Huawei announces switch to MetaERP, redefining its core business systems

• Huawei replaced its old ERP system with MetaERP, an in-house system over which it has full control and which redefines its core business systems.

Dongguan, China, April 2023.- Huawei has announced that it has replaced its legacy ERP system with its MetaERP system, over which it has full control. Huawei held the MetaERP awards ceremony to recognise the individuals and teams who made key contributions to the project. Titled “Heroes Fighting to Cross the Dadu River“, the event took place at the company’s Xi Liu Bei Po campus in Dongguan, China.

Enterprise resource planning (ERP) software is the most important business management IT system. In 1996, Huawei introduced the MRP II manufacturing resource planning system, which it later expanded into an ERP system after several iterative upgrades. The legacy ERP system has been the main system supporting Huawei’s business operations and rapid growth for more than 20 years. It has supported the efficiency of Huawei’s operations, which generate billions of dollars a year in more than 170 countries and regions around the world.

In 2019, Huawei began to face greater external pressure and business challenges. The company decided to develop the fully self-controlled MetaERP system to replace the previous ERP system. This transformation project has been the most expensive and complex that Huawei has undertaken to date. Over the past three years, Huawei has invested significant resources and assigned several thousand people to the project, as well as working with industry and ecosystem partners to overcome the associated challenges. This new cloud-native, future-oriented, ultra-large-scale MetaERP system has now been deployed and has replaced the previous ERP system.

MetaERP now manages 100% of Huawei’s business scenarios and 80% of its business volume. MetaERP has already passed monthly, quarterly and annual closing tests without any errors, delays or need for accounting corrections.

Tao Jingwen, Board member and President of the Quality, Business Process and IT Management Department at Huawei, said: “More than three years ago, we were cut off from our legacy ERP system and other core management and operations systems.

Since then, we have not only been able to develop our own MetaERP system, but also to manage the switchover and prove its capabilities. Today, we are pleased to announce that we have cleared that hurdle. We have survived!”

Huawei has complete and absolute control over MetaERP, which was developed on other Huawei systems such as EulerOS and GaussDB. Huawei also worked with its partners to incorporate advanced technologies into the MetaERP system, such as cloud-native architecture, metadata-based multi-tenant architecture and real-time intelligence, significantly improving service efficiency and operational quality. Huawei’s guiding principles are to build the simplest possible architecture with the highest possible quality to deliver the best possible experience at the lowest possible cost. Huawei will continue working with its partners in a wide range of fields, including ERP and PLM, to develop more efficient and secure core business systems that are not subject to restrictions of any kind.

Sabrina Meng, Rotating Chairwoman and CFO of Huawei, said: “Technological breakthroughs require creative spirit and years of experience. More importantly, they require an open mindset that drives breakthroughs in the way we think. We couldn’t have built MetaERP without the support of our partners. Innovation is only possible with an open mind, and prosperity is only possible when we work together.”

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Founded in 1987, Huawei is a leading global provider of information and communications technology (ICT) infrastructure and smart devices. We have approximately 197,000 employees and operate in over 170 countries and regions, serving more than three billion people around the world.

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