Your WaY

GLOBAL
TA
TA L
LK
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Fourth Quarter 2013
the Power of
Open
Architecture ERP
Planning
Your Way
to Success
SYSPRO Enables
Better Demand
Planning and
Forecasting
"SYSPRO’s Quantum Architecture provides a fully documented model of
all business processes, systems, integration, employee roles, security and data,
based on the Data Collaboration modeling tool. This allows you to build
processes and align them with your ERP functionality and users’ roles"
- Phil Duff, CEO, SYSPRO
TECHNOLOGY INSIGHT – Phil Duff
Planning
Your Way to Success
I
’ve heard it said that embarking on an ERP project without first carrying out a thorough, intensive
planning exercise is like a pilot taking off without filing a flight plan. It makes sense to me, which
is why the SYSPRO Development team invested so much time and effort in SYSPRO 7. Many of our
customers have likewise invested time and effort by signing up to the SYSPRO 7 Release Candidate
program to ensure that our software continues to meet their needs.
We are proud of the results and, judging from the
responses we’ve received around the world, our
customers and partners are enthusiastic about
the new features and capabilities we’ve introduced. Thank you once again for your support.
Today, however, I’d like to focus on process
manufacturing. In the current business climate,
manufacturers need to be agile, flexible and
responsive, and require a software solution that
gives them leverage to use whatever production methods are appropriate. The software also
needs to provide visibility through the manufacturing chain – back to suppliers, along the production process, and up to customers.
The software must also be able to integrate with
other systems in the production environment.
Even more important, in the modern customercentric world, organizations need to move from
being purely transaction-focused to being more
relationship-oriented, and to improve connections and communication, both internally and
externally.
The challenge is how to achieve these goals in
the most efficient, streamlined and cost-effective way possible.
Many analyst firms, including IDC and Aberdeen
Research, believe manufacturing organizations are looking seriously at how their practices
and processes need to change. These changes
range from customer fulfillment strategies to supply chain models, a centralized manufacturing
information platform, newer performance metrics and factories making intensive use of automation, IT and people.
2
SYSPRO Global Talk | Vol 10 No.4
TECHNOLOGY INSIGHT – Phil Duff
SYSPRO ERP can be a valuable asset
for companies that need a highly
detailed and dynamic business process
modeling instrument in order to
precisely understand their business,
determine directions for improvement,
and easily align them together.
- Technology Evaluation
Centre Product Report
SYSPRO enables manufacturers to ride this wave
of change. To support changing the customer
fulfillment strategy, for example, companies
should review their production schedule, material requirements plan and inventory planning.
SYSPRO’s inventory management functionality
provides the capability to optimize inventory levels at different locations based on a variety of
forecasting methods.
Similarly, the concept of a virtual global plant
floor sounds daunting until you appreciate
what it means: that the applications share information. SYSPRO has been allowing this for
nearly a decade with its Integration Framework.
And, with SYSPRO Workflow Services, you can
manage the interaction between applications.
The systems for doing this can be run on-premise
in the factories, or via SYSPRO’s various cloud
options.
Monitoring performance can be done with
SYSPRO dashboards and analytics – or, if you
need the information on a mobile platform, with
SYSPRO Espresso.
SYSPRO’s Quantum Architecture provides a fully
documented model of all business processes,
systems, integration, employee roles, security
and data, based on the Data Collaboration
modeling tool. This allows you to build processes
and align them with your ERP functionality and
users’ roles.
The Quantum Architecture concept helps our
customers build an efficient, multi-dimensional
company structure that includes a multi-source,
single repository architectural map, data collaboration modeling, pre-configured system and
process models, and embedded role-based reporting and performance measurement.
In closing, who better to understand how important processes are than our
customers in the process manufacturing field? Please have a look further on in this
edition of Global Talk for case studies which show how some of our process manufacturing customers have optimized their processes to simplify their success.v
Phil Duff, CEO, SYSPRO
SYSPRO Global Talk | Vol 10 No.4
3
WORKING WITH SYSPRO - SYSPRO CANADA
Cedarlane Leverages the
Power of Open Architecture ERP
A
Open
F
ounded in 1957 and incorporated in 1975 by three researchers from the University of Toronto and
the Ontario Cancer Institute, Cedarlane Laboratories Limited has matured into a world leader in
the research and development of reagents - materials used to detect, measure and prepare other
substances for research, particularly in the area of immunology.
