Bangalore: Wipro Technologies, the global IT services division of Wipro Ltd, today announced the successful execution of the supply chain project of an end-to-end SAP implementation for Sanyo''s mobile energy supply chain project covering eight locations across five countries. This was the first time that an IT services firm undertook such a complex, large-scale project.

This end-to-end SAP implementation has been a landmark project for Wipro. Wipro won this project against strong competition from one of the top five global IT services companies, who was Sanyo''s implementation partner for its previous SAP implementation project. The reason Sanyo decided to go with Wipro was the latter''s proven capability for global project execution, involving multi-country locations and managing multi-language and multi-culture teams.

One of the biggest challenges in this project was the sheer scale and diversity of the implementation — eight locations across five countries, going live simultaneously — compressed into a highly aggressive completion schedule of just 12 months. Compounding the challenge was the diverse nature of the user group: the Wipro team had to interact with a multi-country, multilingual user community, which consisted of users from Mainland China, Indonesia, Singapore, Hong Kong and Taiwan, keeping close contact with Sumoto office of Sanyo Mobile Energy Company, HQ. Japanese bilingual engineers from Wipro India supported their teammates in their interactions with Sanyo''s managers.

Technically, it was Wipro''s first multilingual implementation using Blended Code Pages and multiple languages handling in SAP. Using one single byte and more than 2 double byte languages at the same time was a significant challenge of this project, which Wipro tackled successfully. Wipro''s project management expertise ensured that the logistical challenges of designing and organising schedules that suited six different locations were managed adequately.

For the first time in Wipro''s SAP implementation history, an organisational change management framework was used to measure and map the risks in the project on a regular basis. Wipro prepared all the Chinese training and user manuals and was responsible for the end user training in English and Chinese at every location.

Wipro''s robust quality processes, coupled with GlobeGain, its highly successful global delivery model, ensured that every deadline and project schedule was adhered to. To quote Gartner: "The leading Indian offshore service providers have exhibited a single-minded but judicious emphasis on quality as a guiding principle throughout their delivery processes. Through this they have shown impressive improvements in delivery capabilities, client satisfaction, and the ability to continually reduce the cost of services."

Junichi Shirai, general manager, Sanyo Electric Co, says: "Wipro''s contribution to our success is extremely appreciated and we are delighted with the entire outcome. They have demonstrated excellent leadership and total process ownership. Looking forward, we are aiming at creating a system that supports ''the world''s toughest B2B customer-based model'' and we continue to look to Wipro for their proactive support and cooperation as a treasured partner."

Vikram Gulati, vice-president, enterprise application services, Wipro Technologies, says: "This project was a true test of Wipro''s capability as a SAP implementation services provider. We were required to complete a SAP implementation and rollout for two sales offices and six factories in five countries involving four languages and all this to be done in less than 12 short months. To add to the challenge we had to work around the SARS outbreak. The Wipro and Sanyo teams worked together like one and were able to deliver the project on time on budget. We hope this marks the start of a long and exciting partnership with Sanyo in the area of SAP."