Enterprise applications provider IFS and South African business consulting company Fourier-E have partnered to support businesses with enterprise resource planning (ERP) and enterprise asset management (EAM) solutions in SA and sub-Saharan Africa.
Fourier-E uses industrial engineering principles to provide solution-based consulting for companies in the telecommunications, manufacturing, energy, and utilities industries. Founded in 1998 by a group of engineers, the company also has experience in business process management, improvement, and transformation.
The consultancy company will be certified through IFS Academy - the official IFS training and certification programme - and will be equipped with the skills and knowledge it needs to ensure organisations realise the most value from IFS Applications.
"We are excited to add IFS Applications to our solutions portfolio at a time when IFS is enjoying such strong growth across Africa," says Jaco Purchase, MD of Fourier-E. "There are strong synergies between IFS' strategy and our own competencies and focus."
Natural extension
IFS Africa director, Thabo Ndlela, says he is delighted to welcome Fourier-E to IFS' community as a consulting and implementation partner.
"With its proven success in a range of industries, we are confident in Fourier-E's ability to deliver value to our clients. The combination of Fourier-E's engineering practices, and the software capabilities of IFS applications will help clients achieve a rapid return on their investment," Ndlela says.
He notes one of IFS' strategic objectives is to build a great partner ecosystem in Africa. "Our partners have a vital role in helping us to increase product and support revenues. We see our partners as a natural extension of our business because they supplement our skills, extend our reach, and help us to unlock value for our clients."
Describing the challenges that organisations are facing in regards to ERP and EAM, Ndlela says around the world and across industries - from manufacturing and utilities, to construction and heavy industry - businesses face a common set of agility challenges around planning, resources and the management of assets.
"Firstly, they need to stay flexible in the face of an unpredictable future, where volatile markets, natural disasters, and socio-economic upheaval are making it difficult to predict future performance. For example, most businesses did not plan 10 years ago for the Eskom power crisis. They need enterprise software that can help them react quickly to a shifting landscape."
Secondly, he says, organisations need to find ways to convert skills, knowledge and ideas from individuals into structural capital that can benefit the whole business. In highly technical and geographically distributed industries, the knowledge of specialist teams and employees can be an organisation's greatest asset and, therefore, should be managed accordingly.
"Information needs to be diffused and shared as much as possible in order to create effective knowledge transfer to new employees and ensure vital information stays within the organisation. Again, the ERP backbone should support this."
Rapid implementation cycles
Thirdly, Ndlela notes, companies need technology and methodologies that are suitable for rapid implementation cycles. "In a long technology rollout, the original business drivers or pressures that drove the implementation in the first place, often become lost or irrelevant when the market is moving so quickly. So, the days of spending years realising value from an ERP project are behind us."
Fourthly, the power of the Internet combined with the onslaught of mobile devices, means organisations must adopt a digital transformation strategy to remain competitive, he says.
"Project- and asset-based businesses - such as energy and utilities, manufacturing, construction and defence - are under pressure to transform how they serve and interact with customers, suppliers and partners."
Finally, organisations must have the systems, processes and culture in place to facilitate transformation, as and when it occurs.
"Change management and culture are important aspects of a software project. This could be small, departmental transformations such as automating tasks for operational workers or it could involve larger changes, such as adopting new technological policies like bring your own device."