JOHANNESBURG, South Africa, March 29, 2023 -/African Media Agency(AMA)/- One of Africa’s leading sugar producers is celebrating significant cost savings and efficiency gains after a breakthrough implementation of SAP’s powerful S/4HANA Public Cloud platform.
Rob Coombe, Group IT Manager at Royal Eswatini Sugar Corporation, says the new technology platform will support the company’s business strategy by unlocking greater flexibility, cost-efficiency and innovation capability. “Our SAP S/4HANA Public Cloud implementation drives efficiency across our business by enabling us to leverage best-practice standards that keep processes running smoothly while delivering significant cost savings. The power and scalability of the platform can also support our business as we enter new product segments and markets, enabling us to quickly and efficiently bring new processes and business opportunities online.”
Royal Eswatini Sugar Corporation is one of Eswatini’s largest companies, employing more than 4,500 people and producing two-thirds of the country’s sugar and more than 35 million liters of ethanol per year. The company has a long history of using SAP solutions to power its business processes and in 2014 became the first company in South Africa to deploy more than 25 SAP modules.
“We looked for a replacement for our SAP ECC systems and did extensive research, even looking beyond the SAP landscape,” explains Coombe. “We were impressed with SAP’s vision for the public cloud and the speed and efficiency of executing that vision. We identified SAP S/4HANA Cloud as the best solution for us and chose a Public Cloud implementation to support our end-to-end business processes while achieving significant cost savings across our business.”
One of the factors contributing to the success of the implementation is Royal Eswatini Sugar Corporation’s use of best-practice processes and templates. “SAP S/4HANA Public Cloud has benefited from tremendous development work that has helped it grow into a very compelling business proposition,” said Coombe. “There was nothing about our business needs that set us apart that we needed more customization. We have adopted the standard processes offered by S/4HANA Public Cloud, which allows us to focus time and resources on areas of the business where we do want to differentiate ourselves.”
Royal Eswatini Sugar Corporation plays a vital role within local communities, providing housing and infrastructure to the more than 2,500 families involved in sugar cane farming. The company also supports seven government schools serving its communities and supports wider infrastructure around its farms and manufacturing facilities.
“By using our new SAP capabilities, we can support every part of our business, from sugar and ethanol production to managing estates and roads in our villages,” explains Coombe. “SAP’s modern architecture allows us to expand new processes and capabilities when needed, or scale down underutilized processes. This helps us increase efficiency in every facet of our business and unlock significant value along the way.”
Innovation is an important part of Royal Eswatini Sugar Corporation’s strategic business objectives. To encourage its teams to look for opportunities for innovation, Coombe has established a “Friday Day” where IT teams are encouraged to explore the SAP Business Technology Platform and find new solutions to common business problems. “After just a few weeks, we see incredible excitement among our employees about the possibilities offered by our new SAP platform. It has re-energized the IT department which has spilled over to the rest of the business as users become more aware of what the platform has to offer.”
Cameron Beveridge, Regional Director for Southern Africa at SAP, commends the outstanding use of technology and best practices to drive innovation and efficiency across Royal Eswatini Sugar Corporation’s operations. “The world’s leading companies are leveraging technology to support ambitious business strategies, empowering every layer of the organization with powerful new capabilities. With Royal Eswatini Sugar Corporation’s outstanding use of SAP’s latest S/4HANA Public Cloud platform, the company can confidently enter the next phase of its growth and innovation journey, knowing that critical business processes will be enhanced and supported for years to come.”
Distributed by African Media Agency (AMA) on behalf of SAP Africa.
About SAP
SAP’s strategy is to help every company function as an intelligent, sustainable enterprise. As the market leader in business application software, we help companies of all sizes and industries perform at their best: SAP customers generate 87% of total global trade. Our machine learning, Internet of Things (IoT) and advanced analytics technologies help turn customers’ businesses into intelligent enterprises. SAP helps people and organizations gain deep business insight and foster collaboration that helps them stay ahead of the competition. We simplify technology for businesses so they can use our software the way they want – without interruptions. Our end-to-end suite of applications and services enables business and public customers in 25 industries worldwide to operate profitably, continuously adapt and make a difference. With a global network of customers, partners, employees and thought leaders, SAP helps the world run better and improve people’s lives. For more information visit www.sap.com.
Note for editors:
Go to to view and download standard stock material and press photos digitally www.sap.com/photos. On this platform you will find high-resolution material for your media channels. Go to to view video reports on various topics www.saptv.com. From this site, you can embed videos in your own web pages, share videos via email links, and subscribe to SAP TV RSS feeds.
For customers who want to know more about SAP products:
Global Customer Center: +49 180 534-34-24
United States only: 1 (800) 872-1SAP (1-800-872-1727)
For more information, just press:
Delia Sieff, SAP Africa, +27 (11) 235 6000, (email protected)
Nonku Mahlangu, ByDesign Communications, +27 67 018 6100, (email protected)
SAP Press Chamber; (email protected)
The mail Royal Eswatini Sugar Corporation hits tech-sweet spot with SAP S/4HANA Public Cloud implementation appeared first on African media agency.
Source: African Media Agency (AMA)
