Nabisco finds the recipe for a good "Deal"

Nabisco South Africa, one of South Africa major food manufacturers, recently went live on the third and final phase of their conversion and consolidation programme that was initiated as a result of the spate of take-overs and mergers the group had undertaken over the past few years. Despite being part of the world-wide Nabisco group that normally has a SAP policy, and after much persuasion, the local company was allowed to proceed with the implementation of a JBA system based on AS/400 hardware. This has resulted in providing the local subsidiary with a fully compliant Year 2000 system within a time-frame which was several years ahead of the originally proposed SAP system, thus avoiding the need to patch the older systems on a temporary basis for Y2K compliancy.

The implementation which was originally based around JBA`s general ledger, accounts payable and cash book modules, was enhanced in phase 2 to cover the manufacturing in order to replace the old Mapics system that was running on a System 36, and latterly, as phase 3, enhanced even further to incorporate various sales and distribution modules including the locally developed "Deals" software. The implementation has been handled by a project team consisting of user staff taken away from their original business environment and combined with an equal number of staff from the IT department

"One of the key benefits that has accrued from this implementation, and in particular, the "Deals" module, is that it allows management to now spend more of their time on other important issues, since the new system now provides for better cash management, significantly less claims against the suppliers and thus has reduced associated paperwork as a direct consequence", commented Niall Cumming, IT Manager at Nabisco South Africa. " With completion of this project we are now able to review and consolidate our position well ahead of the year-end and evaluate our next moves, starting in the year 2000, in line with the priorities of our projected business strategy".

"This project would not have been so timeously completed had the commitment of JBA South Africa not been there to ensure our success. I am extremely impressed, not only with the calibre and quality of their staff, but with their knowledge of our industry", Cumming also added.

"Deals", is a module designed to assist companies who sell products to the retail trade. It provides a flexible price management system, designed to handle multiple pricing structures associated with the South African Retail Market. It was designed and written by JBA South Africa, and is currently under evaluation by the UK-based parent company, for worldwide adoption.

For further information, please contact Yolanda Komen at tel. (011) 804 5062; fax (011) 804 5072; e-mail ykomen@jba.co.za