Championing simplicity and consumer centricity
For HanesBrands Inc., technology is more than an enabler. Thanks to the RISE with SAP offering, SAP Business Technology Platform, and an integrated suite of SAP solutions, technology is now a competitive tool that’s helping the fashion brand realize its full potential and stand apart from competitors.
| Industry | Region | Company Size |
| Fashion | Winston-Salem, North Carolina | 51,000 employees |
reduction in data compression costs.
increase in data load speed.
Senior Vice President and Global CIO, HanesBrands Inc.
| Industry | Region | Company Size |
| Fashion | Winston-Salem, North Carolina | 51,000 employees |
reduction in data compression costs.
increase in data load speed.
Senior Vice President and Global CIO, HanesBrands Inc.
Harmonizing a patchwork of IT systems and data sources
Whether it’s an iconic Champion sweatshirt, a classic Hanes T-shirt, or an item of Bonds innerwear, many of us are familiar with clothing from HanesBrands Inc. The company, which aims to “create a more comfortable world for every body,” has a broad global reach, with operations in 32 countries and annual sales of US$6.2 billion.
To capitalize on this reach, HanesBrands launched its “Full Potential” plan, setting out to grow the Champion brand globally, increase profit margins and revenue across the enterprise, and drive consumer centricity. The company understood that technology would be the key enabler of this transformation by supporting two main goals.
Subra Goparaju, HanesBrands’ senior vice president and global CIO, explains, “First, we wanted to simplify our IT landscape. We needed to consolidate several ERP platforms, more than 4,000 servers, and multiple SLAs and contracts in one global, unified platform under SAP S/4HANA Cloud, private edition so we could standardize business processes and reduce complexity. Second, we wanted to enable capabilities such as omnicommerce for our brands. To do this, we had to become a data-driven organization with clean and consistent data, inventory visibility across multiple channels, and real-time operational insights. We needed to excel at planning and supply management to better predict demand and respond more effectively to the changing consumer environment.”
Senior Vice President and Global CIO, HanesBrands Inc.
Creating a global pattern for rapid transformation in the cloud
To enable its transformation across multiple brands and regions, HanesBrands built a template using SAP standard content activation service. Goparaju explains, “SAP has packaged together the common business processes any fashion company needs in this service, so we used it as an accelerator. It truly helped us reduce the total transmission time and accelerate our journey.”
And to implement this template nimbly across the enterprise, HanesBrands leveraged the RISE with SAP offering, starting first with the Champion brand in North America.
The first pillar of HanesBrands’ transformation involved replacing the company’s existing wholesale-focused solution for managing stock and logistics with a new global core ERP to enable a retail-centric, consumer-minded, and forward-looking mindset. To achieve this, the company decided to implement the SAP S/4HANA solution for fashion and vertical business and the SAP Customer Activity Repository application.
Key to the transformation was SAP Business Technology Platform (SAP BTP), which the company deployed to connect its new IT landscape, from application-to-application integration to B2B and data services. SAP BTP helped accelerate every step of the transformation based on RISE with SAP, maximizing the value of SAP S/4HANA Cloud, private edition and allowing HanesBrands to consume innovation more rapidly. As Goparaju says, “SAP BTP is a low-code development platform that allows us to access data from other SAP and third-party solutions, stitch them together, and enable business processes that help us decide confidently and with integrity while innovating continuously.”
The second pillar was about becoming a data-driven organization. Goparaju says, “Clean, accurate data is the lifeblood of our digital transformation and the foundation for superior decision-making. To achieve it, HanesBrands uses two offerings from SAP BTP. The SAP Master Data Governance application supports robust enterprise data management with high-quality, up-to-date data that is validated throughout all stages, while SAP Information Steward software underpins our data catalogs. Meanwhile, the SAP Datasphere solution helps us replicate data from diverse sources in real time, and embedded analytics within the SAP Fiori user experience help us report on that data in real time.”
The third pillar involved using advanced planning to forecast tomorrow’s demand today. From retail and enterprise business planning to demand and supply planning, the key enablers are the SAP Integrated Business Planning for Supply Chain (SAP IBP), SAP Analytics Cloud, and SAP Supply Chain Control Tower solutions.
