Johannesburg, 03 May 2017
Global Oil, a fuel group operating in the South African petrochemical industry, is expanding its business at a phenomenal rate. With over 50 filling stations and convenience outlets country wide, Global Oil has opened over 20 new sites in recent months.
The company's core function is the marketing of petroleum and lubrication products and the provision of convenience services via its extensive and expanding retail network in South Africa. In an industry that has been predominantly occupied by refining wholesales, Global Oil has in its short lifespan captured a large portion of the market.
Global Oil realised that with its previous systems it would plateau at 35 filling stations. It did not have the infrastructure and control to grow profitably without the support of a world-class application system and technology tools such as Oracle. They went live with Oracle technology in October 2016 (Phase1) and March 2017 (Phase 2), implementing Oracle Fusion Cloud Services Financials and Procurement, Release 11.1.1.7.11, AfricaTradeApp (Apex Release 5) and an Oracle Standard Addition Database R12.
Lazarus Mphosi, CEO of Rheinland Investments, Global Oil's holding company, explains how their need arose for an integrated ERP system, "All transactions and day-end shift data for each outlet was being captured in Excel spreadsheets. This process made it difficult to control. There was also a lack of transparency of information at head office. In addition, consolidating information was time consuming and a reactive approach to correcting errors had to be taken. This also led to the operational transactions not being in sync with their financial system at head office".
Lazarus elaborates further on how the collaboration with APPSolve and Oracle came together, "We investigated a few partners ranging from large corporates to small organisations. We also received a reference from one of our competitors using SAP that it was very expensive and rigid. This would not have worked for a fluid, dynamic company such as ours. In addition, other quotations we received were low and they did not instil confidence. Ultimately, we selected Oracle software based on word of mouth. APPSolve was selected as the implementation partner. They architected an immensely agile, flexible solution with a custom operational system suited to our specific needs, integrating to Oracle Financials in the Cloud. They considered the rural landscape, bandwidth challenges, ease of use and alignment with best practise. Their professionalism, project approach, after sales service and help desk are exemplary."
Dr Kevin Lubbe, director at APPSolve and Strategic account lead on the project, outlines the key benefits of the Oracle implementation at Global. "The two key goals that will be achieved because of the Oracle Solution is the ability to accommodate the growth of the organisation whilst retaining control of the business processes (both operationally and financially). In addition timeous information on stock levels, cash and credit card transactions, sales, customer accounts and supplier payments as well as pricing variations have made all the difference. For example, previously, it would take eight hours to compile the Month End Litres Report. This is now available immediately. The Oracle Fusion and AfricaTradeApp solution has allowed them the ability to triple their business within a year or two. The organisation is on track to meeting this target."
"This is an amazing journey we are taking with the Global team," Maureen Grosvenor, Chief Strategy Officer at APPSolve explains, "Lazarus Mphosi has his finger on the pulse of his business and he misses nothing. He has been critical to the success of this project. We feel honoured to have worked on another solution that supports sustainability. AfricaTradeApp, the operational system implemented at Global, won the 2015 and 2016 Oracle Innovation award for sustainability projects in Mozambique and Zambia. At Global, the greatest contribution is the generation of jobs in the rural areas of South Africa. The additional filling stations that have been opened since the deployment of the Oracle solution, has enabled Global to employ an additional 250 people. As at January 2017, South Africa had an unemployment rate of 26.5% which translates to 5.781 million unemployed people. A huge amount of those people are in the rural areas of South Africa. Any contribution an organisation can make to reducing this figure will lead to sustainability and growth in the South African economy. Global intends to hire additional resources as they expand. In addition to this, Global Oil has also set up feeding schemes for the local communities at their filling stations which contributes in a small way to combating starvation and alleviating poverty in these rural communities. These groundbreaking and exciting initiatives are what drives APPSolve's vision".
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