NESTLE

NESTLE

Published on : 06/04/2020 06 April Apr 04 2020

Whereas it historically used databases under Access and Excel spreadsheets to respectively manage its cases and its contracts, Nestle launched the implementation of legal management software in 2006. “The specific case management application set up and maintained by a former lawyer was abandoned following its departure. At the same time, the installation of structuring legal software appeared relevant to the new general counsel who arrived in 2006”, tells Aymeric Marlange, lawyer in the commercial and marketing law department at Nestle. Nestle sought the objective to choose a solution equipped with the greatest capacity of information sharing, relating in particular to the costs of proceedings, while also being able to very quickly design a range of reports regarding the evolution of cases or their typology. 

 Project implementation


Established in 1868 and realizing more than 5 billion euros sales turnover worldwide, Nestle counts among its numerous brands Maggi soups, the Herta ham, the Buitoni raviolis or the KitKat chocolate. As an international company with strong exposure, Nestle has always been particularly sensitive to legal issues especially as they relate to contract management and disputes of all types: misleading or unfair advertising, counterfeit…

Recently put on track, the project of implementing a legal solution emerged in the summer on a phase of offer comparison. A thorough evaluation was made after functional and technical presentations from the publishers Legisway, Enablon and Legal Suite. To help them make up their mind, Nestle takes on the initiative to contact users of several other corporate legal departments that had implemented each one the studied solutions. “It appeared important to us to decide in all transparency which solution to choose from and for that exact reason receive the enlightened feedback of users having a day to day contact with the solutions, explains Aymeric Marlange. Finally, thanks to both the presentation and the customers’ feedback, it is Legal Suite that is elected to implement the solution in 2006.  

 

Results and benefits


DEFINITIVELY ADOPTED IN DECEMBER 2006, THE LEGAL SUITE CASE MANAGEMENT AND CONTRACT MANAGEMENT MODULES WERE INITIALLY MADE ACCESSIBLE IN WEB MODE BEFORE BEING DELIVERED AS A REFERENCE VERSION IN JUNE 2007. THIS TIME FRAME ALLOWED THE 6 LAWYERS, USERS OF THE SOLUTION, TO TEST THE SOLUTION AND TO HAVE SOME CUSTOM SETTINGS ADJUSTED, BUT ALSO LEFT NESTLE SOME TIME TO NEGOTIATE THE LICENSES ACQUISITION’S PRICE WHICH REACHED SEVERAL TENS OF THOUSANDS OF EUROS.
 
THE FINAL VERSION OF THE SOLUTION CONTAINED THE LAST SETTINGS’ ADJUSTMENTS AND THE ADAPTATION OF THE USER INTERFACE THAT WAS SWITCHED ENTIRELY INTO ENGLISH THUS COULD BE DELIVERED IN AUGUST 2007. THE PROJECT INVOLVED 3 INTERNAL COLLABORATORS OF NESTLE SI DEPARTMENT AND LEGAL SUITE TECHNICAL AND FUNCTIONAL SPECIALISTS. “THE HARDEST PART DID NOT DEAL WITH THE INSTALLATION OF THE SOFTWARE BUT RATHER WITH THE DATA CONVERSION PHASE, CARRIED OUT MANUALLY, FOR WHICH IT WAS NECESSARY TO STANDARDIZE OUR OLD FILES CONVERSION PROCESS IN TERMS OF NOMENCLATURE, DIMINUTIVES AND ORGANIZATION FOR US NOT TO MISLAY ANY FILE”, SPECIFIES CHRISTEL LACARRIÈRE INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY COUNSEL AT NESTLE.
 
AFTER HAVING COMPLETED THIS DATA CONVERSION, BESIDES RAISING THE NUMBER OF USER LICENSES, THE LEGAL DEPARTMENT DID NOT PLAN HOWEVER NOTABLE FUNCTIONAL IMPROVEMENTS OF THE SOLUTION WHICH STILL GIVES GREATEST SATISFACTION TODAY. 

History

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