Ordered today, delivered tomorrow: that’s one of the promises that sets President Safety apart in the personal protective equipment (PPE) market. To keep up that speed and continue to grow, the company revamped its entire ERP environment. Together with SAP partner Quinso, President Safety chose SAP S/4HANA Public Cloud, a move that ensures more efficient processes and instant data visibility.
President Safety was founded in 2016 by a team of experienced PPE industry professionals. Through resellers, the company supplies a wide range of safety products – from gloves and shoes to eyewear and helmets – to customers in the industrial, food and agricultural sectors. With branches in Spijkenisse (head office) and Oud-Gastel (5,500 m² warehouse), the company is now a regular player in the Benelux market.
Delivering on promises with SAP
The company can fulfill its ambitious logistics promise only with excellent processes and systems. “And in that, SAP plays a crucial role,” said Robert Jan van Duijne, SAP Implementation Manager at President Safety. The company had been working with SAP S/4HANA 1709 in a private cloud environment since 2018. “At the time, we were one of the first companies in the Netherlands to make the switch from ECC to S/4HANA,” Van Duijne says. “But after five years we noticed that the technology around us had rapidly evolved. The new S/4 versions offered a modern interface, more standard functionality and better reporting capabilities.”
The company was faced with a choice: upgrade within the existing private environment, or switch completely to SAP S/4HANA Public Cloud. “We examined both scenarios extensively, including the financial business case that SAP prepared with us,” Van Duijne explains. “The conclusion was clear: public cloud offered us not only the latest technology, but also predictable costs and less dependence on external consultants.”
Implementation in record time
Together with SAP partner Quinso, President Safety started implementing SAP S/4HANA Public Cloud on March 1, 2025. After exactly four months – on July 1 – the new environment successfully went live. Roel Reimink and Mark Kokkeler of Quinso pulled the project as external consultants.
That process went exceptionally smoothly, according to Reimink. “President Safety had a clear goal and a small, motivated team. That made quick switching possible. We opted for a fit-to-standard approach: using cloud best practices as much as possible and avoiding customization.”
Shoulders out
That the implementation went off in record time also had everything to do with the way we worked together. “We all really put our shoulders to the wheel,” says CEO Alexander Nijs. “Both at us and at Quinso, if something needed to be done, everyone was ready immediately. That mentality made it possible for us to achieve a lot in a short time.”
SAP Implementation Manager Robert Jan van Duijne adds: “We immediately had a click with Quinso. We are the same type of people: down-to-earth, committed and with a no-nonsense mentality. That shared DNA created trust and energy in the project. Everyone was pulling on the same rope.” The appreciation was also great on the Quinso side. “It was one of the nicest projects I have done so far,” says consultant Roel Reimink. “With a team like that, you can move mountains.”
Benefits every day
Every day, both the company’s employees and its customers experience the benefits of the cloud migration. For example, when updating the webshop, an important sales channel for President Safety for authorized resellers. “In our old environment, it was difficult to quickly update product data or add new fields,” says Van Duijne. “We had to call in our partner each time to do that. That cost time as well as money.”
With the new cloud environment, that’s a thing of the past. “Now we can switch faster ourselves. New product information or price adjustments are almost immediately visible to customers,” says Van Duijne. “The integration between SAP and the web shop is more stable and efficient. The message traffic has decreased by a factor of ten.”
Improved data quality
Data quality is also greatly improved. “Uploading and synchronizing article data is now more structured and secure,” adds Reimink. “The control mechanisms in SAP ensure that errors are immediately visible.”
The effect is noticeable: now 25% of all orders are placed fully automatically through the web shop. “That saves an enormous amount of phone calls and manual processing,” Van Duijne notes with satisfaction. “Customers can now see in real time which products are in stock, including instructions for use, technical specifications and additional photos. That increases service and reduces errors in order processing.”
Ready for growth
Moreover, the revamp fits with President Safety’s robust growth ambitions. “We want to grow 15% annually,” says Nijs. “Then you have to double every five years. Our new SAP environment can support that growth effortlessly.”
The company can easily add new users, connect foreign branches and expand interfaces with external systems. “The cloud gives us the flexibility to scale quickly without the need for a large IT team,” says Van Duijne. “We don’t have in-house ABAP developers; everything we need is in the system by default.”
In addition, the implementation provides the foundation for further digitization. “With SAP BTP, we can unlock our data for reports and dashboards,” Nijs explains. “This allows us to create real-time insight into sales, logistics and inventory. That makes decision-making faster and more informed.”
AI studies
In the coming period, President Safety intends to build on the capabilities of the SAP Business Technology Platform (BTP). Within the organization, it is being investigated how data from SAP can be utilized even better for reporting, customer interaction and future applications with artificial intelligence (AI). Van Duijne: “We have laid a solid foundation with this step. Now we want to look at how we can use our data smarter. For example, to proactively inform customers about stocks or delivery times. There are still plenty of opportunities for innovation and customer focus there.”
