Jurgens-CI, the largest caravan and motorhome manufacturer in the Southern Hemisphere has implemented R2-million`s worth of Baan IV enterprise resource planning (ERP) equipment from CS Integrated Solutions, a division of CS Holdings.
The price includes hardware, software, implementation consulting and training says Keith Laing, JurgensCi"s financial director.
"When Jurgens acquired CI Caravans in 1994, we found that neither company`s systems could support both manufacturing and distribution processes. The decision to implement Baan gave Jurgens-CI the backbone to support the consolidated business processes effectively."
The combined Jurgens-CI reorganised the business to optimise resource usage and take advantage of regional cost differentiators. The factories merged and canvas manufacturing moved to Pinetown, where transport costs are lower.
Gauteng offered cost advantages for caravan manufacturing. It was critical to identify and implement the right systems. Existing software included Multisoft, which supported distribution processes, but not manufacturing and Evolution, a Brazilian manufacturing solution that did not have the desired level of support in South Africa.
Laing says, "We had no previous experience of ERP. We wanted a solution that would support our manufacturing, distribution and financial functions and not need extensive customisation. It had to be implemented quickly. We looked for a balance between cost, functionality and speed of implementation. We also wanted an experienced supplier, to assist with implementation and availability of support and trained staff."
In August 1998, Baan was bought for R460 000. Implementation started in September 1998 and the system went live in January 1999, running accounting, manufacturing, distribution, cash book and general ledger modules. "Baan`s cost of implementation to cost of software ratio was impressive at 1:1.5.
The project was delivered on time and on budget. CS staff provided hands on support and knowledge transfer. They were instrumental in the early implementation. I as FD and our production manager were constantly available to make this project work."
There are 40 user sites across the country in Pinetown and Gauteng and 13 off-site terminals. Baan runs on Windows NT. An IBM file server is used with Citrics thin client technology, which manages bandwidth usage across diginet lines. Baan functionality integrates manufacturing and distribution information into financial and business functions.
Jurgens-CI has 50 South African caravan distributors, a dealer network in neighbouring states and exports to England. Looking ahead, Lang says that Jurgens-CI is looking to translate dominance in the local market to global markets. "Margins are narrow in the leisure industry and fluctuations in interest rates means that we have to manage costs very carefully. Baan functionality allows us to keep a close eye on manufacturing and distribution costs and plan effectively."
Share