Nestlé is transforming its procurement with an SAP S/4HANA Cloud upgrade to create greater spend visibility and standardise workflows for its global teams
Nestlé has undertaken the first phase of what it calls the world’s largest SAP S/4HANA Cloud Private Edition upgrade, a move set to transform its procurement operations.
The initial deployment has migrated 50,000 users across 112 countries in its Asia Oceania and Africa operations, shifting Nestlé’s procurement to the cloud.
The change is designed to create greater spend visibility across its global footprint and standardise workflows for its teams. It forms part of a wider trend of enterprises embedding AI within core business systems.
Nestlé has integrated Joule, SAP’s conversational AI copilot, into its new architecture to automate routine tasks and provide employees with real-time insights.
For procurement, the system aims to improve efficiency and provide a clearer view of the value chain.
Unifying procurement on a single platform
The scale of Nestlé’s operations, which spans 185 countries, presents a significant challenge for managing procurement and supply chains effectively. By moving to a single SAP ERP template, Nestlé is building a unified data foundation.
The upgrade from on-premise systems to SAP S/4HANA Cloud Private Edition, which began in 2022, established the groundwork for this transformation. The goal is to enhance flexibility and scale to better serve customers worldwide.
“Achieving growth through innovation is a top priority,” says Anna Manz, Nestlé’s Chief Financial Officer and Head of Integrated Business Services.
“We are transforming our business to invest more in the best opportunities. We need to combine great consumer insights and innovation with flexibility and scale, to provide great quality products to consumers around the world when, where and how they want them.”
Anna explains that the upgrade will support the development of multi-year innovation pipelines and more agile production capabilities.
Enhancing supply chain and spend visibility
A unified platform provides a distinct advantage for a company of Nestlé’s size. The system gives a single source of truth for data across the enterprise, from manufacturing and finance to the supply chain.
This visibility is critical for procurement, allowing for more effective management of global spend and supplier relationships. Nestlé plans to complete the upgrade across its remaining global operations within the next two years.
“We are building a future-ready enterprise – one that works smarter and faster,” explains Chris Wright, Nestlé’s Head of IT and Chief Information Officer.
He adds: “Having a common ERP system as our backbone is already a tremendous advantage for Nestlé. It provides a unified platform and data foundation that allows us to execute end-to-end and have visibility across our entire company and beyond.”
The platform also modifies how Nestlé handles retail order fulfilment, matching supply with demand in real time to reduce stock availability issues.
AI’s role in procurement and the value chain
According to SAP, the technology provider is targeting 400 embedded AI use cases across its cloud portfolio in 2025.
For Nestlé, the integration of the Joule AI assistant into S/4HANA Cloud is a key part of leveraging this technology.
The AI assistant can automate tasks such as journal uploads and service initiations, freeing up procurement professionals to focus on more strategic activities. Joule currently operates in 11 languages, reflecting the global nature of Nestlé’s business.
The system processes information in real time, supporting data-driven decision-making for planning and reporting.
This capability is vital for procurement teams that need to respond quickly to changing market conditions and consumer demands.
Chris continues: “With the upgrade, we gain more flexibility, capabilities and insights that will help us roll out new products globally faster to meet the needs of our customers and consumers. And with the use of AI and automation at scale, we’ll improve efficiency and effectiveness throughout our value chain.”
Thomas Saueressig, Member of the Executive Board of SAP SE for Customer Services and Delivery, adds that the project shows how “cutting-edge technology empowers global brands to anticipate consumer trends, optimise operations, and deliver exceptional experiences at scale”.
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