Customer Success Story

Hershey Foods International (Shanghai) Co., Ltd.

Established in 1894, Hershey Foods Corporation is the leading North American manufacturer of quality chocolate and non-chocolate confectionery and related grocery products. Over the last 100 years, Hershey has developed into a global leader in foods manufacturing, particularly in North America, offering over 1,000 varieties claiming over 40% of the chocolate market share.

Global companies have been drawn to the fast-growing Chinese market over recent years, and Hershey Foods is no exception. Early in the 20th century, Hershey worked with Edward Keller Ltd to introduce Hershey’s chocolate into China. With a present staff of 700, Edward Keller Ltd started its global trade business in Hong Kong in 1923, focusing on markets in Hong Kong, Macao, Mainland China and Taiwan. Hershey Foods International (Shanghai) Co., Ltd was established in July 2001 as a fully-owned subsidiary of Hershey’s, repackaging chocolate from the US to meet customer demand in China.

With 87 members of staff, Hershey Foods International (Shanghai) is headquartered in Shanghai Waigaoqiao Bond, with additional offices in Shanghai and Beijing. Recognizing the importance of the Chinese market, Hershey carefully chose three brands from their wide variety of products — Hershey Bar, Hershey Kisses and Hershey Nuggets — and marketed them to suit local tastes, making Hershey Kisses the most popular chocolate in China. In the past two years, the company has witnessed sound growth at an annual growth rate of over 24%, and sales revenue reaching RMB140 million in 2002, taking 6% of the national chocolate market share. This has made China one of the six largest markets for Hershey’s worldwide.

Right Choice

As an international company, Hershey had strict requirements for its ERP applications. After deploying an SAP system globally, it was on Edward Keller’s recommendation that Epicor iScala became a contender; it was apparent that Epicor iScala’s solutions not only meet the specific needs of multinational companies, but could also satisfy the even more particular specifications of companies in China. Hershey’s new system would need to possess outstanding compatibility with the local accounting and business practices, which is just one of the advantages of Epicor iScala. Epicor iScala’s collaborative ERP solutions can easily integrate with other systems, function across multiple platforms, and allow for real-time communication between headquarters, divisions and subsidiaries, even incorporating partners and vendors. Because of all these features, Hershey, Edward Keller, and Hershey’s designated accounting vendor KPMG agreed on Epicor iScala after joint studies of system comparisons.

Epicor iScala delivers not only comprehensive functionality, but also tightly integrated solutions for financial process management, customer service, manufacturing, stock control, project management and general business management. For Hershey Shanghai as a trade company, Epicor Scala designed the solution focusing on logistic processes within a predefined budget, ensuring maximum return on investment.

Consistent, Customer Orientated Methodology

That early implementation marked the beginning of team work among the partners. Epicor iScala delivered consistent and customer-orientated methodology throughout. In the early days of Hershey Shanghai’s operation, they had decided to work with Epicor Scala, but didn’t actually start the installation until July 2002. During that period, Epicor Scala consultants and Hershey’s IT division worked together to ensure mutual understanding at all levels and to guarantee that the system worked smoothly.

Mr. Xu Zhihua, Financial Manager for Hershey Shanghai, is impressed with the changes brought by the Financial modules, “The most significant change was that we got rid of the manual book-keeping. Epicor iScala has totally satisfied our needs.” Before Epicor iScala, Hershey Shanghai had contracted KPMG as financial consultants; but after the Epicor iScala implementation, there is no longer a need to outsource. In actuality, financial controls and efficiency have improved without additional cost.

It is critical in the Foods industry that products move effortlessly. The Logistics Manager, Mr. Shen Bing, explained that the functions provided by the bill-of-material processes from Epicor iScala now manage all work orders, both receiving and issuing, and monitor the process of finished products both in and out of the warehouse. Mr. Shen expects that Epicor iScala’s system could play an even more positive role in their business management processes. He explains: “Currently, we skip some processes which the modules defined, so we are unable to leverage full potential offered by the system. But we believe with the improvement of the system usage, it will provide us with more significant control over stock and manufacturing.”

Comprehensive, Quality After-sales Service

Although the new software roll-out is over, and all targets have been met, Epicor Scala’s team of experts won’t simply disappear over the horizon. Their consultant support team will be there to help realize the benefits of the new system and take full advantage of the power of Epicor iScala.

Epicor iScala software has been installed on four workstations at Hershey Shanghai where they manage the financial and logistic processes. “As a non-IT trained employee, the system’s security and easy operation are the most important things we care about,” says Mr. Xu, their Financial Manager. Epicor iScala is powered by Microsoft SQL Server, which means that customers can benefit even further as Microsoft upgrades its SQL Server, without making any changes to the Epicor iScala system. Epicor iScala can also be set to require higher security settings, ensuring system-wide protection. Although this may place more requirements on some of their users during operation, Mr. Xu understands and accepts this, as security and reliability are among his top priorities.

It is impossible for any business solution to experience zero technical problems in daily operation. In the event that any assistance is needed, Epicor Scala’s toll-free Hotline is very helpful, as just one call may solve the problem. If not, Epicor Scala’s service staff will log the problem and contact a consultant to respond as quickly as possible. Additionally, each Epicor iScala customer is served by a dedicated account manager and consultants who take direct responsibility. Well-trained, skillful specialists are able to provide effective solutions during project inception: defining and reviewing business requirements, designing fitting solutions to meet specifications within timeframe and budget, overseeing migration to the new system, and providing proper documentation and user training.

Outlook

As your business grows and evolves, Epicor iScala also evolves to support new ventures and changes as they arise. For example, Epicor iScala suggests Hershey’s implementation of its manufacturing modules, or an upgrade to their latest, additional logistics modules, to respond to their ever-growing corporate needs. Mr. Xu is very pleased with his experience with Epicor iScala, expressing his intention to continue further communication with the company in order to fully leverage all of Epicor iScala’s possibilities.