Super Cheap Auto is an ANZ-based company with an annual turnover of $520 million in sales across its 244 stores. The company, which started the business in QLD, now employs some 4500 people.
In 2001 the company implemented an SAP solution, as it wanted a software partner that would support the growth of the business. According to the company, SAP supported Super Cheap Auto’s acquisitions and expansion into new countries – it developed a greater focus on strategy implementation and was committed to opening 40 stores a year for several years.
However, Super Cheap Auto’s CEO Peter Birtles says the reason he went for SAP over a number of like-minded and similar sized ERP vendors was that “for our financial requirements, SAP ticked all the boxes”.
Birtles says that when it came to the “supply side of things, SAP proved to be able to better meet the needs of Super Cheap Auto”, adding that it was important to have a company of SAP’s pedigree “as we are looking to take the organisation to a turnover in excess of $ 1 billion over the next few years”.
His plans will also include refreshing store designs and marketing/point of sale material; investing in procurement and supply chain processes (since 30 per cent of products come from China); leveraging areas of the business (also known as ‘category killers’); reaching a 300-store network and a plan to refurbish some 30 stores a year.