The manufacturing companies make their know-how and their skills, as well as their values, their point of strength: it is by this elements that their growth derives, which lets them stand out in front of the always and more intense competitiveness. However, to really make the difference, the manufacturing companies need to dispose of an internal software that can manage at the very best the specific areas and carry out a 360 degrees management control. This was the real need showed by a great Italian industrial group - which wanted to stay anonymous in this case study - that established a contact with Technis Blu in 2015. For our client, we implemented a tailor-made SAP solution, used for a first time in the Italian headquarter and then proposed even to the ones abroad. Let's find out in this case study which results we reached!
The customer
In 2015, Technis Blu gets contacted by an important Italian industrial group, leader in the processing of steel. Present on the market by more than 70 years, the company supports the innovation in the use of this material in its more common applications, orientating itself towards a sustainable economy.
The industrial group presents at this day 14 active headquarters all around the world, supplying with its products 78 different countries. Each year, it acquires 450 tons of steel and can boast the selling of more than 15 millions of square meters of panels, its core business. As an eco-friendly industrial group, the company gets to recycle more than 20.000 tons of steel each year, avoiding to expand on the environment, as a consequence, 32.000 tons of carbon dioxide.
The need
When the industrial group got in touch with Technis Blu, it showed a great common need in the field of the big manufacturing companies. In particular, it was asking itself whether to go on with the usage of the actual applicative system Formula or to implement an ERP strategic solution, capable of adapting itslef to the growth and the fluctuation of the market at which the group was subject. The Formula applicative system was made of specific custom solutions realized on AS400, but wasn't scalable, so, as a consequence, revealed itself poorly suitable at the future business goals, with the start of new international productive societies, among which the building by zero of an establishment in Russia.
The need of an ERP Software showed itself even in the research of a centralized management control, which could allow, through an intuitive and simple system, to put in contact and bring together the entire group, divided by more operative headquarters.
The answer to the questions of the company revealed itself in SAP, with the creation of a project which could focus on the development of a kernel group and a new model of management control. This, in addition to the monitoring of internal business processes, allowed to reach a predictive approach, which addressed not only the single structures, but even the entire group.
The initial phases of the project
With the aim of maintaining a direct contact with the company, Technis Blu predisposed for the industrial group a partnership with a company of the same industry, bue closer to the customer's headquarters.
First of all, a micro analysis has been carried out on the entire group and the single needs of the various localities. After hearing the needs showed by the company, the Team of Technis Blu realized a Kernel for the group, which based itself on the needs of the single societies that make part of it. The project focused mainly on the "panels" and on the different countries in which the headquarters of the company were already established and then proceed with the roll outs in Mexico and Russia.
The final implementation of SAP
To implement a managing software for the productive cycles of the industrial group, Technis Blu focused on the integration with the logistic part used until then, AS400. The system created from this priority has been designed in each detail: it has been developed, in fact, on the old ECC platform, but this was already aimed at the future release of SAP S/4 HANA.
The managing software, in particular, allowed a better management control in the fields of:
- Logistics: real point of strength of the project;
- Accountability;
- Purchases.
Using a preconfigured model represented a further winning element of the SAP system, as it allowed to speed up the implementing operations and to understand immediately which elements had to be revisited relative to the initial project.
Post-implementation operations
The first SAP implementation for the industrial group occurred in 3 Italian societies, to then proceed with two international roll outs, in Russia and Mexico. Following this implementation, an in-deep Gap Analysis has been carried out on the group kernel, which allowed to modify the project during its run, and, most of all, to satisfy at the best the needs of the customer.
Once the managing software for the productive cycles had been implemented, a training course for the staff had started, so that it could exploit, in few weeks, the multiple functionalities of SAP. In addition to this, Technis Blu continued to give support to the customer, just in case some processes weren't still clear or some other clarifications had to be explained.
The results
There have been numerous benefits for the Italian Industrial Group deriving from the implementation of SAP. First of all, a management software of this type, built for the monitoring and the management of accounting, logistics and purchases, has allowed to reach a greater effectiveness and optimization of the single activity.
Moreover, through attention to management control, today the customer can boast a homogeneous design of business processes, from which the roll outs in Mexico and Russia are derived. The systems implemented in these two countries have also proved to be simplified thanks to the pursuit of guidelines from SAP's Best Practices.
Growing up, today, is no longer a problem for the Industrial Group, which can boast a highly scalable and customizable software, able to adapt perfectly to every different market scenario. In this sense, even predictive analyzes are fundamental for the purpose of facilitating management decision-making.
Conclusion
The collaboration with an important Italian Industrial Group, a leader in steel processing and present on a global territory, has led Technis Blu to create a specific management software for production cycles. in this sense, management control holds great importance, above all for the presence of numerous reference offices both in Italy and abroad, which must communicate effectively with each other. Furthermore, the SAP project created by the Technis Blu team adapts to SAP S4/HANA and allows better management of accounting, logistics and passive aspects of the company. The predictive approach also enables predictive analyzes to be carried out, aimed at quickly and effectively taking decisions to achieve further growth of the Industrial Group.
Do you manage a manufacturing company and want to optimize your internal processes by means of a management software customized to your needs? Don't hesitate to contact us: Technis Blu functional analysts will accompany you, step by step, towards the implementation of customized software for your production company.
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