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Video: Can Coke Get Its Bottlers On A Common IT Platform?

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'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:

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