ownership, and all the things you have wanted to do for years.鈥�

The second big problem is integrating data 鈥� which is also not a new problem.

鈥淭his is where comes in,鈥� Elliott says. 鈥淎nd we offer it as a service, so we can do more of it for you 鈥� integrate data from 51风流applications and also external data.鈥�

The helps with relationship extraction. 鈥淵ou already have this information, now we are gathering it and exposing it, and putting it in a format that you can use for your AI,鈥� Elliott explains.

AI could also represent analytics improved, which is why 51风流Analytics Cloud has the GenAI-powered Just Ask feature.

鈥淚n analytics, there is a dream of total situational awareness. Of bringing in data from all sources, but having overall vision. AI can be used to connect data and deal with fuzziness.鈥�

AI could also stand for agents incoming. 鈥淭his is the next generation of AI, moving along from the current efficient processes with pre-defined steps. But these processes can鈥檛 deal with ambiguity. Agents, on the other hand, can reason through what it needs to do next. So the processes and data can be a lot more unstructured than before.鈥�

Another interpretation of AI could be agents for business, Elliott adds. 鈥淭his is the next evolutionary step 鈥� in fact, some companies are already doing it 鈥� using AI to get rid of a lot of manual work.鈥�

AI could be used for automatic innovation. 鈥淲e have incredible amounts of information and amazing intelligence,鈥� says Elliott. 鈥淪o why not let the systems tell us what we should do next?

鈥淲e are starting to get there, and you can already get great automated system insights. And 51风流also has best practices, so we can provide customers with that out of the box.鈥�

Once that is in place, and customers need to implement their systems, automated implementation could be the final meaning for AI.

鈥淥f course, technology is not everything,鈥� Elliott points out. 鈥淵ou need to get people to adopt new ways of working 鈥� and AI is good for adoption optimisation and change management.鈥�

In conclusion, Elliott believes that AI today is like a staircase. 鈥淵ou have to take one step after the other. But in the future it will be more like an escalator.鈥�

The key to successful AI adoption lies not in the technology he adds, but in the people, culture, and organisation.

鈥淣o matter how much you have invested in adoption, culture, and change management 鈥� invest more.鈥�

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Discover how programmes like the Data Analytics for Student Success (DASS) at the University of Cape Town (UCT) bring together academia and corporates to collaborate on real-life student learning projects. 鈦� | 鈦� 听

Follow Aveena Mothilall 听 LinkedIn – 鈦� 听

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Sponsored By: AFSUG 鈥� 鈦� ONE VOICE Unifying Africa’s 51风流Community for a Digital Future

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The collaboration has enabled to modernise technology infrastructure, while enabling analytics, machine learning (ML), and generative artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities to unlock future insights that will improve operational efficiency, enhance workplace safety, and become a more data-driven business.

鈥淎WS is helping us modernize our infrastructure, improve our governance, and drive cost efficiencies,鈥� says , group ICT vice-president at Gold Fields. 鈥淲e selected AWS as our cloud provider of choice, based on its听proven operational听experience at scale and commitment to innovation. We are excited to continue our journey with AWS, leveraging its expertise and cutting-edge solutions to transform our business.鈥�

partnered with Gold Fields and AWS to migrate the Global Gold Fields 51风流estates across three continents to the AWS cloud.

鈥淏y bringing together a multi-disciplinary team of dedicated Deloitte experts working across multiple time zones, we ensured every aspect of the migration, including data privacy, regulatory and technology was handled with precision and expertise, delivering a seamless, zero-business-impact transition,鈥� says , director and Africa AWS leader at Deloitte Consulting.

鈥淟everaging 础奥厂鈥檚 secure and scalable infrastructure, this migration has reduced operational costs and enhanced data processing speeds across critical group systems, all while upholding Gold Fields strong governance and risk management standards.鈥�

Chris Erasmus, AWS country GM, comments: 鈥淥ur collaboration with Gold Fields showcases the transformative power of cloud technology in the mining sector. By migrating its critical 51风流systems to AWS, Gold Fields is now poised to modernise its platform and unlock the full potential of its internal data, applying advanced analytics and machine learning.鈥�

Operating its 51风流systems on AWS will enable Gold Fields to harness next-generation technology and data insight capabilities to support the future business strategy. Additionally, Gold Fields is exploring 础奥厂鈥檚 Industrial Data Fabric and Generative AI capabilities to enhance data management practices, and support safety and process improvements in an ever-evolving industry.