Located in Hornby, Ontario, Cedarlane distributes products of more than 300 companies
worldwide to over 20,000 life science researchers who trust Cedarlane’s quality products and
service excellence. In 1997 Cedarlane chose
SYSPRO to assist in running its operation. Today,
16 years later, Cedarlane continues to leverage
its initial investment in SYSPRO.
In 2000, Cedarlane decided to diversify by establishing a daughter company, Cedarlane
Shipping Supplies Inc., to specialize in shipping
supplies for temperature-sensitive goods. Because of the highly sensitive nature of its products and the company’s commitment to the
highest quality standards possible, Cedarlane
Shipping Supplies was a logical evolution.
“Our success is measured through satisfied stakeholders enjoying the benefit of a stable and viable organization which strives for continuous
improvement. Cedarlane Shipping Supplies is a
result of this mind-set,” says Susan Gater, Operations Manager of Cedarlane Laboratories.
4
SYSPRO Global Talk | Vol 10 No.4
SYSPRO’s manufacturing, distribution and multicompany functionality allowed Cedarlane to
efficiently seize opportunities in distribution and
quickly formulate strategies for growth in the
new business without the additional operational
expense of acquiring new software. The modular nature of the software provides scalability
and flexibility, allowing Cedarlane to select only
those functions needed to increase operational
control and efficiency.
“SYSPRO enables us to run both our manufacturing and distribution business on the same system;
it has given us a solid foundation for successful
supply chain management, from purchasing
through manufacturing and distribution,” says
Susan.
By 2003, Cedarlane’s distribution arm had a supplier catalog database, which had grown to
over one million items. Once again, Cedarlane
looked to SYSPRO with a new requirement. The
challenge was to make use of the existing, continuously growing, supplier catalog database to
automatically update Cedarlane’s SYSPRO inventory system at the time an order was placed.
WORKING WITH SYSPRO - SYSPRO CANADA
Architecture
We are a dynamic organization whose product offerings reflect the research
community’s changing needs and SYSPRO has been a valuable resource by providing us with the tools to empower our strategic decision making capabilities.
- Susan Gater, Operations Manager, Cedarlane Laboratories
Manual processes existed to update the inventory files, which resulted in delayed customer service - specifically, order fulfillment and inventory
accuracy. Because the supplier catalog database contained all available products, some of
which Cedarlane’s clients might never be in the
market for, the challenge was keeping unnecessary product items out of the SYSPRO database
until the items were sold. Out of the one million
possible product database, Cedarlane estimated that only 20% would actually be in demand
by its customers; the company did not want to
populate its inventory with unnecessary items.
The solution involved a custom sales order entry
screen so that when customer service personnel select a stock code, the supplier catalog
database is read and compared to the SYSPRO
Inventory Master file. If the item does not exist,
the system automatically updates all relevant
SYSPRO files with the details for the item, including supplier contract pricing, supplier/stock
code cross reference, pricing and warehouse
details.
If the stock code exists in SYSPRO, then the information is compared to the latest information
from the supplier catalog database. Once all
lines are added, the entry is saved and a sales
order is automatically generated, which can be
maintained in SYSPRO and the necessary documents printed.
“New customer service personnel are fully operational and entering orders within a day, whereas before it would take months to train an individual,” comments Susan.
SYSPRO’s ongoing product development is focused on leveraging key technologies such as
Microsoft .NET® and COM (Component Object
Model) to allow for interoperability between
SYSPRO and other business critical applications.
The SYSPRO e.net solutions framework provides
a structured way of directly accessing the business functionality within SYSPRO software while
maintaining the software’s built-in business rules
and security.
Cedarlane gained the following business benefits from the integration between SYSPRO and
the supplier catalog database:
n
Quick and easy selection of items from the
extensive supplier catalog database by
customer service personnel
n
Elimination of duplicate database
maintenance
n
Improved accuracy of inventory and
pricing information, resulting in improved
customer service levels
n
Self-maintained, expandable system to
accommodate future growth and expansion
n
Seamless integration with its existing SYSPRO
system and compatibility with future SYSPRO
releases
n
Significant reduction in staff training time
Cedarlane is currently in the planning stages of
duplicating the SYSPRO e.net interface for the
purchasing of materials. This is part of the company’s global strategy as its actively pursues
new markets. v
SYSPRO Global Talk | Vol 10 No.4
5
WORKING WITH SYSPRO - SYSPRO AFRICA
Astrapak Standardizes on
SYSPRO to Accommodate Expansion
Expan
P
lastic packaging manufacturer Astrapak needed to standardize on one system across its
diverse enterprise to pave the way for future expansion, which is planned to take place
through continued organic and acquisitive growth as well as by implementing new, opportunistic business initiatives.
Listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange,
Astrapak’s operations are grouped into three
divisions: Films (seven business units), Rigids
(nine business units) and Flexibles (seven business units). There are manufacturing facilities
in all the main centers of South Africa and a
joint venture operation in Mauritius.
The products are supplied to the food, beverage, confectionary, agricultural, consumer, cosmetic, personal care, petrochemical,
pharmaceutical, textile and industrial markets.
Astrapak recognized that one system across
its enterprise was necessary for future success.
Of the 23 business units, three were already
running SYSPRO. The other various solutions in
place mainly focused on finance, sales, purchasing and distribution, with little attention
being given to manufacturing.
Together with the aggressive growth being
experienced by Astrapak, other challenges
included the diverse nature of the three divisions, the geographic spread of the sites and
Astrapak’s inexperience in rolling out an ERP
solution.
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SYSPRO Global Talk | Vol 10 No.4
WORKING WITH SYSPRO - SYSPRO AFRICA
nsion
SYSPRO enables Astrapak to fulfill a critical
requirement: for each sales person to act as
though they are running their own business.
The intention is for the sales person to order
the raw material, control it in the warehouse,
schedule production and see that the product gets made. The finished goods item is kept
in the warehouse and distributed to the customer under the sales person’s control. Finally,
each sales person is responsible for the debtors’ book of their customers and ensures that
the money is collected.
Using standard SYSPRO functionality and the
SYSPRO Report Writer, a small development
was undertaken to provide the sales people
with the relevant reports.
It was decided to standardize on the SYSPRO
solution, and to decentralize IT to the business
units based on the highly entrepreneurial nature of each unit. The intention was to follow a
single overall strategy, using standard SYSPRO
functionality and the concept of strategically
sourcing the additional suppliers required.
Key strategic suppliers were identified and
contracted, including SYSPRO, SYSPRO’s implementation partners, Microsoft, an Internet
Service Provider and a hardware supplier.
One of the advantages of adopting this approach was that the Astrapak management
team was shielded from day-to-day implementation issues, as these were handled by
SYSPRO and the implementation team. The
management team was therefore able to
concentrate on the core business.
As the various sites were implemented, each
business unit acquired the necessary SYSPRO
knowledge and took ownership of running the
system. After implementation, the reliance on
implementation partners gradually fell away.
The initiative described above has delivered
tangible business value and made it easier for
the divisional managing directors to manage
each sales person and their customers.
New barcoding equipment which interfaces
directly into SYSPRO has resulted in a more
streamlined, robust solution. Management is
now able to focus more on the business rather
than being concerned with weaknesses in the
ERP and shop floor systems.
The three business units which were already
running SYSPRO have been upgraded to
SYSPRO 6.0 and are able to leverage off the
strategic sourcing relationships now in place.
Due to the enhanced functionality in SYSPRO
6.0, third-party developments have been discontinued. This makes it easier for each site
to manage their software vendors, as SYSPRO
provides the bulk of the functionality required.
Thanks to Astrapak’s single overall strategy,
standardization on SYSPRO and the concept
of strategic sourcing, the company achieved
a successful implementation result unique to
each business unit. v
SYSPRO Global Talk | Vol 10 No.4
7
WORKING WITH SYSPRO - SYSPRO USA
SYSPRO Enables Better Demand
Planning and Forecasting for Gorant
&
Planning
G
orant Candies was founded in 1949 by two brothers, Sam and Charles Gorant, in Youngstown,
Ohio, based on their dreams of creating a line of fine chocolates. The first candies made by the
Gorant brothers were sugar mints of various flavors and pastel colors. Today, these remain popular
at weddings and graduations.
The brothers originally made the sugar mints in
their basement, selling them door-to-door out of
a wagon. Building on the success of their sugar
mints, the Gorants expanded into the chocolate
business.
