Nestl

More than five years ago, the world's largest food maker set out to standardize how it operates around the world. GLOBE, or the Global Business Excellence program, is aimed at getting far-flung operations to use a single system to predict demand, purchase

é By the Numbers">

Headquarters: Avenue Nestlé 55, CH-1800, Vevey, Switzerland
Phone: 41-21-924-21-11
Business: The world's largest manufacturer of food products; has extensive holdings in coffee, chocolate, baby formula and bottled water.
Chief Executive Officer: Peter Brabeck-Letmathe
Project Leader: Chris Johnson
Financials in 2004: Net income of $5.4 billion on sales of $69.9 billion
Challenge: Implement a single set of procurement, distribution and sales management systems and processes worldwide.

BASELINE GOALS:
Save $2.4 billion by the end of 2006, from supply chain, sales generation
and support activities.

Spend no more than $2.4 billion in capital, to get these savings.

Cap spending on information technology, companywide, at 1.9% of sales each year.

Increase percentage of company operating on GLOBE systems to 80% by end of 2006, from 30% at end of 2005.

Story Guide:

Nestlé Cooks Up A Global Supply Chain

One Supply Chain, 127,000 Products

Signed: Global Project Manager; Undefined: The Project

Project Plan: Finalized; Schedule: Not So Much

Drafting a Project Team of Business-Unit All-Stars

Standardizing IT: No So Tough; Standardizing Managers: Not So Easy

Project Costs: Capped; Project Schedule: Changed Again

Rollout: Fix it as You Go; Goal: Customer Can't Feel the Pain

SAP Project: Global; Computing Resources: Limited

Nestlé By the Numbers
Player Roster: Who's Who Among Nestlé Project Planners
Roadblock: Regional Managers
Hurdles Overcome: Deploying a Common Global System
Base Technologies: Nestlé
SAP: Not Pretty, But It Did the Job