Deloitte Consulting acquires Dutch SAP supply chain consultancy AEPEX

The Dutch country organisation of Deloitte has acquired AEPEX Business Consultants, in a move that adds a team of around 60 consultants to its local footprint. The acquired business will be integrated into the SAP and Supply Chain practices of Deloitte Consulting. 

“AEPEX is a great addition to our consulting business. With this acquisition, we are continuing our growth strategy in the Netherlands,” said Peter Bommel, the Dutchman who serves as CEO of Deloitte Netherlands.

Since its foundation in 1997, AEPEX has focused specifically on the implementation of supply chain management and logistics solutions and systems. The company – led by managing partners Ger Lanjouw, Maarten van Roessel, Marco Boon and Wouter van der Veen, who jointly founded AEPEX after having previously worked for Andersen Consulting – specialises in SAP and Reflex solutions. 

Over the past two decades, AEPEX has built a solid track record in the consultancy, technology and managed services segment of the supply chain domain. SAP solutions in which the firm boasts extensive knowledge in are Supply Network Collaboration (SNC), Extended Warehouse Management (EWM), SCM Advanced Planning and Optimisation (APO), SCM Forecasting and Replenishment (FRE), Transportation Management (TM) and Integrated Business Planning (IBP). In the field of Reflex, AEPEX supports various clients with, among others, building and rolling-out Reflex WMS. Customers that sit on the firm’s roster include (international) corporates such as Aviko, Inter-Logistic Europe, Lamb Weston Meijer, Perfetti Van Melle and Remy Cointreau.

“AEPEX is valued by its customers for its SAP implementation and analytics knowledge and expertise in the field of supply chain management,” remarked AEPEX managing partner Maarten van Roessel.

Erik Nanninga, the CEO of Deloitte Consulting in the Netherlands, commented on the deal; “The expertise, know-how and customers of AEPEX contribute significantly to the realisation of our growth objectives in the area of SAP S / 4HANA implementation and support services. The joining of forces enables us to bolster our position as a leading SAP S / 4HANA implementation partner in the market.” 

The circa sixty strong team of AEPEX joins the SAP practice of Deloitte Consulting. They will, according to Erik Nanninga, get access to “a large international network of colleagues and customers”, to which he added “this offers them personal growth and development possibilities.”

The SAP arm of Deloitte is according to analyst firm Gartner one of the global leaders in SAP consultancy and implementation services (report: 'Magic Quadrant for SAP Implementation Service Provides'), both in size as well as in breadth and depth. Combined with Deloitte's supply chain knowledge, served from a dedicated service line within its Strategy & Operations unit, the blend, according to Van Roessel, provides a "great opportunity" for AEPEX, Deloitte and the firm's customers.

Building on its global credentials, in the Netherlands Deloitte was recently named of the top strategy and management consulting firms of the country by a poll among 2,600+ managers. 

The acquisition follows shortly after Deloitte Digital, the fastest growing practice of Deloitte Consulting in the Netherlands, acquired Belgian marketing agency Brandfirst and established a new 'Digital Garage' in Amsterdam. The last consultancy deals that Deloitte completed in the Netherlands were those of FCTB in the summer of 2015 and Indicia Talent & Performance in September of that year. FCTB specialised in human capital consultancy and had a team of around 25 employees, while Indicia specialised in SAP / SuccessFactors.