Unlike many other candy manufacturers where
automation has replaced the homemade product, Gorant candy makers still make candy by
hand every day, which makes their product truly
homemade. Large copper pots are used to stir
the ingredients, pour ingredients onto tables,
and cut the pieces by hand.
SYSPRO serves our current needs and
has the technology in place to allow
us to grow our business, especially in
the private label area.
- Mary Ann Yerage, Purchasing
Manager, Gorant Chocolatier
8
SYSPRO Global Talk | Vol 10 No.4
Gorant purchases chocolate from cocoa refiners that acquire most of their cocoa beans free
trade from the Ivory Coast of Africa. The candy
kitchen and manufacturing plant is capable
of producing more than two million pounds of
chocolates annually.
WORKING WITH SYSPRO - SYSPRO USA
&Forecasting
Nearly 100 employees are employed during the
company’s peak time, which is from September through to April. Gorant manufactures more
than 400 chocolate products, including family
assortments, individual deli pieces, chocolate
molds, fudge, chocolate-covered pretzels and
flow-wrapped chocolates.
Gorant Chocolatier continues to sell and distribute to over 500 corporate-owned American
Greetings candy stores and Shurman Fine Papers (Papyrus) card stores nationwide in addition
to servicing more than 200 additional wholesale
accounts throughout the country. The company
also maintains and services a mail order business, bridal order program, corporate and fundraising accounts, and manufactures for several
private label chocolate and candy companies.
Mary Ann Yerage, Purchasing Manager of Gorant
Chocolatier, says the company sought new operational software to facilitate compliance with
stringent FDA traceability requirements among
other necessary controls. The company chose
SYSPRO based on its excellent reputation in the
food industry.
Commenting on the benefits offered by
SYSPRO, Yerage mentions the fast implementation, efficiencies, costing accuracy, labor tracking, ability to be aware of actual costs and
superior inventory management.
“We have better visibility of inventory, know the
location of all raw materials and have the ability to see manufacturing and retail quantities in
one system,” she says. “SYSPRO has also enabled
better demand planning and forecasting with
the sales information for all business channels in
one easily accessed location. While manufacturing needs used to be calculated manually or
on spreadsheets, we are now able to efficiently
manufacture up to 250 bulk chocolates every
day.”
Referring to FDA traceability requirements, Yerage points out that in its most recent third-party
Quality Assurance audit, Gorant was able to
trace product and code in less than 45 minutes
using SYSPRO Lot Traceability functionality.
Gorant’s future plans for SYSPRO include integrating the solution with one of the company’s
private label accounts.
“This will facilitate forecasting and business-tobusiness synchronization. We have other private
label accounts also expressing interesting in
SYSPRO software, which will give us another
advantage in not only securing, but maintaining
these accounts when putting this integration in
place,” Yerage says. v
SYSPRO Global Talk | Vol 10 No.4
9
WORKING WITH SYSPRO - SYSPRO ASIA PACIFIC
NZP Increases Manufacturing
Capacity with SYSPRO
Increases
S
ince 1971, New Zealand Pharmaceuticals (NZP) has extracted and purified bio-chemicals from
animal by-products to produce a range of pharmaceutical ingredients. A global leader in this
area, the company has branched out to manufacture and export a variety of other pharmaceutical and cosmetic ingredients, diagnostic products and dietary supplements for many of the world’s
leading companies.
In recent years, NZP’s diversification strategies
have positioned the company as a significant
supplier to eight of the world’s top 12 pharmaceutical/biotech companies. With 98.5% of its
business now exported to more than 160 customers in over 30 countries, NZP is a rapidly growing,
medium-sized private company.
The successful development of the synthetic
carbohydrates market provided the commercial
basis for a new $10 million manufacturing facility,
which was opened in February 2007. This initiative is the next-step challenge for NZP requiring
significantly enhanced operational capability
and advanced compliance levels.
In the late 1990s, the company realized it could
no longer effectively plan the utilization of
capacity and materials on spreadsheets. Without an integrated planning system, NZP was
operating in an overly conservative manner,
leading to highly stocked inventories and potential missed opportunities when estimating
capacity.
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SYSPRO Global Talk | Vol 10 No.4
Increasing demand for both capacity and flexibility of the manufacturing operation, the need
for more visibility around raw material requirements, as well as the high customer service and
QA requirements, were the driving force behind
the decision to acquire a new ERP solution. After
an extensive evaluation, SYSPRO was selected
and the Financial and Inventory Control modules were implemented. Everything else was retained as manual.
