Nipro: from fragmented systems to uniform group reporting

Both Nipro’s rapid growth and a series of acquisitions had quickly spawned a splintered landscape of systems and business models. It was time for a standardised approach and future-proof, uniform group reporting – all tailored to the specific needs of a company in full bloom.

CFO Svend Larsen and his team are Nipro’s very own ‘fortune tellers’. By simulating future scenarios, detecting risks and identifying opportunities, they enable Nipro to make the right strategic and tactical choices.

However, Nipro’s rapid growth generated a fragmented landscape of different systems. It took a lot of working hours – and repetitive manual tasks – to translate, consolidate, and coherently report on the necessary master data. To correctly represent each division’s unique identity, Nipro needed to explore a new path towards more automation, standardisation and unity. An intuitive reporting tool was a must.

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A bridge towards SAP S/4HANA

Nipro chose a uniform ERP platform for all entities: SAP S/4HANA. Since such an implementation process would take some years, the organisation was looking for a temporary solution to guarantee high-quality consolidated group reporting in the meantime. Flexso helped to achieve that, using standard best practices. If a division had any specific requirements (regarding compliance, for example), those were integrated as well.

“A solid collaboration between all stakeholders was essential to structurally clean and standardise all master data,” says Larsen. “Together with Flexso and the SAP Centre of Excellence, our finance team planned intake interviews to harmonise all visions and bridge the gap to the definitive ERP platform.”

Whenever a new division joins us, we’re able to integrate its data in an efficient and structured way. With this future-proof model, fully tailored towards growth, we can now say that ad hoc interventions, mapping tables and manual administrative work belong to the past.
Svend Larsen - CFO at Nipro

Halve the management reporting processing time

After a great team effort, the implementation process of the new group reporting tool met its deadline. Now, end users focus on familiarising themselves with the new centralised system. “But our ambitions don’t end there,” states Larsen. “We aim to halve the overall processing time, from nine to five, or better still, four business days.”

What’s more, the extensive process optimisation has freed up more time for planning forecasting and business partnering. This enables Larsen’s team to support Nipro in a future-proof way in its continued growth. “That is highly motivating, of course. And it’s a key advantage when you want to retain and attract talented professionals.”