Fujitsu Enables Digital Transformation for Valio with SAP HANA® Migration

Fujitsu Finland Oy is transforming the IT infrastructure of Valio, Finland’s largest dairy, by transferring its existing systems onto a SAP HANA® platform, in one of the largest migrations to SAP HANA conducted in Finland to date. This latest step in Valio’s digital transformation not only improves the availability and reliability of the company’s services, but also enables the dairy to take advantage of digital services and fast data analytics.

Valio Oy is a co-operative, owned by 17 Finnish dairies, and has been distributing milk in Finland for more than 110 years. During this timeframe, the co-operative has developed an innovative approach, with a strategy guided by consumer trends. To be able to respond effectively to changing demands, Valio requires an agile technology infrastructure. Its migration to SAP HANA is the latest step in a broader digital transformation project that has seen Fujitsu update and streamline Valio’s infrastructure and systems to support Valio in keeping pace with the company’s ambition.

This latest project involved migrating Valio’s multiple databases, including enterprise resource planning (ERP), supply chain management (SCM), supplier relationship management and access portal systems to an SAP HANA environment. Fujitsu also optimized key Valio applications to be compatible with the SAP HANA database. The new, combined SAP HANA system represents a highly business-critical system for Valio, since it serves as a central repository for the dairy’s sales, logistics and enterprise resource planning data.

Fujitsu will also be implementing additional capacity services for the dairy to manage, store and back up its SAP® applications. Service maintenance agreements will see the two companies work together until at least 2022.

Kimmo Poikela, IT Manager at Valio, says: “We have ambitious plans, so we need a technology infrastructure that is agile enough to keep pace. Also, as a busy dairy, we operate 24/7, so it is crucial that we have a solid foundation for all the business critical applications we rely on, around the clock. By working closely together with Fujitsu, we have been able to streamline our systems, improving efficiency and freeing us up to deliver innovative dairy products to our customers.”

Irma Jousranta, Head of Enterprise Applications, Application Transformation and Integration at Fujitsu in Finland, comments: “Switching to the SAP HANA platform is bringing Valio immediate benefits in terms of enhancing system performance while also reducing costs. But above all, the project is a significant step towards embracing digitalization in the enterprise, to provide new digital services. Valio has already seen great benefits from streamlining its infrastructure. This latest step will deliver not only cost benefits, but also access to a wealth of new information through the use of real-time data analytics.”

Fujitsu has worked with Valio to transform its infrastructure since 2002, providing a selection of application and infrastructure, desktop, availability and management services. In 2015, Valio moved its SAP system from an on-premise data center to a service hosted by Fujitsu, and migrated its business intelligence and business operation systems to the SAP HANA platform. Fujitsu also introduced FlexFrame Orchestrator software running on PRIMEFLEX Integrated Systems, to manage Valio’s SAP software environment, enabling the dairy to optimize planning, operation and change management, and therefore reduce operational spend on IT systems.