In 2006, NZP recognized that it was not in a position to keep pace with expected future growth.
Since NZP has been in operation for over 40 years
with low staff turnover, individual expert knowledge was heavily relied upon; a robust ERP solution would enable this knowledge to be shared
throughout the organization and improve the
company’s risk management.
David Soong, IT Manager of NZP, says: “We
needed more visibility without relying on individual expertise. We would hold frequent
planning meetings between departments and
rely on spreadsheets prepared by various individuals to plan manufacturing capacity and estimate delivery dates. As a result, our planning
and commitments to customers were extremely
conservative and often time-consuming.”
WORKING WITH SYSPRO - SYSPRO ASIA PACIFIC
Capacity
Our real motivation was to get ourselves in a position to maintain our high
customer service levels in a growing company. However, tangible benefits
and significant cost savings have definitely been achieved. If we didn’t
have SYSPRO, we’d need more staff. As well, we wouldn’t be achieving the
increased levels of manufacturing capacity while retaining our flexibility to
meet customer’s varying and often demanding requirements.”
- David Soong, IT Manager, NZP
After extensive market research and a list of
requirements gathered from users and current
systems, SYSPRO was selected because:
n
It was the most cost-effective solution, with out compromising on requirements
n
There would be no integration issues, since
the majority of financial modules were
already implemented
n
It had already proven successful and stable in
the organization
n
Users and the implementation team were
familiar with it
With long production lead times on most products, stringent QA, and distance to market pressures, NZP still maintains close contact between
the customer and production.
“We’ve enhanced the budgeting process considerably, because it’s now based on data from
the SYSPRO Bill of Materials and Requirements
Planning modules. We run a requirements planning report and link that with the budget,” Soong
says. “In addition, we are making good use of
SYSPRO e.net Solutions to integrate external systems with SYSPRO.”
NZP now regularly accepts opportunities that
previously would have been passed on because
the required capacity was seemingly unavailable. Significant reductions in inventory holdings
of raw materials have been achieved in a period of business growth, so less capital is tied up
at any one time and material requirements are
better timed to actual production.
After just five months, the system paid for itself.
“It is difficult to effectively measure ROI, since we
don’t know what opportunities would have been
lost without SYSPRO. Even just going through the
process of preparing for the implementation had
tremendous benefits. We discovered people
were doing things that weren’t necessary because they’d always done them, so it became a
process improvement exercise,” he says.
Soong concludes: “We now plan plant capacity
around hard numbers coming from SYSPRO. We
can see ahead of time if capacity may be constrained and do something about it. When we
set out to implement SYSPRO, the focus wasn’t
on cost savings - that was considered a ‘nice to
have’. v
“Implementing SYSPRO has allowed us to redefine how information flows from the customer
through to production. We have been able to
maintain near 100% DIFOTIS (Delivery In Full, On
Time, In Spec) in a manufacturing business that
is achieving significant growth in throughput
and complexity,” Soong points out.
SYSPRO Global Talk | Vol 10 No.4
11
Africa and the Middle East
SYSPRO (Pty) Limited
Block A
Sunninghill Place
9 Simba Road
Sunninghill
Johannesburg
2191
South Africa
Tel: +27 (0) 11 461 1000
Fax: +27 (0) 11 807 4962
Email: [email protected]
Canada
SYSPRO Software Limited
4400 Dominion Street
Suite 215
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British Columbia
Canada
V5G 4G3
Tel: +1 (604) 451-8889
Fax: +1 (604) 451-8834
Email: [email protected]
USA & Americas
SYSPRO Impact Software, Inc.
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Costa Mesa, (Los Angeles region) California
92626
USA
Tel: +1 (714) 437 1000
Fax: +1 (714) 437 1407
Toll free: 800 369-8649
Email: [email protected]
Asia Pacific
SYSPRO Software Pty Ltd
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201 Miller Street
North Sydney NSW 2060
Australia
Tel: +61 (2) 9870 5555
Fax:+61 (2) 9929 9900
Email: [email protected]
SYSPRO Software Pte Ltd
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Singapore
059818
Tel: +65 6256 1921
Fax: +65 6256 6439
E-mail: [email protected]
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