Johannesburg, 04 Feb 2010
Enterprise communications solutions provider Nashua Communications - formerly Siemens Enterprise Communications - has contracted SAP Business One ERP business software and technology specialist 4most to supply, install and integrate a complex SAP Business One solution for its national operations.
The ERP solution involves a complex SAP Business One backbone and includes an Enprise project job-costing software installation for the monitoring and cost control of communications projects undertaken for customers, continuously monitoring actual costs against budgeted costs for Nashua Communications.
The company offers voice, network infrastructure and security solutions that use open, standards-based architectures to unify communications and business applications.
Nashua Communications Chief Financial Officer Graeme Eddey said the company's existing SAP R3 infrastructure, installed 15 years ago, was highly customised and complicated.
“Recently we closely examined our needs and established what worked and what did not. The result was that we would either have to change our business processes or change the software system. In reality, a combination of both was what was required in order to maximise and improve our overall efficiency, so we looked at other ERP software options, including SAP Business One.
The decision to evaluate SAP Business One brought Nashua Communications Chief Information Officer Geoff Miller and Eddey into contact with 4most, a national supplier and implementer of SAP Business One ERP business software and technology solutions. Other products were evaluated as well, but both Miller and Eddey agreed that SAP Business One was the way forward.
Eddey said: “We knew that we would have to change both our processes and our ERP system and choosing the right solution to meet our requirements was addressed in a very detailed and comprehensive manner. 4most understands both our business requirements and SAP Business One's capabilities and they will have to push the envelope to meet our needs.
“On the other hand, Nashua Communications has considerable experience and expertise in SAP R3, and when all options had been considered, we knew that SAP Business One held enormous potential for us as a solution that will not only meet our specific and unique requirements, but will at the same time achieve cost savings of up to 50%.”
Eugene Olivier, 4most managing director, said the solution involves a services module that logs incoming calls from customers, and through Enprise, automatically creates job requests that are allocated and routed electronically to technicians, wherever they may be, using mobile wireless devices.
“Phase two includes a warehouse integration add-on stock management module for the Nashua Communications warehouse at Kempton Park. It will report back into SAP Business One detailed data and reports on the receipt, packaging and dispatch of stock,” said Olivier.
Another stock optimisation tool, Valogix, monitors and continuously analyses stock purchasing and sales history over four years. The resulting trend data is used to implement precise stock procurement control, preventing overstocking and under-stocking, increasing efficiency and saving costs.
Olivier added that QlikView, a general tool for interactive compilation, dynamic analysis and presentation of data extracted from one or many data sources, is being implemented with SAP Business One as a business intelligence (BI) tool.
Eddey said QlikView is an exciting option sitting on top of the live database, extracting pertinent BI data and management information that will be “very powerful for our business”.
QlikView will ensure that Nashua Communications decision-makers are presented with the right information whenever they need it and Olivier said it will turn data into pertinent management information that is “easily accessible and meaningfully presented out of the data within SAP Business One”.
The new ERP system is due to go live at the beginning of April 2010.
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