Aiming for virtually paperless HR and payroll departments
London – May 27, 2002 – Somerfield, one of the UK’s largest grocery retailers, has signed a seven-figure deal with SAP to overhaul its HR and payroll processes. The project – SAP’s first HR win in the grocery sector – will see Somerfield progress from a predominantly paper-based HR system to a fully automated, centralised operation. The system will have over 2,000 users, and will be deployed nationally over 1,350 Somerfield and Kwik Save sites utilising the thin client infrastructure.
A Somerfield ROI study has suggested that the HR solution, which is a fundamental component of Somerfield’s overall IT strategy, will pay for itself and provide significant additional benefits over a five year period. The solution will offer access to information, control and automation that the retailer has not previously experienced. Recruitment, compensation, succession planning and basic administration functions will all become far easier and more accurate in the future, through the use of a central and easily accessible HR information system.
“Our key driver is delivery of accurate and timely information to our stores and our people, from an easily accessible HR management system,” said Katie Peters, group HR director for Somerfield.
Somerfield will be implementing mySAP HR and mySAP Business Intelligence. The first phase of the project, covering HR database, time reporting and payroll will be piloted after six months and will be rolled out to all sites over a two-year implementation plan. The complete solution will be implemented over a five-year plan.
“The project will deliver a significantly improved HR operation for Somerfield, ironing out some of the previously inefficient and time consuming functions,” said Will O’Brien, global account manager in the retail sector at SAP. “The central pooling of critical business information will make reporting, analysis and forecasting far easier. This is SAP’s first HR implementation in the grocery sector, and we are delighted to be working with Somerfield on this project.”
“Previously, we have relied on disjointed paper-based and IT solutions for our HR and payroll processing,” continued Peters. “The platform that mySAP HR will provide for us will lay the foundations for a smooth, automated and stable environment that will impact all of our 60,000 employees. We expect the implementation will save us a considerable amount of time and money in the long run, providing a better service to our people, and therefore our customers.”
About SAP
SAP is the world’s leading provider of business software solutions. Through mySAP Business Suite, people in businesses around the globe are improving relationships with customers and partners, streamlining operations, and achieving significant efficiencies throughout their supply chains. Today, more than 19,300 companies in over 120 countries run more than 60,100 installations of SAP software. With subsidiaries in over 50 countries, the company is listed on several exchanges including the Frankfurt stock exchange and NYSE under the symbol “SAP.”
