When a growing family business began to demand greater efficiency and control, it turned to Scala Business Software to streamline its operations and deliver greater control over management information systems. Kenafric Industries, a manufacturer of boiled confectionery, toffees and footwear for the Kenyan market, is a concern founded and 100% owned by four brothers, and that has used Scala software successfully for almost a decade.
Managing director Bharat Shah says the company was founded in 1988 with manual machinery and a minimum of technology.
"In those days, everything was manual, but we were servicing a much smaller demand. As the popularity of our products grew, and as we diversified our operations, a requirement arose for automation both in terms of the physical manufacturing process, as well as for the systems to manage our supply chain and business procedures," he explains.
Bharat says the company opted for Scala supply chain and financial management software as a logical step towards modernisation. "While we evaluated many products from other vendors, we selected Scala owing to its openness and collaborative capabilities. As we preferred Unix to run our operations at this stage, we elected to implement Scala running on this platform," says Shah.
According to Vaibhav Gupta, country manager for Scala East Africa, Kenafric Industries has reaped the benefits of Scala's proven technology and Scala Africa's expertise since 1993. "Kenafric Industries was Scala East Africa's first client, starting with Scala 3.1.5 on Unix, then migrating to Scala based on the Microsoft platform in 1995. The company remained current with Scala 5.0 in 1998 and then 5.1 in 2000 and is now contemplating migration to iScala 2.1 in early 2003," he says, tracking the history of Kenafric's involvement with Scala.
Gupta says the Scala system integrates seamlessly with third-party Time Clock and Payroll software to deliver a complete integrated system in line with Kenafric's best-of-breed approach to addressing its technology requirements.
"Owing to the long standing and proven success of the Scala solution, Kenafric is now proceeding with deployment of Scala over thin client Citrix to accommodate its mobile sales force," he adds.
Kenafric Industries' technical director Ketan Shah notes that through the integrated system, an absolute and comprehensive picture of the company can be presented online. "This allows us to deliver better service to our customers, while exception reporting for management is done through various business intelligence tools," he explains. Bharat and Ketan Shah also note that, owing to the dispersed nature of the markets that the company services, its remote customers will receive better service through the deployment of the Scala system on Citrix.
CEO of Scala Africa Shamik Sinha says Scala has met the diverse needs of Kenafric industries over the years. "As the company grew and diversified, Scala software proved to be flexible and reliable enough to keep pace with the developments," he says. "As a cost-effective collaborative solution, Scala software has proven to be a long-time partner in success for Kenafric Industries," he concludes.
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Scala Business Solutions is represented in Africa and the Indian Ocean Islands by Scala Africa, which provides sales, consulting and implementation skills to a customer base of 70 companies in South Africa and a further 300 in the rest of Africa and the Indian Ocean Islands. Headquartered in Johannesburg and with offices in countries including Kenya, Uganda and Nigeria, Scala Africa (Pty) Ltd, is a truly pan-African concern that offers integrated, collaborative ERP solutions to businesses across the continent. Visit Scala's website at www.scala.co.za for press information including press releases, information and product information.
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