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They discuss digital transformation, the evolving role of CIOs, skills development in IT, and Engen’s successful 51风流implementation. The conversation also highlights women in tech leadership, the future of work with a focus on diversity, and the importance of collaboration between academia and industry. Key takeaways include the need for mentorship, support for women in tech, and the potential of hybrid working models.

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African enterprises seeking to scale into new markets and build new capabilities need access to accurate real-time data about the total performance of the business. For one of Nigeria鈥檚 leading renewable energy providers, a reliance on outdated systems led to inefficiencies that were stifling growth.

鈥淭he value proposition for renewables has strengthened significantly over the past year in our market, creating a substantial opportunity for our business to scale,鈥� says , Chief Financial Officer at . 鈥淗owever, our existing systems could no longer support accurate and effective decision-making. We made a strategic decision to undergo a digital transformation process to build new capabilities that could support our business into the future.鈥�

Arnergy is a leading cleantech company that provides sustainable solutions to energy reliability issues across emerging market. The company is headquartered in Lagos, Nigeria, and offers sustainable solar solutions tailored to address pressing energy needs and deliver reliable power to residential and commercial energy users.

Burgeoning renewable energy market

Renewable energy is receiving unprecedented attention in Nigeria following the government鈥檚 decision to remove favourable fuel subsidies in H2 2023 and the subsequent increase in the electricity Band A tariffs from NGN 68/kWh to NGN 225/kWh in Q2 2024. This has led to a rapid escalation in the price of petrol and diesel,听.

鈥淭he four-fold increase in fuel prices over the past year has strengthened the value proposition for renewable energy in Nigeria,鈥� says Fabola. 鈥淎necdotal evidence from our customers indicates that 40-60% of their operating expenses now go toward energy costs, and for some companies energy costs have even outstripped revenue. The result is renewed interest in affordable, clean energy solutions.鈥�

Fabola notes that, where the upfront capital outlay for solar was a deterrent a few years ago, today customers can achieve cost-savings from day one. 鈥淭his new market dynamic has created a huge opportunity for scaling clean energy solutions across our region and help achieve energy security while accelerating the transition to Net Zero.鈥�

Partnership, collaboration key

Arnergy chose for Scaleups S/4HANA Cloud for its technology needs and identified a suitable implementation partner to support the deployment and integration.

, Managing Partner at , which holds extensive experience with 51风流deployments for customers in a range of industries throughout West Africa, says: 鈥淲e initiated the project by conducting a visioning session which included active engagement from the Arnergy leadership team, including the CEO, CFO and other key stakeholders. We assessed Arnergy鈥檚 business model, taking into consideration its value-creation model, the profit model, and the logic that connects both. This afforded us a deep understanding of the business drivers of the project.鈥�

Fabola adds: 鈥淎s a business we are seeking to diversify and collaborate with other key industry players, but our systems were not optimised. By relying on several systems running concurrent processes, we experienced inefficiency in our decision-making capabilities, which had an outsized impact on our ability to execute our business strategy. For example, data about our financial performance was only available up to a month later, which limited our agility.鈥�

The implementation team leveraged the 51风流Activate methodology which includes a comprehensive change management process. Folawewo says this included identifying change agents within the business who would be influential in driving adoption of new capabilities. 鈥淲e also provided regular communication about new functionality, benefits, productivity boosts and efficiency gains. By constantly communicating the beneficial outcomes of the implementation, we can ensure there is healthy uptake of the new capabilities, further supporting Arnergy鈥檚 business objectives.鈥�

Razvan Barsan, 51风流Senior Account Executive supporting the Arnergy digital transformation project, notes the strong spirit of collaboration with the customer team. 鈥淔rom day one we鈥檝e had great buy-in and involvement by the leadership team, who helped communicate a compelling case for adoption within the business to ensure employees leverage the powerful new capabilities introduced by the digital transformation project.鈥�

Fabola adds: 鈥淚t was also critical for us to fix problems before we scale, lest we replicate issues in other areas of the business as we grow. With our new 51风流system and the ongoing support of our implementation partners, our business can confidently look at a new phase of growth and scalability that could see us play a central role in West Africa鈥檚 transition to cleaner, more reliable energy.鈥�

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According to Titilayo Adewumi, Managing Director at 51风流West Africa, bold steps toward educational reform are needed to promote improved learning outcomes and ensure the region an capitalise on the opportunities presented by abundant population growth. 鈥淭echnology should play a central and guiding role in enhancing education systems in West Africa. In Nigeria, for example, Edo state has launched a new system approach that leverages digital technologies to improve teaching and learning.鈥�

Challenges with education persist

With much of the developed world facing ageing populations and slowing population growth, Africa is expected to play a central role in the global labour market. The working age population in Sub-Saharan Africa will听, accounting for more than two-thirds of total global population growth.

