Aventis CropScience SA has praised leading IT services organisation, IOCORE, for its high levels of service and support during a recent SAP implementation project.
Members of IOCORE`S Application Development division worked for a total of two months to create an integrated SAP environment for Aventis CropScience SA, following the worldwide merger late last year of Rh^one-Poulenc Agro and AgrEvo, to form Aventis.
In an email to the company, Engela Botha, financial director of Aventis CropScience SA, noted: "You have done it again. Not only did you meet the deadline, but you were always there when we needed you."
IOCORE employees worked weekends, including the Easter weekend, at night, and even during their annual leave, to ensure that the Aventis ERP system was up and running by the due date.
"This is more than customer service, this is what I call personal service," wrote Botha.
The project involved the integration and customisation of AgrEvo`s SAP systems and Rh^one-Poulenc`s Accpac-based information systems into a common SAP environment.
Much of the work involved converting Rh^one-Poulenc`s Accpac systems into SAP. This was accomplished by importing the Accpac information into Excel spreadsheets, from where it was imported into SAP.
Programming was required to enable Excel to recognise Accpac dates, which, because they make use of dashes, are not identified by Excel.
However, IOCORE`S strong experience in SAP implementations meant that the company was able to quickly overcome any complexities that arose in the project, to complete it on time, according to Botha.
Included in the project was the customisation of a manufacturing application for Aventis, as the introduction of Rh^one-Poulenc brought new manufacturing capabilities into the merged organisation.
"Here, IOCORE`S materials management skills, among others, again meant that the development took place smoothly," she says.
Botha`s relationship with IOCORE`S consultants goes back to 1994, when AgrEvo`s information systems requirements were outsourced to the IT department of Hoechst Pharmaceuticals, which in turn employed many of the people who later joined New Africa Technology Holdings (NATH), now IOCORE.
Aventis Crop Science SA outsourced its entire SAP system, ( utilising Iocore`s very sucessful ASP offering ), facilities, desktop support etc to Iocore some 3 years ago, and this allows them to focus on their very busy core business.
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IOCORE
Established in 1995, IOCORE has diversified and grown to the point where it now has offices in 14 countries and employs in excess of 1000 people. Its market penetration spans Europe, Asia Pacific, Africa and the Americas, with foreign earnings accounting for 70 percent of its income.
IOCORE is a key provider of technology and services to a wide range of blue-chip companies and government organisations, in industry sectors from telecommunications, banking and insurance, to manufacturing, distribution, tourism, education and government IOCORE`s success, both on a global and African scale, is attributable to a range of factors, notably its visionary approach to information technology, in which it leverages its strong entrepreneurial management style to focus on highly successful, growth technologies and industries; its strong vertical market experience; and its ability to attract and keep excellent people
Aventis CropScience
Aventis CropScience is a major crop protection and crop production company also involved in top ranking environmental and public health activities. Committed to developing sustainable agriculture world-wide, Aventis CropScience focuses on researching, developing and marketing innovative solutions that meet the needs of today`s farming - increased yields, improved crop and food quality - whilst constantly striving to meet the needs of the environment.
With 1999 pro-forma sales of 4,061 million Euro, Aventis CropScience devotes over 10% of its turnover to the Research and Development of new chemicals, biotechnology and plant varieties. It employs about 16,000 people in more than 120 countries world-wide. Aventis CropScience is part of the agricultural sector of Aventis, a world leader in Life Sciences.