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IBM (NYSE: IBM) has announced the successful delivery of two major SAP S/4HANA system upgrades for Toyota South Africa Motors (Toyota), marking a significant milestone in the automotive leader’s enterprise-wide modernization journey. The projects, executed by IBM in collaboration with SAP, underscore IBM’s commitment to helping organizations achieve operational agility, business resilience, and data-driven decision-making.
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With mainstream support for legacy SAP ECC systems ending in 2027, IBM guided Toyota through a Brownfield upgrade strategy, enabling a seamless transition to SAP S/4HANA while preserving existing business process investments. This approach minimized disruption, accelerated deployment timelines, and ensured continuity for critical operations.
Driving Transformation Across Core Business Functions
Vehicle Management Modernization
IBM led the upgrade of Toyota’s national Vehicle Management System—a mission-critical platform for managing orders, inventory, sales, and financial reporting across manufacturing and dealerships. By migrating to SAP S/4HANA, Toyota now benefits from real-time data visibility, improved inventory optimization, and faster responsiveness to customer demand.
Human Capital Management Enhancement
The second phase focused on modernizing Toyota’s HR systems, including payroll and personnel administration. IBM delivered a streamlined SAP S/4HANA-based HCM platform that simplifies workforce processes and lays the foundation for enhanced talent management and employee engagement.
Speed, Continuity, and Risk Reduction
Both upgrades were delivered on schedule and without operational disruption, ensuring Toyota maintained business continuity while modernizing its core systems. IBM’s proven methodologies and deep SAP expertise enabled a risk-mitigated transformation aligned with Toyota’s strategic objectives.
“We are proud to support Toyota South Africa Motors in their digital transformation journey by delivering technology solutions that accelerate innovation and strengthen business resilience,” said Sikhumbuzo Ngcobo, Managing Partner, IBM Consulting South Africa.
“At IBM, we call this the Science of Consulting – combining human expertise, AI, and technology to deliver scalable, data-driven transformations. By improving data visibility and governance, we help organizations like Toyota achieve their goals with speed and confidence.”
Nazia Pillay
Nazia Pillay, Managing Director, Southern Africa at SAP, says: “The best companies run on trusted data, optimised business processes and real-time intelligence into every part of the business. By upgrading to SAP S/4HANA, companies like Toyota unlock a suite of intelligent technologies that help transform business processes with intelligent automation. We commend Toyota and IBM on this powerful business transformation initiative and wish them well as they continue their rollout.”
A Partnership Built for the Future
Building on these successes, IBM is collaborating with Toyota on the next phase of its SAP modernization program, focusing on parts management systems. IBM and SAP’s long-standing partnership brings together hybrid cloud infrastructure, automation, and generative AI innovations powered by IBM watsonx™, enabling clients to unlock new value and drive industry-specific transformation.
With over 18,000 certified SAP consultants and 300+ SAP S/4HANA implementations in the past five years, IBM helps organizations define transformation roadmaps, co-innovate solutions, and deploy modernization strategies with speed, scale, and AI-driven outcomes.