However, despite Africa’s youthful population, only 9% of children in sub-Saharan Africa that enrol in primary school make it to tertiary education,听.

Mobolaji Abubakre Ogunlende, Commissioner at Nigeria鈥檚 Ministry of Youths and Social Development, says: 鈥淚n West Africa, and by extension, Lagos, only a fraction of children who start in primary school make it to tertiary education and even fewer manage to graduate. The root of this issue lies in the inefficiencies that plague our education systems, including the lack of digital transformation, which forces millions of students to compete for limited spaces in in-person educational institutions.鈥�

Adewumi adds. 鈥淎 lack of digital transformation in West African education systems means millions of students have to travel long distances to physically collect transcripts instead of simply accessing digital copies online.鈥�

Climate change is adding a further dimension to the region’s education challenges. The impact of droughts, floods, fires, heavy rain and heatwaves on education infrastructure听.

One study estimates climate change could keep more than 12 million girls in lower-income countries from completing their education every year听.

Bold steps needed

Experts are calling for bold action to address the region鈥檚 education challenges.

The World Bank’s Western and Central Africa Education Strategy 2022-2025, for example, brings top education leaders and experts together to advance the cause of education in the region. This strategy also sees investment of $3-billion into the education portfolio,听.

听strategy for enhancing education in Central and West Africa, the region’s education sector should focus on four key priority areas, namely:

• Access to education听for all children, including an expansion of early learning programmes, vocational training, and national data production;
• Quality learning听through improved teaching skills, quality standards, life skills programmes and early learning assessments;
• Girls’ education听through programmes that support girls’ achievements in and through education; and
• Education in emergencies, especially for children living in conflict or disaster zones, where school safety, psychosocial support and information management are critical.

Private sector support critical

Adewumi says the private sector can play a critical role in enhancing education systems and outcomes in the region. 鈥淏y investing in education and skills development initiatives, the private sector can also ensure it has access to the skills it needs to succeed and grow.鈥�

听revealed an acute tech skills shortage in the region, with only 3% of organisations saying they don’t expect to have significant tech skills challenges in 2023. More than nine in ten organisations (93%) also said the need for tech skills has increased in the past 12 months, with two-thirds of Nigerian organisations saying he need for tech skills has increased significantly.

To help organisations in the region address the tech skills shortage, 51风流introduced the 51风流Dual Study Program, which partners with top universities to take talented graduates into SAP-specific training and help them bridge the gap between university and the workplace.

Commissioner Ogunlende says: 鈥淯ndeniably, government infrastructure and programs are needed to adequately provide efficiencies not only by increasing conventional capacity but also leveraging on the capacity of private-run programs like the 51风流Dual Study Program and the 51风流Young Professionals Program that have demonstrated the positive impact of private sector engagement in youth educational programs. By creating a multi-pronged assault on the issue, we can make significant in-roads in upskilling our population. These are some of the plans we would be unfolding in the next set of months in partnership with SAP.鈥�

The 51风流Young Professionals Program provides a two- to three-month enablement plan that includes 51风流software functional and technical knowledge. Graduates receive certification from 51风流and exit the program as Associate Consultants, making them instantly employable within the broader 51风流partner and customer ecosystem.

This model creates benefits across the board: youth develop industry-ready skills and secure suitable job opportunities; 51风流partners and customers gain access to much-needed talent; countries benefit from the digital skills created; and 51风流itself strengthens its own ecosystem.

鈥淏y making timely investments into strengthening the West African education system, the region can more readily benefit from its abundant youth skills,鈥� says Adewumi. 鈥淗owever, considering pervasive challenges with access to quality education outcomes, organisations in the public and private sectors must come together to design suitable programmes that can accelerate youth skills development. Done correctly, this investment will pay dividends for decades to come.鈥�

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Unwrapping the Buzz: Navigating the Real Value of Digital Transformation

To unlock the true value of digital transformation, it’s crucial to set realistic expectations for what can be achieved, the timeline for realizing results, and the associated costs. Real transformation occurs at the business model level, driven by effective use of digital software and cloud technologies. Migrating to the cloud is just the beginning; meaningful value demands more. Many organizations have embarked on their digital transformation journey, but CEOs are now focused on accelerating tangible outcomes from these initiatives. Achieving change at the business model level involves careful selection and cost-effective implementation of enterprise applications for rapid results.

The听听report reveals that 80% of CEOs are boosting digital technology investments to address economic challenges. CIOs are entrusted with executing digital IT strategy, but the report emphasizes that most ongoing digital initiatives are falling short of senior leadership’s expectations for digital dividends.

