Change in SAP Software is the Perfect Time to Implement a Dedicated EDI Solution – F.I.L.A. S.p.A. Chooses Comarch
Fabbrica Italiana Lapis ed Affini (F.I.L.A. S.p.A.) is an international manufacturer of school and office, fine art, digital fine paper products. The organization exchanges hundreds of documents each month with its business partners around the world. The last few years have seen expansion and growth of the company, which currently has more than 35 branches on five continents. System unification across all entities of the group was a natural development step. So, in order to streamline business processes, F.I.L.A. decided to implement new SAP S/4 HANA solution common for all entities, and in parallel with a global electronic document exchange solution.
F.I.L.A. wanted to take a comprehensive approach to the challenge of implementing an international electronic document exchange system, which resulted in cooperation with Comarch. After several mergers and acquisitions, the existing solutions at F.I.L.A. were heterogeneous, and sometimes not fully covering business needs. In addition to ERP unification (the implementation of harmonized SAP version) across all entities, F.I.L.A. decided to replace many local solutions for electronic document exchange with a global system that meets the high requirements of this international organization.
Carrying out SAP implementation at the same time as changing the EDI system was undoubtedly a big challenge. In Comarch, we found a partner who carried us through this process step by step. The implementations are running smoothly, which, combined with the along great understanding on the part of Comarch employees, confirms the validity of our choice. We now have a high-quality system that allows us exchange documents automatically and monitor all international document flows. – says Emanuele Messina, CIO at Fabbrica Italiana Lapis ed Affini.
The project consists of Comarch EDI, implemented for all F.I.L.A. entities. It is a cloud-based B2B platform that enables fast and reliable electronic document exchange with business partners from all over the world, regardless of their technological maturity. As a result, the manufacturer significantly improves its business efficiency, gains rapid access to business data and receives solution enabling traffic monitoring for all companies in the group. The scope of the project also includes the use of Comarch e-Archive to store all electronic documents in accordance with national legal requirements and the implementation of Comarch e-Invoicing for the F.I.L.A. Italian branches to send e-invoices via the government platform Sistema di Interscambio.
Changing the EDI operator is a huge challenge, especially when we are talking about such a large company as F.I.L.A. S.p.A. The project involves the exchange of more than 200 000 documents annually for companies located in Europe (Italy, France, Spain, Germany and the UK), the USA, Australia and China. Considering the complexity of the process, it was important that the new operator had international experience in migration and on-boarding partners. We are pleased that Comarch EDI has gained the client’s trust. The contract was signed in October 2017, and the first production implementations took place as early as the beginning of 2018. The completion of the implementation is scheduled by the end of 2020. – says Silvio Panetta, Sales Director in Comarch Italy.
Fabbrica Italiana Lapis ed Affini (F.I.L.A. Group) is an international manufacturer of school and office, fine art, digital fine paper products. The company offers its products under 25 brands, among which the best known are Giotto, Pongo, Das, Lyra, Canson, Maimeri, Daler & Rowney, Lukas, and Ticonderoga. F.I.L.A. was Founded in 1920 in Florence. After several company acquisitions, it is currently present in more than 150 countries.