To realize the last pillar of its transformation, HanesBrands wanted to use software such as the SAP Extended Warehouse Management application and production planning and detailed scheduling functionality of SAP S/4HANA Cloud, private edition. The goal was to achieve excellence across sourcing and manufacturing.
On the HR side, the company implemented software including the SAP SuccessFactors Employee Central, SAP SuccessFactors Recruiting, and SAP SuccessFactors Onboarding solutions as well as the SAP Time and Attendance Management application by WorkForce Software. This software helps it recruit, retain, and manage talented retail staff and corporate executives for its hundreds of stores across Europe, Australia, and the United States.
Finally, SAP HANA Cloud enabled agile application development to help HanesBrands develop next-generation intelligent-data applications, allowing it to deliver transactions and analytics simultaneously without data duplication.
Senior Vice President and Global CIO, HanesBrands Inc.
Designing business capabilities that enable efficiency and insights
A scalable global template for standard business processes and a centralized integration platform in the cloud that connects enterprise applications are already creating benefits for HanesBrands.
SAP S/4HANA Cloud, private edition supports a highly available, next-generation core ERP platform with enhanced security that is managed by SAP. This helps the company reduce risk, increase productivity across diverse lines of business, and future-proof its business. And tightly integrated SAP SuccessFactors solutions running on the same platform enable streamlined, unified, and transparent HR processes across the international enterprise.
Meanwhile, SAP Customer Activity Repository enables a 360-degree, real-time view of inventory and orders, aiding personalized customer experiences. Goparaju explains, “Visibility of transactions across wholesale, e-commerce, and retail channels creates positive journeys, whether consumers are buying online and picking up in store or returning online purchases in store.”
Crucially, a centralized system and governance structure help ensure clean and consistent data across the company. As Goparaju outlines, “SAP Master Data Governance enables us to manage data across the enterprise, syndicating it to multiple downstream systems based on their unique consuming requirements. With reliable master data, we can now make data-driven decisions with confidence. SAP Datasphere, SAP Analytics Cloud, and SAP Fiori UX give us real-time, actionable, 360-degree insights through a single connected analytics platform at the click of a button, rather than months as before. And the Integration Advisor capability within SAP Integration Suite, as well as more than 3,000 APIs and patterns provided by SAP BTP, means integration is a breeze now.”
In addition, SAP IBP for Supply Chain enables integrated demand planning and improved forecasting accuracy, enhancing both commerce operations and the consumer experience. Goparaju explains, “By integrating SAP S/4HANA, SAP IBP for Supply Chain, and SAP Analytics Cloud, we have set the foundation for becoming a data-driven company that provides the best value for our customers.”
Finally, SAP Datasphere, used alongside the SAP Business Warehouse application, supports comprehensive data warehousing solutions that power smart, strategic decisions and improve collaboration between IT and business. The solution connects data smoothly to unleash the power of core ERP and allows scalable access to mission-critical data. The ability to fulfill requests for new analytics use cases has increased drastically, and real-time data access allows business users to trust their decisions more. The solution also allows for better data compression, with 40 million records now occupying only 0.5 GB and taking just 10 minutes to load – a much-needed improvement on the previous 5 GB and three hours.
Senior Vice President and Global CIO, HanesBrands Inc.
Crafting a competitive edge through technology
As HanesBrands extends its new IT footprint to other regions and brands, data remains at the core of its transformation. Goparaju describes harmonized, synchronized data as the “fundamental functional building block” that not only underpins efficient operations but also dictates future use of intelligent technologies such as AI and machine learning. “We’re almost there with regard to unleashing the power of AI now that our data is in a better place, and that’s where SAP solutions can play a huge role.”
Such initiatives include exploring the capabilities of generative AI to help customer service teams complete tasks such as matching returns with items in SAP Customer Activity Repository and applying relevant discounts. This would help move the company even closer to its goal of customer centricity.
Goparaju sums up the effect of the company’s IT transformation. “SAP solutions let us look at technology from a different perspective. They help us build new capabilities, whether it’s giving stakeholders the analytics they want, where and when they want them, or enabling omnicommerce journeys that power smooth consumer experiences. Technology is now a differentiator that puts us ahead of our competitors and propels our business forward.”