Mercerville, NJ-based Congoleum is clearly a pioneer in the production, delivery and installation of highly durable vinyl flooring, tile and plank products. After more than 130 years in business, they’ve not only been a lasting leader in this industry; Congoleum overcame major hurdles to remain in business and re-emerge from bankruptcy filings.
It wasn’t until 2020 that Congoleum successfully got back on track – remarkably just as a global pandemic hit the world. The company not only managed its way back to a healthy balance sheet again, it improved service levels and other functions while significantly cutting costs.
It’s a turnaround story of relatively epic proportions. Learn how they did it.
On the Right Track with SAP Business ByDesign
Before: Challenges and Opportunities
- Asbestos litigation leads to bankruptcy proceedings that took their toll over the course of 17 years
- Constraints range from home-grown MRP system to outdated approach to financial management
- Private equity firm ultimately purchases the company, and supports the move in 2016 to divest dozens of legacy systems while standardizing and consolidating on a single platform
Why SAP and Navigator
- Seeking solution to not only support the stabilization of the company but also growth plans and need for long-term innovation platform as well as capabilities enabling ongoing customer service excellence
- SAP Gold Partner Navigator stood out to Congoleum as “top integrator” specifically for supporting SAP Business ByDesign implementation as well as SAP Warehouse Management System integration
After: Value-Driven Results
- Plant operations and headquarters standardized on SAP, healthy overall balance sheet
- Able to improve service levels and other functions with more than 50% reduction in staffing
- Efficient, much faster inventory management processes based on best practices SAP instills
- Optimized reporting without reliance on lean IT resources needed for other aspects of the business
- Secure remote access to SAP Business ByDesign critical – and highly reliable – as work-from-home initiatives began with pandemic’s emergence and ongoing considerations; no down time at any time
- Able to expand in new directions such as direct to retail while strengthening service to all customers, including real-time 360-view of orders, order status, pricing, product data, etc., across the enterprise
