Horváth & Partners: Over 80% of Romanian companies are lagging behind in the digitalization of business processes

Over 80% of Romanian companies use outdated and insufficiently digitized Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems, according to Horváth & Partners analyzes and annual statistics provided by the European Commission, through the Digital Economy and Society Index – DESI from 2020.

To be competitive, companies need modern ERP platforms, which once implemented reduce operating costs and the average time allocated to various activities by up to 30%, and profitability increases, on average, by 20%. According to the representatives of Horváth & Partners, it is necessary for Romania to give more importance to the digitalization of process management in companies, primarily because of the current context influenced by the pandemic, but also because we have a significant gap to recover from the rest of the European Union. The Digital Economy and Society Index (DESI), which annually measures the evolution of EU member states in terms of digital skills, ranked Romania 26th out of 28 in 2020.

“The need for initiatives to digitize, automate, simplify and streamline business processes is now increasingly acute. Optimized business processes are the foundation of any successful organization, and their proper management is done through an enterprise resource planning platform or, in short, ERP. An ERP system has the role of integrating all the information related to the operation of a company in a single digital platform. Therefore, an outdated ERP platform also brings with it business profitability problems, is difficult to use and puts major pressure on employees in the operations, finance and IT departments. The current economic context, full of challenges, must be an alarm signal for all companies that have not modernized or changed their outdated ERP systems and that could now suffer even more,” explained Maria Boldor, Principal, Head for business transformation projects within Horváth & Partners Romania.

Large companies such as Hoerbiger and Atlantic Grupa have recently undergone process modernization and standardization projects, in order to implement the latest solution offered by SAP, namely SAP S / 4HANA. All companies using platforms provided by SAP are required to make this transition by 2025, which involves upgrading the existing ERP system with new features. The project carried out by Hoerbiger lasted 9 months, and that of the Croatian company active in the FMCG field, Atlantic Group, 12 months, and both were coordinated by Horváth & Partners consultants. Notable results include: (1) reducing process time by up to 40%; (2) elimination of downtime by up to 30%; (3) increase data reliability by more than 60%; (4) decrease maintenance costs by 10% and (5) increase profitability by up to 15%.

“Now is the best time for Romanian companies to focus on optimizing business processes. Delaying this strategic initiative could lead to major operational disruptions and economic recovery difficulties. The reconfiguration and modernization of the platforms through which organizations manage their activity has become vital, especially in the context of the COVID-19 crisis, which has especially influenced areas such as FMCG, automotive, energy, real estate, banking or telecommunications. Flexibility and quick response to changes in the market will make the difference between players when it comes to navigating the new climate, marked by declining purchasing power of the population. Adaptation and development are, together, the key to success. The digitization trend, which has started stronger in Romania in recent years, must continue at a faster pace “, concluded Maria Boldor.

Process management is a representative topic in the portfolio of the consulting company, which has over 25 years of experience in this type of project and a team of over 100 specialized consultants, who can manage projects in any corner of the world.

For more details on the company’s know-how and projects for the implementation of new ERP platforms, you can access: https://www.horvath-partners.com/ro/expertiza/organizational-transformation/process-management
and https://www.horvath-partners.com/ro/expertiza/organizational-transformation/business-transformation-with-sap-s4hana