Sustainable Packaging Company Integrates its Global Operations with SAP Business One
Quick Facts
- Name: StePac, US Branch
- Location: Villa Park, Illinois
- Industry: Packaging/Manufacturing
- Products: Sustainable, Fresh Produce Packaging
- Website: www.stepac.com
- System: SAP Business One ERP
StePac was founded in 1992 and is a leading developer, manufacturer, and supplier of high quality, precision engineered modified atmosphere and modified humidity fresh produce packaging. Its globally recognized brands include Xtend®, Xgo™, Xflow™and Xbloom™ modified-atmosphere/modified-humidity packaging solutions. These solutions reduce weight loss, slow respiration, and aging, and inhibit microbial decay, while prolonging storability and shelf life. StePac’s is dedicated to promoting sustainability with their four-pillared strategy that effectively mitigates the necessity of climate-positive plastic packaging, addressing the critical problem of food waste.
StePac operates regional sales and technical support offices in the United States, Brazil, and Israel with distributors and agents in key locations around the world, offering top service and unrivaled postharvest technical expertise and support. In total, StePac is commercially active in over 60 countries worldwide. To support its global activity, StePac needed to implement a system that would provide collaboration and visibility into all its global operations.
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Transitioning to an Independent Company
StePac had previously been a part of a very large corporation until they were purchased in 2020 and began to operate as an independent, stand-alone company. As part of a large corporation with a centralized, sizable IT department, StePac was used to running on enterprise-grade systems and technologies, including SAP ERP. The company needed to adopt their own ERP system that had all the functionality they needed and could scale with them as they continue to grow.
StePac is a global company, with its main office in Israel and others located in the United States, Brazil, and Mexico. They also have warehouses and employees across multiple US states and other countries. They needed a system that could allow the team to collaborate across multiple locations and provide everyone with consistent, updated data. Without a centralized ERP, leadership had no visibility into each business unit and its operations.
Why Softengine & SAP
The StePac team was not familiar with SAP Business One. Before becoming an independent company, all StePac’s locations operated on SAP ECC. The CIO, Yossi Blank, has 15 years of prior experience with SAP, so he was very familiar with the technology. He knew that SAP Business One would be able to accommodate all StePac’s needs. Furthermore, SAP Business One is a global solution and can be integrated across all StePac’s locations, making it a great choice for an international company. StePac plans to run all their global locations on SAP Business One, allowing for one centralized, seamlessly integrated core system throughout the whole company.
When selecting an implementation partner, StePac wanted to work with a company who would provide their US branch with support in the long-term, not just conduct a generic implementation and leave the team to fend for themselves. They selected Softengine because they have the knowledge, experience, and ability to grow with StePac and support their evolving needs. Due to the travel restrictions and other roadblocks presented by COVID-19, StePac also needed a partner that they could trust do complete an implementation remotely. The Softengine team stepped up to the challenge.
Global Visibility and Collaboration
StePac wanted to have a system already in place when transitioning away from their previous parent company, for they would be cut-off from their existing system. Softengine conducted the best implementation possible, given the remote implementation restrictions and the swift timeframe. Softengine was able to take StePac from the start to go-live within three months, so they never had to be without an ERP system. The Softengine team went above and beyond to provide the best possible experience for StePac. Yossi Blank, Chief Technology Officer, said, “Our project manager was a pro and accommodated the 10-hour time difference between California and Israel. The fact that she spoke Hebrew added a personal touch.”
Prior to implementing SAP Business One, there was no visibility into global business locations. Now they have full visibility into the US business unit, which has been a huge improvement for management. StePac can now leverage SAP Business One to gain a greater control on their logistics. They have a few third-party warehouses across multiple states. SAP Business One provides live inventory information across all these warehouses, allowing them to implement an improved batch system and batching numbers.