Lidl cancels SAP ERP implementation after spending 500M Euro and seven years

Because of a new ERP implementation did not work out, Deutsche Post already had to record a high loss several years ago. The same thing happened to Lidl.  After seven years and costs of more than half a billion euros, the planned system is still not running smoothly. Now the discounter has pulled the ripcord.

Lidl has been on an expansion course for years. The discount store from Germany now has branches in almost every country in Europe and is now also growing in the USA. A new merchandise management system was needed to easily keep track of the increasingly complex business processes and to control branches, purchasing and logistics. So the decision was taken in 2011.

System from SAP is not suitable for high-turnover countries

Software from the software company SAP was to be adapted to the needs of Lidl. So far, however, the new system has only been introduced in the small agencies in Austria, Northern Ireland and the USA. It has been shown that the SAP version developed by over one hundred IT specialists is not suitable for high-turnover countries. Now Lidl has stopped the project.

Half a billion euros for expensive IT consultants and SAP licenses

In a letter to the employees presented in the newspaper “Heilbronner Stimme”, it is said that the actual “goals” are “not achievable with justifiable effort”. So far, according to expert opinion, the project has consumed more than half a billion euros – for expensive IT consultants and SAP licenses, for example. Now Lidl wants to further develop its own inventory management system.

Translated from: www.br.de

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