Nice Apparel meets market needs with SAP S/4HANA-enabled real-time data analytics and insights.
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Fast, lean, and agile: With real-time data analytics enabled by SAP S/4HANA running on Lenovo ThinkSystem servers, powered by 4th Gen Intel Xeon Scalable processors, Nice Apparel can respond quickly to shifting market demands. All critical data is protected with Lenovo and Veeam solutions.
Nice Apparel Company Limited
Mr. Prasop Jirawatwongin created the Thai-based activewear manufacturer Nice Apparel Company Limited in 1983. The company is a subsidiary of Nice Group Holding Corp Company Limited. Currently, Nice Apparel has 15 production facilities spread across China, Vietnam, Thailand, and Cambodia. The company provides over 72 million garments to leading international athletic and athleisure brands, and employs about 21,000 people.
The challenge
With the advent of athleisure casual, comfortable apparel appropriate for both exercise and daily wear and shifting consumer habits and lifestyles, the global activewear market is expected to reach over $305 billion by 2030. One Nice Apparel, the supplier to some of the most well-known sportswear companies in the world, is seeing tremendous growth. In actuality, the corporation reports an increase in yearly revenues of 17%.
Nice Apparel sought to increase operational agility and efficiency in order to take advantage of this trend. Fashion trends vary quickly, therefore they need to be able to respond swiftly to changing client specifications and market demands, said Mr. Prapakorn Sitthichaikasem, Chief Digital Officer (CDO) at Nice Apparel, explains that the goal was to deliver more products to more clients a difficult undertaking.
They need accurate, current data on manufacturing, supply chains, finance, sales, and marketing, among other areas. Because their previous SAP ERP system lacked real-time data and insight, business decisions were often based on outdated information. Further impairing their analytics and planning skills was the underlying infrastructure, which was starting to show its age and was causing reports to run slowly.
Running Forward
Nice Apparel chose to switch to SAP S/4HANA in order to better support its expanding company and have access to new real-time data analytics and reporting features as well as the most recent industry best practices.
The organisation decided to use 4th Gen Intel Xeon Scalable processor-powered Lenovo ThinkSystemSR850 V3 servers as the foundation of its new SAP S/4HANA system. According to Mr. Sitthichaikasem, “Of all the hardware vendors they considered, only Lenovo could deliver servers equipped with the most recent generation of Intel Xeon Scalable processors.” They made their decision based in large part on their desire to benefit from the performance boost that the newest Intel technology brought.
Hardware
- Processing powering the Lenovo ThinkSystem SR850 V3 is 4th generation Intel Xeon Scalable.
- Lenovo Hybrid Storage Array ThinkSystem DE6400H
- Lenovo Hybrid Storage Array ThinkSystem DE2000H
Applications
- SAP S/4HANA Administrator Lenovo XClarity
- SAP Apps on SUSE Linux Enterprise Server
- Backup & Replication with Veeam
- vSphere from VMware
Services
- Lenovo Premier Assistance
- Lenovo Expert Services for Implementation
Easy Transfer
Eight Lenovo ThinkSystem SR850 V3 servers were configured and implemented by Nice Apparel in collaboration with Lenovo and a regional implementation partner to support the new SAP S/4HANA environment. The servers have eight terabytes of RAM and are powered by SUSE Linux Enterprise Server for SAP Applications. The new platform combines excellent performance and trustworthy durability. It is virtualised with VMware vSphere and connected to low-latency Lenovo ThinkSystem DE Series storage arrays.
Lenovo assisted Nice Apparel in setting up a backup system to facilitate disaster recovery during the deployment. Using the benefits of more than five years of joint development between Lenovo and Veeam, the organisation implemented a dedicated Lenovo ThinkSystem SR850 V3 server as well as Lenovo ThinkSystem DE6400H and DE2000H hybrid storage arrays, backed by Veeam Backup & Replication software.
Ultimately, Nice Apparel moved workloads to the new platform in collaboration with a local SAP professional. “With assistance from Lenovo and their local partners, they successfully transitioned from the planning phase to full production using SAP S/4HANA in a remarkably short period of three and a half months.” Mr. Sitthichaikasem states.
Outcomes
Nice Apparel now has a single, precise view of every facet of their business thanks to SAP S/4HANA. With the help of Lenovo and Intel technology, system availability has increased to 99.99 percent, and they have also significantly improved performance, allowing for up to 40% faster query processing and report production.
“They benefit from lightning-fast query processing and real-time analytics running SAP S/4HANA on the latest Lenovo ThinkSystem infrastructure and 4th Gen Intel Xeon Scalable processors,” Mr. Sitthichaikasem states. “With the ability to pull reports and run analytics jobs faster than ever, users will be able to respond to changing client specifications, emerging fashion trends, and volatile market demands much more quickly.”
- 99.9% uptime of the system
- 40% quicker report creation and query processing
- Thirty percent less time spent on IT management
- 20% reduction in IT overhead
- 15% increase in total output
- RPOs and RTOs were 62% and 68% faster, respectively.
Reducing the Stress on IT
Nice Apparel has increased its capacity to meet present and future business needs by modernising the infrastructure that powers its SAP system. This has reduced IT operating costs and relieved pressure on the IT team in addition to giving much-needed space for development.
Through an easy-to-use web dashboard, Nice Apparel monitors for hardware problems, manages firmware compliance and updates, and schedules maintenance windows by utilizing the Lenovo XClarity Administrator application. Mr. Sitthichaikasem says, “The IT team has been able to minimize disruption to business operations by reducing server downtime by around 20 percent thanks to the automation of system maintenance with Lenovo XClarity.”
Lenovo: Why?
Following the decision to switch from SAP ERP to SAP S/4HANA, Nice Apparel needed to select the most cost-effective deployment alternatives.
They evaluated the benefits and drawbacks of both cloud and on-premises installations, taking flexibility, scalability, and return on investment into account, Mr. Sitthichaikasem recalled. They came to the conclusion that the best combination of cost, functionality, and scalability was provided by an on-premises deployment.
Nice Apparel chose Lenovo after weighing the offers from a number of infrastructure suppliers. It’s choice was influenced by the overall cost of ownership of the system, the strength of Lenovo’s warranty and support services, and the calibre of the company’s hardware. Lenovo has shown itself to be the perfect collaborator in the development and upkeep of their new SAP S/4HANA platform.
