Posted by Mary Hayes Weier,
Mar 14, 2008 01:45 PM

When a large company tries to convince partnering companies to invest in a common technology platform, it's rarely a walk in the park. One example of this is Wal-Mart's slow-going RFID initiative. Now Coca-Cola faces this challenge in an initiative to get 300 bottlers worldwide standardized on SAP (NYSE: SAP)'s service-oriented architecture.

Coca-Cola runs a franchise system, meaning that while the recipe for
its most famous drink is "secret," it's shared with independent
bottlers who mix it up and then sell bottled and canned Coke to
retailers worldwide. Same goes for Coke's other 400 brands, such as
Sprite, Minute Maid, Dasani water, Odwalla juices, and brands for
specific global markets you've never heard of. While critical to Coke's
business, Coke butts heads with its bottlers from time to time on
various distribution issues. Meanwhile, these 300+ bottlers, ranging
from small to mammoth, use a mix of systems to run their supply chains
for Coke, including homegrown software and older versions of SAP.

Last year, Coke began talking about Project Scale,
an initiative to create a common platform largely based on SAP’s
NetWeaver. It includes a repository of services that bottlers can weave
together to create processes, such as procure-to-pay (the process that
begins with procuring raw materials and ends with payment to
suppliers). The goal of Project Scale is to reduce costs and make
Coke's supply chain more efficient.

Coke CIO Jean-Michel Arès told me in an interview last week that he
realizes convincing every bottler to spend money on implementing new
technology won't be easy. Still, he has a practical view of the effort.
"Not everyone will be on the same page day one," Arès acknowledges.
Coke is starting the project with its own bottlers, and already has
buy-in from a big independent bottler in Australia. Meanwhile, it's
worked closely with bottling company executives to show how Project
Scale will benefit them.

Jean-Michel seems to have the right attitude about this effort. Is
it possible to move mountains? Sure, with patience and the realization
that it won't happen tomorrow. (Of course, if it hasn't happened within
five years, we'll check back on his patience level at that time.)

See for yourself what Jean-Michel had to say on this topic and
others, such as the momentum behind MyCokeRewards.com, during my visit
to Coca-Cola's Atlanta headquarters last week:

Video

http://www.informationweek.com/blog/main/archives/2008/03/video_can_coke.html