Compass Packaging automates SAP cutover with BPA Platform
Fri, 8th May 2026 (Today)
Compass Packaging International has used Codeless Platforms' BPA Platform to integrate an acquired business running SAP R/3 Enterprise. The project also supported automation after Compass Packaging deployed SAP Business One.
Compass Packaging, which operates in the US and Ireland across fulfilment, distribution, warehousing, manufacturing and third-party logistics, moved to SAP Business One after acquiring a business with a large group of customers already using SAP R/3 Enterprise. The shift replaced a combination of QuickBooks and an older manufacturing resource planning system.
The project focused on bringing the parent company and its Supply Chain Solutions division onto SAP Business One, while using BPA Platform to connect processes and reduce manual work. The systems now sit at the centre of Compass Packaging's supply chain operations.
Siobhan Callan, Director of Business Development at Compass Packaging, said the result was a single connected environment across manufacturing and finance.
"What we've ended up with is a fully integrated system. It's not just the manufacturing side; we also have all of the financials connected to it.
"BPA Platform has played a big role in making that work. We're no longer jumping between different systems to find information. Once orders are closed, BPA Platform automatically handles the next steps, such as closing purchase orders and generating invoices when needed. That's been a huge benefit for the business."
System change
Phil Copelas, President/Owner at Compass Packaging, described the company's previous setup as heavily customised around factory operations and dependent on several separate applications.
"Prior to deploying SAP Business One, we were using QuickBooks and an old MRP system, which was an archaic Hewlett-Packard platform. It was a very intricate system built around the shop floor, with many different components, including shipping applications, operational workflows and numerous processes moving through it.
"The first step was implementing SAP Business One within Compass Packaging, which is the parent company. From there, we deployed it within the Supply Chain Solutions division and needed to build all the automation tasks to support their operations. That was the main objective."
The automation covers order handling, production planning, document flows and finance tasks. These processes were needed to handle daily transaction volumes in both North America and Europe, the Middle East and Africa.
Gabriel Mulligan, Financial/Business Analyst at Compass Packaging, said automated background tasks had become a central part of the operating model.
"A key part of making the system efficient is the number of automated tasks that we are running in the background via BPA Platform. We have numerous automated tasks that remove a lot of manual work, particularly for operational processes.
"As sales orders are received, the production orders needed to build the product are created automatically. Without that, shortages would have to be calculated manually in Excel and production orders loaded manually into SAP Business One. It just wouldn't be tenable given the volumes, which are more than 80 a day in the US and more than 50 a day in EMEA."
Process automation
One area affected was new product introduction, where adding a part requires extensive data entry. Automation reduced the burden of handling about 80 fields for each item and lowered the risk of input errors.
"There are about 80 different fields required to add a part onto the system. Entering that information manually just wouldn't be tenable and would also be too error-prone," Mulligan said.
Manufacturing workflows were also tied into the system. Production orders are printed automatically in the correct area once they move from planned to released status, removing the need for staff to monitor and print them by hand.
"Once a production order moves from planned to released status, it is automatically printed in the correct manufacturing area. Without this functionality, we would need to manually check which production orders had moved from planned to released, retrieve them and then print them in the appropriate locations," Mulligan said.
Finance teams also saw changes in invoicing and stock control. Accounts receivable staff no longer need to run daily reports and create invoices one by one, while stock levels for selected assembled parts are monitored automatically and replenishment orders are triggered when minimum thresholds are reached.
"An AR administrator therefore doesn't have to run a report of what sales orders have shipped today and then go into each sales order and create the AR invoice. That's up to 20 to 50 invoices a day in both regions, which makes this particularly valuable.
"BPA Platform also monitors minimum stock levels for certain assembled parts. If stock falls below the defined minimum, a production order is automatically created to replenish it."
The platform also exchanges production orders, bills of materials, product data, sales orders and delivery information with shop floor systems through XML files generated when transactions are created or updated, keeping operational data aligned with SAP Business One.
"These tasks send information such as production orders, bills of materials, product data, sales orders and delivery information. XML files are generated whenever transactions are created or updated, ensuring the shop floor system stays synchronised with SAP Business One," Mulligan said.
Weekend cutover
The migration had to happen to a fixed timetable because the previous system was due to be switched off. Copelas said the company completed the move over a weekend and resumed normal operations at the start of the following week.
"From an efficiency standpoint, there's no way we could have absorbed that business into our previous system. Even though we do the same type of work, serving the same customers and handling just-in-time operations, fulfilment, distribution and logistics, the complexity here is different.
"We had a specific date when the old system had to be turned off and the new one turned on. However, we made the switch over a weekend, tested everything and, by Monday morning, the business opened as usual and orders started flowing through immediately. It worked exactly as planned."