Newell Rubbermaid is a varied manufacturer and marketer of a variety of high volume brand-name consumer products. The firm is divided into four business groups, which are the Rubbermaid group, Sharpie group, the Levolor/Hardware group and the Calphalon Home Groups. The Rubbermaid group consists of products such as storage containers, waste and recycling containers, cleaning products, play systems and children’s toys. Sharpie group produces writing instruments, while the Hardware group makes drapery hardware, etc. The last group, Calphalon Home group produces cookware, bake ware and dinnerware. These products are typically sold through mass merchandisers. With this production, seventy-five percent of the company’s revenue is generated in United States. Wal-Mart stores are the largest of the Newell Rubbermaid customers, fifteen percent of the sales. The Newell Rubbermaid Company is growing rapidly, and with this fast growth of Rubbermaid come certain needs in order to maintain a smooth business process. There are several other databases that support SAP ERP, that come from different vendors supporting. Rubbermaid had a difficult time reporting across the different operating units. The solution to their problems was SAP ERP. SAP ERP stands for Systems, Applications, and Products in Data Processing. It began in Germany in 1972. SAP ERP has its advantages and disadvantages. It allows easier global integration, updates only need to be done once, provides real-time information, and creates and efficient work environment. On the downside, there is locked relationship by contract; inflexibility and the implementation have a risk of project failure. When Rubbermaid found it difficult to report across the different operating systems, there was a time of rationalization. These certain challenges made it easier for the group to realize they needed to make a change, a change that would make it a little easier to navigate and be able to have
Cited: "Newell Rubbermaid Cleans up with SAP ERP and SAP NetWeaver Business Warehouse Solutions Based on IBM Systems and IBM DB2." IBM.com. N.p., 2010. Web. 14 June 2012. <http://www-01.ibm.com/software/success/cssdb.nsf/cs/STRD85EF3N?OpenDocument&Site=gicss67sap&cty=en_us> "Future of Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP)." Nickmutt.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 June 2012. <http://www.nickmutt.com/future-trends-for-ERP.htm>.