The Home Depot partners with SAP AG as part of its multi-year strategy to implement standardized systems and platforms and build a robust IT infrastructure. Implementation of the new software solutions and platforms will ultimately provide specialized merchandise assortments and promotions at the individual store level, increase operational flexibility by providing a common platform to grow the business and significantly improve visibility and efficiency throughout the supply chain.

“By leveraging the expertise and global leadership of SAP, we will accelerate our ability to bring new solutions to our associates and provide better choices and services for our customers,” says Bob DeRodes, Executive Vice President and CIO at The Home Depot. “We want the very best technology available to enhance our overall performance and provide a flexible platform to support expansion in a variety of new formats.”

To execute this strategy, The Home Depot will work with SAP to deploy an enterprise suite of software products, based on SAP for Retail solutions, to enhance the company’s merchandising and supply chain activities. The retailer will become an SAP Global Alliance Account and will serve as SAP’s retail sector “lighthouse” account, enabling the two companies to partner in the research and design phase of new capabilities to stay ahead of marketplace demands and create unique, highly flexible applications.

This partnership continues a long line of technology investments recently made by The Home Depot. The company is the first in the home improvement industry to deploy self-checkout, with more than 1,000 stores equipped with “do it yourself” checkout stands. Other initiatives include a range of technology rollouts to enhance the customer experience and improve associate productivity. During the last two years, The Home Depot has installed many new devices in its stores, including cordless scan guns and point-of-sale (POS) terminals, and has completely revamped its store network and wireless capabilities. In 2004, The Home Depot successfully implemented SAP’s financial solutions, improving the company’s analytical capabilities by streamlining its financial operations.

This BeyeNETWORK news item contains information from a recent press release by the company mentioned.