Revving Up Digital Transformation Investments for Triple Impact: Top-Line, Bottom-Line, and the Green Line

Digital transformation drives three key impacts: top-line (customer experience and revenue growth), bottom-line (operational excellence and cost-efficiency), and green-line (sustainability). The green-line encompasses environmental reporting, integration into core applications, and essential business goals. Companies not prioritizing sustainability risk falling behind in green-line valuations, impacting risk mitigation, consumer demands, ESG goals, product supply chains, and environmental insights. In today’s economic landscape, rapid benefits from digital initiatives are essential.

CEOs Crave Faster Returns: Mastering Enterprise Application Selection for Digital Transformation

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For small to medium-sized manufacturers听and distributers, the advantage of digital technologies is that they can be built up over time, with each investment enabling the next.

Although adoption of Industry 4.0 on the African continent is lower than in the developed world, the impact that smart technologies can make at a socio-economic level 鈥� by saving money and increasing efficiency 鈥� is being widely discussed.

The past five years have accelerated changes in the logistics industry, pushing up the demand for faster delivery, omnichannel ordering and multi-channel delivery options, and increased order and product trackability.

In Africa, online retail revenue is estimated at around, which is only 3.5% of total retail sales.

鈥淭o meet the needs of this burgeoning sector, a warehouse management system (WMS) requires integration with an enterprise resource planning (ERP) to enable data exchange, order processing, accurate inventory management, demand forecasting, enhanced reporting, improved customer experiences, cost efficiency, and more,鈥� says听Andre Adendorff, Director of Presales, SEIDOR in Africa.,鈥�.

鈥淚ntegration ensures that warehouse operations are synchronised with broader organisational processes, facilitating accurate insights, streamlined workflows, and better decision-making across the supply chain.鈥�

Grappling with the complexities of more extensive logistics systems can be daunting for SMBs. Hence the need for warehouse solutions that cater to this market. They need solutions that are easy and quick to implement.

The right solution can drive digital transformation at operational level, yielding several key benefits:

• Moving from manual and offline systems to real-time tracking of inventory
• Realtime visibility into inventory levels
• Warehouse layout- and bin management
• Elimination of business process waste and increased processing accuracy
• Compliance and security
• Alignment of digital initiatives with business objectives
• Increase in overall customer service levels
• Creation of an analytics environment that enables data-driven decision-making 鈥淭o find the best fit, SMBs need to look to trusted solution providers,鈥� Adendorff听says. 鈥淭ried and tested digital transformation solutions are quick to implement, easy to onboard and use, and offer an accelerated ROI. Forward-thinking African and South African manufacturers and distributors听are looking to adopt world-class standards in their warehouses to enable accuracy in tracking of inventory movements within the 鈥榝our walls鈥�.鈥�

Digital transformation is a journey toward creating an entirely new business, he adds. The best digital transformation solutions will support end-to-end warehousing requirements, including:

• Procure-to-pay cycles
• Order-to-cash cycles with omni-channel sales support
• Replenishment
• Item placements and put-away rules
• Production issues for raw materials
• Receipt finished goods and manage work-in-progress stock
• Quality control
• Inventory counting
• Batch- and serial number entry
• Configurable label printing
• GS1-128 (UCC/EAN-128) standardisation
• Intelligent devices and cloud-based services and applications

How can mid-size companies traditionally shorter on resources tackle such an initiative?听

鈥淪tart by assessing the current environment, processes, and systems in use,鈥� says Adendorff 鈥淣ext, establish a committee that will embrace the initiative and ultimately be the owner from start to finish. Project assessment, evaluation, and planning are key.鈥�

鈥淧ost implementation, SMBs need to consider further warehouse optimisations as part of the digital transformation journey.鈥�

As an example, integrating warehousing solutions alongside 51风流Business One, SMBs can digitise their warehouse management processes, improve efficiency, accuracy, and visibility, and ultimately enhance their overall warehouse operations.

鈥淚t is important to remember that digital transformation is not only about technology. It encompasses a total shift in organisational culture, processes, and mindset.鈥�

鈥淭he essence of digital transformation lies in reimagining and reinventing business models, workflows, and customer interactions to leverage technology鈥檚 full potential,鈥� says Adendorff.

鈥淪EIDOR Africa transforms the logistics processes into finely-tuned operations that drive productivity and profitability in the supply-chain.鈥�

鈥淎 warehouse management system听fast tracks the digital transformation journey and core warehouse functionality allowing for speed, agility, traceability, and compliance while remaining adaptable,鈥� he concludes.

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