NamITech, the secure IT solutions subsidiary of the JSE-listed Nampak group, has implemented a R20 million Oracle-based e-business solution - the first of its kind in SA.
The Oracle eBusiness-based system, which went live this month, on schedule, has been designed to support NamITech`s restructured strategic market focus, cater for its evolutionary and acquisitive growth plans and allow it to rapidly exploit new business opportunities. NamITech has now established a project plan and optimisation steering committee, chaired by CEO Rex Tomlinson and including Oracle representatives, to ensure the company maximises the e-business functionality of its new enterprise-wide system.
"The go-live was a definite success. The fact that we acquired two new companies mid-way through implementation and yet still managed to go live on time and within budget is testimony to the project team and the flexibility of the system," says Tomlinson. "Now we have to ensure we derive maximum value from the system. This will be achieved over the next 12 months as the business optimises the new system."
Oracle eBusiness replaces several disparate systems running at the seven subsidiaries within NamITech, which provides a full range of secure technology solutions from secure document printing, magstripe and smart card-based services and solutions through to complete enterprise security.
In addition to a range of eBusiness application modules such as Financials, Purchasing and Order Management, the NamITech installation includes Discrete Manufacturing, Sales On-Line and eBusiness Intelligence.
Namitech has also utilised the Oracle middleware solution, Oracle Applications Interconnect Toolkit, to integrate the eBusiness application to a custom-built manufacturing execution system (MES), which allows the company to track its production orders and costs on a real-time basis to ensure on-time delivery to customers.
"Our legacy systems were not going to deliver the requirements we needed for our growth plans and our evolution from a manufacturing-focused organisation into a rapidly growing customer-focused technology company," he says.
"The Oracle product range was chosen as it allowed us to meet our current business needs yet had the functionality to allow us to re-engineer our delivery model."
One of the immediate goals is to optimise the system`s advanced planning and scheduling module. This enables the company to simultaneously plan production across its five manufacturing plants.
"This is the first time this planning module has been implemented in SA. It will play a crucial role in helping NamITech to fully optimise supply chain management across the enterprise. Achieving this is key to delivering on its exceptional customer orientated goal," says Pieter Bouwer, account manager at Oracle SA.
In addition to the planning and scheduling module, the NamITech site also marks the first South African implementation of several other Oracle solutions. These include Oracle Discrete Manufacturing on Oracle 11i, Oracle Sales On-line, Oracle Tutor, which is a time-saving, documentation authoring and publishing programme, and eBusiness Intelligence, which gives managers easy access to key business performance indicators and reports.
"The implementation of so many SA firsts not only illustrates NamITech`s intention to steal a technology and business march in the market and ensure it operates at maximum efficiency, but also Oracle SA`s ability to implement the latest technology within tight timelines and budget," says Bouwer.
According to Mark Wainwright, project partner for implementation lead partners, Deloitte Consulting, the combination of Deloitte`s Oracle-based business redesign and implementation methodologies, Oracle Tutor and Oracle`s methodology made the whole roll-out process much easier.
"Oracle methodologies and our own approach helped us design a solution custom-fit to NamITech`s needs and deliver a trouble-free implementation. The ability of Namitech to partner with ourselves to drive and guide the exercise was exemplary and ensured a successful installation which we believe will prove a sound basis for a successful optimisation phase.
Summarising the whole project, Tomlinson adds: "The success of the implementation is a real testimony to the collaboration and hard work of the NamITech project team, the Oracle project team and the resources of Deloittes."
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