Post by Mathieu Ovaert

✈️ Imagine replacing an airport control tower while keeping every plane in the air and on schedule.   You can (and you have to) prepare yourself for months, but there will be only one try.    This is what upgrading our ERP was like.     🪺 In Nestlé Europe, this digital core powers our end‑to‑end business operations, over:   - 17 markets, plus our global headquarters  - 50,000 end-users  - 96 factories and 3 shared service centers    🌪️ A few hours without a functioning ERP can affect thousands of deliveries, factory schedules, supplier orders, and financial transactions simultaneously.    Last month, a cross-functional team executed this switch flawlessly.    It was completed in just over 20 hours, without disrupting the business. “And just like that...”👌   I’m proud - and let’s be honest, also relieved - by this collective achievement.     😮‍💨 When the first factory ramped up and when the first transaction ran into the system, we allowed ourselves a deep breath...    The hypercare period is now completed, and the new core is fully operational.     I’m glad to celebrate the work done here, because it’s the type of quiet & high-stake project that rarely gets spotlights.     🦾 Behind these pictures of our simultaneous ‘control rooms’ are hundreds of people who have worked together for months, with focus, discipline, and teamwork.     👏 Big shout out to the Global Core IT & SAP teams of Ralf Huebenthal and Markus Schnabel for having steered as a five-star service, as well as to our Market teams, under the leadership of Sabrina Conzadori, for their relentless preparation and impeccable execution.    This upgrade to SAP S/4HANA is the foundation for more integrated processes, better data consistency, faster decision-making, and AI-enabled capabilities at scale.    🎩 ‘Chapeau’ to everyone involved.