South African cabling giant Aberdare Cables has deployed hardware to the value of R5 million for the implementation of the SAP R/3`s enterprise resource planning (ERP) solution. Eight IBM 6000 midrange servers and IBM`s specialised storage solution, supplied and implemented by JSE-listed Faritec, will service five factories and several branches in southern Africa, and two factories, situated in Spain and Portugal.
"We needed a complete solution and the skills for sizing, implementation, tuning and ongoing support," says Gavin Mack, head of IT for Aberdare Cables. Aberdare manufactures and distributes 60% of South Africa`s cabling requirements and runs on a 24-hour basis, manufacturing thousands of products.
"We needed hardware that would provide high availability and reliable performance, with service tailored to meet our needs," adds Mack. "Faritec has the ability to design and implement an end-to-end solution and their approach to the sale helped us reach an informed decision without being overloaded with extraneous information. They accompanied us to SAP in Germany and their engineers played a pivotal role in identifying the optimal functionality/pricing options for us."
Faritec supplied five RS/6000 model H80 and three Netfinity servers, along with IBM`s SSA storage solution. They were responsible for the design of the complete architectural solution, sizing and integration. Faritec`s ongoing technical support includes the installation of the AIX operating system, the Microsoft software rollout on the Netfinity servers, installation and tuning of the DB2 database and continued administration and support.
The SAP R/3 roll-out will be phased in across the regions, and is scheduled for completion at the end of 2002.
"SAP R/3 includes functionality specific to the cabling manufacturing industry. Improved productivity is planned and the 24x7 production window and phased roll-out of SAP R/3 to all regions provides specific challenges, with increasing demands on the hardware," says Faritec director Richard Greenhill.
"The RS/6000 is a powerful midrange server, providing the performance and scalability needed to support Aberdare`s business demands. Its rack-mount packaging supports flexible configuration," notes Greenhill. Alongside this, the Intel-based Netfinity servers provide scalability, with high availability features. The SSA storage has fault tolerant protection, creating a secure base for mission-critical data.
"Faritec simplified the hardware selection and implementation process for Aberdare," comments Mack. "Specialist skills are needed to ensure the benefits of a complex ERP implementation and the Faritec sales and engineering team has delivered on our expectations."
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