- Accelerated AI and IoT projects to improve customer experience
- Reduced issue resolution from days to hours
Founded in 1966, KleanNara is one of South Korea’s leading manufacturers of paper and hygiene products. The company holds a 25% share of the white cardboard market. Known for its commitment to quality, sustainability and innovation, the company continues to expand globally with a focus on ESG-driven, eco-friendly products.
As the company continued to expand, its IT operations were under pressure. High support costs, unresponsive vendor support and forced software upgrades to just maintain vendor support made it difficult to focus funds and resources toward laying the foundation for KleanNara’s long-term IT roadmap.
Seeking a clean break from traditional ERP support models
For years, KleanNara relied on a traditional ERP support model for its SAP ECC6 and Oracle Database systems. The company uses ECC6 for finance, accounting and sales functions with Oracle Database serving as the primary repository for customer data. Together these systems serve as critical parts of KleanNara’s operations. Without the right level of care for these systems, productivity and customer experience could be negatively impacted. Concurrently, the value it received from its significant vendor support fees had steadily declined. “Long response times hampered operational efficiency, as troubleshooting often required multiple steps or the inability to connect with experienced engineers,” Hongjun Jang, Digital Experience Manager at KleanNara, said.
The support experience was frustrating and expensive – and worse, it left little room in the IT budget for forward-looking investments. “The software vendors lacked expertise with complex issues or custom code, which made it difficult to resolve issues quickly and accurately. We were paying about 22% of the software license fee annually, which consumed most of our IT budget, limiting the amount of funds available for business transformation projects,” Jang noted.
Adding to the strain were vendor-required software upgrades as a condition of continued support. After evaluating a move to the Rise with SAP program and an S/4HANA migration, they found the platform’s high cost/low efficiency structure didn’t serve their current transformation goals. Unneeded migrations and upgrade cycles introduced unnecessary risks and potential downtime conflicting with KleanNara’s strategic goals of maintaining system stability and modernizing on its own terms. The company needed an alternative: an ERP support model that could dramatically cut costs, deliver faster, more reliable service and make room for strategic initiatives like adopting AI, investing in cloud and using IoT to optimize operations.
Jang summed up the company’s goal, “To accelerate digital transformation and to remain competitive in a rapidly changing market environment, it was imperative to increase the flexibility and efficiency of our IT systems.” He added, “We needed to keep current systems stable while adopting new technologies and establishing a business-driven roadmap.” The company’s roadmap included a comprehensive digital transformation project to digitize the entire production process alongside implementation of direct online sales systems. By doing so, KleanNara could decrease the time from order to delivery and reduce friction in the ordering process. Aligning to its company goals, these initiatives would result in a better overall experience for clients, strengthen its competitiveness and fuel new growth engines.
Improved ERP support quality accelerates key initiatives
KleanNara engaged Rimini Street as part of an enterprise-wide cost optimization initiative, a strategic choice to increase operational efficiency and reduce financial burden. The decision was driven by Rimini Street’s strong reputation in the industry and its ability to provide expert, responsive service with transparent, structured SLAs and a client-focused service model.
Benefits of Rimini Support™ for SAP include:
- Dedicated Primary Support Engineer (PSE) from a team averaging 20+ years of experience, backed by a global team of SAP experts
- Guaranteed 10-minute response time for priority cases, delivered on average in less than 2 minutes, with a frequent cadence of communications
- Guaranteed 4-hour resolution for priority 1 cases
- ISO-certified global tax, legal and regulatory updates for 160+ countries with fastest Legislature-to-Live™ update cycle in the industry
- Customization support included at no additional costs
“Upon evaluation, Rimini Street was selected because it offered significant cost savings and comprehensive support for our customized environment,” Jang said. With Rimini Support™ for SAP and Rimini Support™ for Oracle Database, KleanNara saw immediate financial benefits. In addition to reducing annual vendor support fees by 50%, it was also able to consolidate support under one trusted partner.
But the benefits didn’t stop there.
The company’s IT team instantly noticed major improvements in support responsiveness and the depth of expertise that Rimini Street provided. Jang shared, “Rimini Street is quick and accurate, especially when working with customized code and complex systems. Issues that would have taken days to resolve with a traditional vendor are often resolved within hours with Rimini Street.” This level of service is made possible by Rimini Street’s dedicated Primary Support Engineers (PSEs) with deep experience in complex ERP environments working in a follow-the-sun support structure so that Jang and his team always have access to broad SAP and Oracle expertise. Freed from break/fix maintenance and planning for unneeded upgrades, KleanNara’s IT team can refocus on its digital transformation goals.
With the savings and time recaptured from ERP system maintenance, KleanNara accelerated several key initiatives, including building an AI-powered analytics platform, expanding its cloud footprint and implementing IoT in production. Jang’s long-range digital transformation vision will allow the company to quickly forecast and respond to consumer market demand, reduce production costs and maximize inventory efficiency. They’ve also used the savings to recruit new talent and development capabilities to support this vision.
Since switching to Rimini Street, KleanNara has maintained the stability of its current ERP systems and eliminated vendor upgrade pressures. Rimini Street gives Jang and his team the flexibility to perform upgrades on their own schedule, minimizing additional costs and disruption. “Rather than being forced to upgrade by our current vendors, we’re able to maintain our current system and selectively upgrade only when necessary,” Jang added.
Strategic partnership creates space for innovation
Jang sees Rimini Street as a strategic partner, “Stabilizing our core systems created space to innovate,” Jang said. “Rimini Street has become a key partner in helping us modernize while maintaining the reliability we need.”
KleanNara’s journey underscores the value of stepping off the traditional vendor upgrade cycle and embracing a more strategic, flexible ERP support strategy. With Rimini Street, KleanNara has reduced costs and improved operations, while gaining the freedom to build an IT strategy designed around its digital future. “Reducing fixed costs and optimizing IT operating expenses has paved the way to reinvest resources in core business objectives, including digital transformation, developing eco-friendly products and streamlining production processes which have been instrumental in strengthening the company’s competitiveness and supporting sustainable growth,” Jang concluded.
Our solutions for KleanNara
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- Support for customizations not covered by the vendor
- The strength and knowledge of hundreds of seasoned engineers on your team, but not on your payroll
- Potential savings of up to 90% of total support costs
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