Amatola Water, bulk supplier of water to local government in the Eastern Cape, has selected iBaan as its ERP solution of choice.
Amatola Water, a bulk supplier of treated water to local authorities in the Eastern Cape, recently implemented 13 Baan modules in a move to provide a more efficient level of service to its customers. The fully integrated ERP implementation took approximately three months with the total value of the project estimated at more than R1 million.
Jason Flowerday, IT Manager at Amatola Water, says: "We are a relatively new organisation that experienced rapid growth over a short period of time - currently selling approximately 25 million kilolitres of water per year. A downside to our growth was that Amatola Water has quickly outgrown our existing financial system. One of the deciding factors in implementing the iBaan product range is that it is a feature-rich system which includes solid logistics and financial packages." Jane Thomson, managing director of Softworx, sole distributor of the iBaan product range in SA, says: "iBaan enables Amatola Water to run a single ERP system equipping the organisation to manage large volumes of business transactions, more efficiently, with greater flexibility and faster responsiveness."
Flowerday, commenting on the benefits of Baan, says: "With the use of Baan's packaging of Crystal Enterprise as a business information tool, Amatola Water can generate timeous management information, allowing for more informed business decisions. The system also comprises drill-down and online analytical processing (OLAP) features allowing for accurate analysis of the business information. Lastly, the integrated nature of Baan allows for rapid closing of month-ends, enabling quicker delivery of final monthly reports."
Richard Browne, sales director at CAIS, Softworx's value-added reseller partner driving the project, says: "Amatola Water had specific requirements in terms of their billing, authorisation and asset verification systems. The iBaan solution was a very good fit for Amatola Water, and we were able to meet all these requirements through the standard Baan Tools facility, and developed solutions that supported Amatola Water's business strategies. This flexibility and standard functionality within iBaan, is what Amatola Water was looking for."
Flowerday concludes: "Baan has helped us rethink every business process within our organisation, assisting us to ensure that best practice standards are being upheld. We now have tighter controls which have standardised and improved our working methods. iBaan has enabled us to extract detailed information which allows us to make informed decisions. The iBaan solution now forms an integral part of the organisation's future, bringing exponential benefits to Amatola Water as well as to our customers."
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Softworx*, a leading South African business applications solutions provider, specialises in providing complete business solutions based on a powerful combination of leading-edge products and consultancy.
Softworx offers a range of world-class solutions, which leverages off its e-commerce compliment, including: Application Service Provider (ASP), Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) and supply chain management (SCM).
The common thread with all Softworx implementations is the guarantee of rapid deployment with measurable benefits resulting in sustainable long-term relationships with its customers. Softworx's differentiator is its guaranteed delivery, which means it can focus on its customers' success, rather than the number and size of solutions sold.
Additional information is available on www.esoftworx.co.za
* Softworx is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the EOH Group which is listed on the IT sector of the JSE.
Amatola Water
Amatola Water is a public entity water board supplier of bulk treated and untreated water to local authorities in the Eastern Cape. The organisation was established in late 1997 and operates approximately 17 Water Treatment Works, employing approximately 246 staff. Amatola Water has a head office in East London, a regional office at Nahoon Dam and conducts its activity in a Gazetted services area of some 43 380 square kilometres in extent.
CAIS
CAIS is a group of companies focused on providing total IT solutions to its customers. The group comprises of three entities; Cais Business (Pty) Ltd, which focuses on the use of the Theory of Constraints (TOC) philosophy both a strategic and operation level encompassing a process of ongoing improvement. Cais Consulting (Pty) Ltd, which focuses on the implementation of business solutions including ERP, Knowledge Management, Supply Chain Solutions and CRM. Cais Services (Pty) Ltd, which focuses on support and supply of all technical related functions including desktop management, network installation and management, hosting, hardware and software sales and ISP services. Cais looks to forming a partnership with their customers, not simply supplying a service. Additional information is available on www.cais.co.za.
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