Mr. Erwin Burton, chief operating officer of the Food Trading Division at GraceKennedy. - WINSTON SILL/FREELANCE PHOTOGRAPHER
GRACEKENNEDY LIMITED is projecting that implementation of a major software project in its Food Trading Division will significantly boost the division's international expansion efforts. The project, costing some US$3 million, brings 12 companies, located in Jamaica, Belize, the United States and Canada on to a single software platform with the SAP Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system.
ERP systems typically handle the manufacturing, logistics, distribution, inventory, shipping, invoicing and accounting for a company. Enterprise Resource Planning software can aid in the control of many business activities, like sales, delivery, billing, production, inventory management, quality management, and human resources management. SAP is one of the most widely used ERPs worldwide.
'TREMENDOUS COST SAVINGS'
Erwin Burton, chief operating officer of the Food Trading Division reports that, just 14 months into the implementation of SAP, the division has begun to realise 'tremendous cost savings' from the centralisation of such functions as purchasing and financial accounting, with further savings expected in the area of order fulfilment and working capital management. Additionally, he notes, SAP is also expected to support the division's ability to conduct business internationally, and to expand into new markets.
Project Manager Zak Mars who led the rollout of SAP across the division says the system will eventually make it easier to communicate with international suppliers and customers. He explained, "There is no limit to the ability to integrate even with our external partners, whether they use SAP or not.
"There are interfaces that run on the Internet that allow customers to enter their orders and the interface ensures that these orders are captured within the SAP subsystems.
"In terms of our collaboration with our vendors there are interfaces that allow us to integrate with what's called electronic data interchange (EDI) that ensures they know what we want when we want it, and we know when they are going to deliver it".
GraceKennedy has identified mergers and acquisitions as a major strategy for expanding into international markets. Mars says SAP will make it easier to handle the business information and systems integration aspects of these acquisitions.
"Many times we take on new projects and new acquisitions and we run two different systems, speak two different languages about the same products and the same customers and we run into disparities at times. If our growth strategy is acquisitions, SAP enables us, within a matter of 30 days, to assimilate the new business' information on to our own business system platform."
GraceKennedy's Food Trading Division covers all the companies within the group that are involved in food production and distribution. These include National Processors Limited (NALPRO); Dairy Industries (Jamaica) Limited; Grace Food Processors (Canning); Grace Food Processors Limited; Grace Foods & Services, World Brands Limited, Grace, Kennedy Belize, GraceKennedy Ontario Inc., and GraceKennedy U.S.A., Inc.
