Orchestrating the right outcomes

Headquartered in Espoo, Finland, HMD Global Oy (“HMD”) is the largest European manufacturer of smartphones. HMD releases Nokia branded mobile devices running Android operating systems, uniting two of the world’s most iconic names in mobile technology.

HMD has a simple idea at the core of its operations – that mobile technology can enhance the everyday lives of everyone around the world. In under 11 months from launch the company released its first eleven phones to customers worldwide. Less than two years later, the smartphone manufacturer brought the legendary mobile phone brand Nokia back to life, and since 2023 has brought back manufacturing from Asia to Europe.

The company needed to rapidly scale production and business operations, while reducing costs, to maintain its “unicorn-level” growth. It already had an existing SAP technology solution to keep IT staff and cost levels low and transparent, even as the business grew. But to ensure industry standardization and best practices HMD wanted to upgrade to RISE with SAP.

As Jussi Sorvali, CIO, HMD Global explains “We needed to quickly scale production and business operations while lowering IT and staffing costs. The overall target was to see the combined benefits from the latest SAP technology offering – RISE with SAP – and Microsoft’s Azure platform. We needed the best competencies and latest innovations to meet efficiency, functionality, and automation requirements."

The RISE with SAP solution is a managed cloud service that helps HMD Global benefit from proven business processes and further drive bottom line growth. Fujitsu provided strategic consulting services for RISE with SAP, and this removed the burden of HMD having to handle multiple vendors and contracts.

“As both a manufacturer and a technology services provider, Fujitsu combined the insight, expertise and technical innovation we needed to help us transform with confidence,” adds Jussi Sorvali.

The upgrade is also helping HMD to build sustainability directly into its business. HMD stakeholders can now adapt operations and processes to consistently reduce emissions, waste, and environmental impact – while managing regulatory requirements proactively with company-wide controls and in-depth reporting.

As a large manufacturer HMD Global has peaks and troughs, and needs to respond to increases in customer demand at short notice. The investment in a state-of-the-art ERP means HMD Global can now ramp up their manufacturing plants and deliver continuous improvements in business process efficiency, functionality, and automation. The manufacturer has also established system-to-system integration with suppliers and other key industry partners. In addition, IT staff headcount and costs are kept to existing levels, and are transparent even as business expansion continues.

“Now we get security, sustainability, and adaptability. Microsoft Azure is an adaptive platform, and we find it simple to combine different types of systems. Now we can make better decisions about the future of HMD Global, maintain our growth trajectory, and enable a faster pace of innovation,” finishes Jussi Sorvali.