An Agro-Chemical Company Cuts $1.5M Monthly Costs with
SAP S/4HANA

The Challenge
A leading manufacturer of agricultural chemicals, vitamins, and biochemical derivatives was losing control—and money—across its import operations. 

With 100–150 containers arriving weekly, there was no visibility into the contents until opening. The company was dealing with expiration losses during 45–60 day shipping cycles, and demurrage charges of $150,000–$200,000 per month after a five-day free period. Disconnected tools (e.g., Primavera), manual handoffs, and incomplete landed-cost tracking compounded delays and errors.

The A5E Solution

A5E Consulting implemented SAP S/4HANA in 5 months, following SAP Activate methodologies. 

The solution linked – 

• purchase requisitions to customs, shipping, port arrival, and warehouse delivery for end-to-end traceability
• automated FIFO and expiry tracking
• integrated country-specific import compliance (MOC, HS codes, duties, documentation)
• delivered complete landed-cost visibility
• optimized container management with alerts, packing lists, and cold-storage handling. 

Procurement workflows were streamlined from quotation comparison to MIGO and invoice verification—reducing manual workload by ~50%.

Results that matter:

• $1.5M–$2.4M annual demurrage savings
• 50% reduction in manpower for import processes
• Max 5-day container processing (down from weeks)
• Complete product traceability across 100–150 weekly containers
• Automated expiry management for 45–60 day shipping cycles

A5E’s SAP-first approach turned a fragmented import chain into a real-time, governed flow—cutting costs and boosting agility.