Greenpanel optimizes supply chain and reduces manufacturing costs with SUSE

“With other enterprise Linux vendors, if you want high availabil­ity, you have to pay for multiple extra features. With SLES for SAP Applications, there’s just one high availability extension, and the web-based wizard makes it easy to set up a cluster.” Dr. Vineet Bansal, Chief Information Officer, Greenpanel.

When Greenpanel separated from its parent company, it wanted to enhance its supply chain and reduce manufacturing costs for greater efficiency. To that end, it needed an optimized platform for its SAP ERP and SAP HANA database environment, both to meet internal demand for fast insight and to keep production and logistics processes running smoothly.

Following an RFP process, Greenpanel selected SUSE Linux Enterprise Server (SLES) for SAP Applications as the operat­ing system for its SAP ERP application and SAP HANA database platform.

It was one of the few operating systems that could meet all of Greenpanel’s requirements, including avoiding vendor lock-in and delivering superior scalability.

However, it was SUSE’s high availability capabilities that really convinced Greenpanel, as any threat of downtime to their 24/7 manufacturing and shipping operation represents enormous lost opportunities and is something they were extremely keen to avoid.

Game-changing performance and manageability

Greenpanel’s IT team completed the implementation of SLES for SAP Applica­tions in just one weekend. Once the environment was up and run­ning, the team spent a further week on testing and stabilization before moving its SAP landscape into production.

The system has run smoothly ever since, with expert support at Greenpanel’s fingertips if required.

SAP HANA has been a game changer for performance, enabling Greenpanel to analyze business data in real time. SLES for SAP Applications helps them get the most out of their SAP HANA environment, meaning that business users can find information and gain insight faster and more easily, and that the company’s manufacturing and logistics systems are always available to serve customer needs.

SLES for SAP Applications freed Greenpanel from lock-in and empowers them to scale hardware as more perfor­mance is required, without worrying about increased licensing costs, saving them 40% on software licensing when they upgraded their hardware.

As a result of the real-time insight their new ERP system offers them, Greenpanel has been able to take control of its own destiny. It cut its manufacturing costs and improved service levels by strengthening the supply chain, improving integration with manufacturing, so that the company could avoid manufacturing too much or too little of a given product as demand levels fluctuated.

Click here to find out more about how Greenpanel has set itself up for a bright, independent future by achieving game-changing operational efficiency alongside around the clock availability.