Isis completes phase one of R32m SAP cable solution roll-out at Aberdare Cables

Systems integrator, Isis, a wholly owned subsidiary of the JSE Securities Exchange-listed Altech group, has announced the successful completion of phase one of the roll-out of a nationwide R32 million SAP Cable Solution at Aberdare Cables in Johannesburg.

Aberdare has also announced that it is rolling out a replica solution, valued at R10 million, at its Zaragoza cabling factory in Spain, Cables de Comunicaciones, one of the leading cabling suppliers in that country. The next installation of the SAP solution, as part of the company`s five-year strategic global plan, will be at Aberdare`s operation in Portugal.

The R32 million investment at the South African operations includes "additional IT infrastructure upgrades". The company upgraded its wide area network, moved its legacy systems to the new SAP environment, as well as migrating from its older IBM AS400 platform to a new RS6000 Unix platform.

The Isis contract involved the implementation of SAP R/3 at 17 sites nationwide - including factories, branches and commercial offices - providing Aberdare Cables with a fully integrated system to manage all its information requirements with "a one-look enterprise view".

Jim Monroe, account manager at ISIS, said the cabling solution was part of a "five year strategic vision" taken by Aberdare Cables. "This will enable the company to move into the e-business world in an orderly and efficient way."

He confirmed that phase one - the main phase of the ongoing project - commenced in June 2001. "We will now proceed with the implementation of phase two which will involve the ongoing extension of the network as well as maintenance. During this stage Aberdare will be in a position to handle most of the work requirements themselves."

The South African project is expected to be completed by February 2004. Monroe said 420 users had already received training on the new system and the company was now well positioned to fully utilise the benefits that the new SAP system offers.

"After this successful solution we are now in a position to aggressively market the SAP Cabling Solution to the rest of the local marketplace."

Aberdare`s head of IT, Gavin Mack, said the biggest benefit of the SAP installation was the integration between the sites. "This was not possible with our legacy systems. Executives now have a total view of the company and, in addition, the system has shortened our financial cut-off, saving days during our year-end and monthly cut-offs. We expect it to improve further once all the legacy systems are finally switched off, which will be by February next year."

He said the reason the company chose SAP was because of the "vast functionality, international availability and openness of SAP" - characteristics which would allow it to grow its operations into Europe and Asia without experiencing any language or system support issues".

Mack said the R32 million investment by Aberdare included the purchase of 500 SAP seats. "We are already using 420 of these seats locally, with our Spanish factory currently making use of 75."