Client Background
The client is a leading consumer goods import and distribution group in the UAE, operating across multiple legal entities with its own warehouses, distribution channels and delivery fleet. Its existing systems no longer supported the level of integration it needed across finance, procurement, order management, supply chain, warehousing and transportation. Management wanted to replace its ERP and strengthen warehouse and transport management, but faced a crowded market of suites and specialist solutions with very different strengths. Cedar was mandated to run a structured, independent selection programme and recommend the best-fit platform combination and way forward.
Cedar’s Approach
Cedar followed a phased, evidence-based selection methodology over roughly 25 weeks, moving from market scanning to requirements, structured demonstrations and a combined functional, technical and commercial evaluation.
RFI and Supplier Shortlist – Cedar compiled a supplier long list, designed and issued an RFI to ERP and warehouse management suppliers, and reviewed responses to shortlist suppliers for the RFP stage.
Requirements and RFP – Through capability workshops with the core and senior teams, Cedar drafted a business requirements specification across finance, financial planning, order management, procurement, supply chain, warehousing and transportation, and issued the RFP to six software suppliers and six system integrators.
Supplier Evaluation – More than 20 demonstration and deep-dive sessions covered over 400 capabilities, with business and technical users from supply chain, procurement, finance and technology scoring each requirement on a graded scale from available out of the box to requiring customisation or not supported. Reference calls, commercial and contractual reviews and a five-year total cost of ownership comparison completed the picture. A further evaluation of a mid-market ERP option, added at management's request, revealed material functional gaps and limited supplier appetite.
Way-Forward Scenarios – Cedar modelled four scenarios combining two tier-1 ERP suites with either their native warehouse and transport modules or a specialist warehouse management solution, comparing each on functional fitment, integration effort and cost of ownership.
Strategic Outcome and Way Forward
The evaluation showed that one tier-1 ERP suite offered clearly stronger fitment across finance, procurement, order management and supply chain, while the specialist warehouse solution led on warehousing capability. Pairing the stronger ERP suite with the specialist warehouse management solution offered the best balance between fitment and cost, with the trade-off of higher integration effort and implementation risk compared with a single end-to-end stack, which Cedar flagged for management to weigh.
The way forward covers an assessment of implementation partners for the preferred ERP suite through an RFP rollout and partner visits, a management decision on the final platform combination, and award of mandate to the selected suppliers.