Buscor (Pty) Ltd. serves as the holdings company for three affilicated bus services operating in the Lowveld, namely MatsTrans, Hazyridge and Nkomazi Transport. Buscor that services the tourism industry. The company has a monthly turnover of over 13 million and runs a fleet of 280 buses on various routes within the community. They have a staff compliment of between 900 to a 1000 employees including approximately 450 drivers. Although Buscor is not the biggest bus service in South Africa in terms of fleet size, they are the industry leader in terms of engine technology, maintenance standards and IT infrastructure. Buscor`s fleet maintenance costs alone form a major portion of their overheads expense, making the monitoring abilities of a trustworthy financial and maintenance IT infrastructure even more important.
The Problem
Five years ago, Buscor`s previous IT infrastructure consisted of simple spreadsheets to manage their workshop activities and financial systems that ran on a basic, limited bookkeeping package. There was no direct integration between these entities. The old system produced isolated pockets of information which caused unnecessary double capturing and wasted time and money, while reporting capabilities were non-existent. Without the ability to calculate exact running costs of all their buses, Buscor had difficulty making strategic managerial decisions and tendering for routes. Buscor`s significant growth over the following years further necessitated the expansion of their financial planning and mangement capabilities. At ProTours, efficient Customer Relationship Management became increasingly important, as they had no existing customer support IT system and needed accurate scheduling and quoting capabilities.
The looming Y2K problem further increased the urgency of Buscor`s problem. Requirements for their solutions needed to include Y2K compliancy and an industry standard client/server architecture that ran on an SQL Server database supported by Windows. Buscor subsequently chose e by Epicor (formerly platinum ERA) by Epicor Software Corporation, an award winning ERP product that offered a comprehensive financial application to be implemented at three of their sites. For ProTours, Buscor chose Clientele by Epicor, a comprehensive CRM solution that offers full intergration of front and back office systems. Top-Tech ERP Solutions, the official South African distributor for Epicor, implemented both Clientele and e by Epicor. In conjunction with Cyberstream, Top-Tech ERP Solutions developed links between Datastream`s Computerised Maintenance Management System (CMMS) package, MP2 and e by Epicor.
The Implementation Process
The full implementation of e by Epicor at all three of Buscor`s sites, as well as the implementation of Clientele at ProTours, was completed after 8 months. The implementation included Buscor`s head office in Nelspruit, where all information is consolidated with the company`s main financials on a daily basis, and encompassed the writing of the link between e by Epicor and MP2. As the millennium drew near, little time was left for customisation that included the development of an interface, the testing and "de-bugging" of the system. Top-Tech ERP Solutions` professional expertise not only ensured that Buscor was 100% Y2K-compliant, but that the integration of e by Epicor and MP2 was a success.
The Solution
In order for Buscor to successfully manage its operations, employees must know from an operational as well as financial point of view, how efficiently workshops are operating. MP2 generates this information and includes modules such as Work Order Generation, Parts Purchasing, Inventory Management, Labour, and the tracking of maintenance activities by type, reason and cost. Information generated by MP2 includes stock quantities, shelving periods over which items are stored, purchase price monitoring and supplier details. All information is integrated into Buscor`s financial system, e by Epicor, through the link that was developed by Top-Tech. The combination of MP2 and e by Epicor enables Buscor to measure the exact cost of keeping a particular bus on the road in terms of CPK (cents per kilometre), against budget. The availability of this information on the desktop transforms Buscor`s financial planning monitoring into a transparent detailed and strategic management process. This is made possible by the extensive analysis and reporting capabilities of both e by Epicor and MP2.
Within e by Epicor`s award winning financial suite, proven reliable applications take care of integrated financial functions such as General Ledger, Account Payable and Receivable which run on a client/server structure. The information distributed by General Ledger enables immediate access to the critical financial information necessary for quick, strategic decisions.
Through Clientele, Buscor`s Protours division is able to gather, organise and share critical customer information through applications such as Sales & Marketing, customer Support and Help Desk, while dramatically improving the accuracy of ProTours` quoting and scheduling capabilities. Both e by Epicor and Clientele`s application are seamlessly integrated, meaning that information entered through one application is automatically processed and updated in others.
Added Benefits
On the financial side, Buscor`s new system offers the added benefits of on-line consolidation in real-time, a dynamic cash flow in terms of the income statement and balance sheet as well as multi-site connectivity of all the sites through the WAN (Wide Area Network) technology.
MP2, on the other hand, revolutionizes Buscor`s preventative maintenance by enabling them to report in detail when a bus was last serviced, which parts were used in the service and what actions were taken during the service. A very valuable history is built up that enables the company to tell how often a specific part will need replacement under various driving conditions. This enables Buscor to anticipate, predict and avoid the losses incurred by technical breakdowns on the road.
The Future
The possibilities for further integration and developments are endless because of the products` flexibility, adaptability and both run on industry standard Microsoft technology. Buscor envisions the integration of Co-Driver into MP2 and e by Epicor, a peripheral monitoring system that would provide crucial user information and assist in identifying and monitoring problematic driver habits.
Mike Greer, Buscor`s IT Manager says, "e by Epicor and MP2 undoubtedly strengthens Buscor`s technological advantage over our competitors. We now have critical management information about our core business available on desktop that we`ve never had before. It is envisioned that once revenue system integrated, we will be able to identify routes that are more viable for servicing through other vechiles."
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