Overview
Reinventing operational processes to align with the company’s growth strategy!
The client company is a well-established manufacturer of surgical suture needles incorporated in 1984. The company has positioned itself as one of the leading needle producers in the world, producing over 100 million needles annually. Their success has been attributed to their in-house developed technology and equipment. With the changing landscape of technology and the market, the company realized the need to accelerate its digital transformation to reduce costs and improve efficiency.
The Challenge
Enhance Procurement and Inventory Management
The client needed to manage multiple SKUs and streamline the production cycles. They required a strong and effective plan to improve organizational communication and collaboration. The client organization was in turmoil to turn things around due to the complexity of the manufacturing systems in place. Keeping track of inventory levels for multiple SKUs and ensuring that there was enough stock to meet demand was a challenge. The traditional working systems failed to meet the client's expectations and made it impossible to solve the strategic challenges related to the organization's long-term direction.
Lack of Tracking Mechanisms
The existing on-floor business process could have been more organized and all over the place. With 27 different work-in-progress (WIP) functions, the current production process was unable to fully reflect the complexity of the production process. The systems failed to accurately track and manage the production process, leading to inefficiencies and potential delays. The client needed more visibility into the production process to provide customers with a reliable estimate of the delivery date for needles. Leading to customer dissatisfaction and potentially damaging the company's reputation.
Monitoring Production Cost
The client's legacy systems needed more visibility to track the cost of production, resulting in additional expenses throughout the project. Lack of visibility into development project costs was often due to a lack of team communication. It took a lot of work to understand the production cost breakdown for auditing purposes. The complexity of development projects was relatively high, making it difficult to accurately capture and break down all the associated costs.
Birlasoft Solution
Birlasoft implemented SAP S/4HANA in 1 Customer Entity and 02 Plant sites on the persisting problems as stated by the client. The goal was to achieve complete transparency and increase control over ongoing processes. Birlasoft implemented end-to-end ERP solutions to help advance business expansion and digital transformation. Birlasoft spearheaded the growth strategy by monitoring and measuring the platform's performance over time and making any necessary adjustments or updates to ensure that it continues to support the client's business goals and objectives.
Solution Aspect # 1
Birlasoft's deployment of a comprehensive and integrated solution enabled the customer to effectively optimize their production processes, streamline their cost tracking and SKU management, and efficiently manage extra production consumption. The solution was designed with a robust production cycle tracking system that provided real-time visibility into the production process. The system's warehouse management module helped the customer manage a vast array of SKUs, providing automated alerts for low stock levels to ensure timely replenishment and reduce the risk of stockouts.
Solution Aspect # 2
Upon partnering with Birlasoft, our client’s SAP HANA suite implementation was a game-changer. By identifying the key business objectives of the client, Birlasoft was keen to transform their operations and drive growth strategically. By leveraging the power of in-memory databases, advanced analytics, and machine learning, the suite integrated a range of applications and technologies, processed large amounts of data quickly, and enabled faster, more informed decision-making. The implementation also eliminated the problems that arose from using multiple disconnected systems by implementing an integrated module using a single system to manage all data.
The Impact
Birlasoft undertook the task of streamlining the operations for the client who had issues capturing the cost of development projects, managing inventory, and tracking monthly expenses. They needed to obtain data about purchases made exclusively for project purposes for audit reasons. The client is also required to break up the actual cost of production. We strategically implemented a homegrown ERP solution for various processes like Sales, Production, Quality Management, Plant Maintenance, and Development divisions to address these issues. They also implemented a data management and governance framework, enabling the client to easily access and view their master data sources from various locations. As a result, the client now had real-time visibility into the manufacturing process, including the cost of work-in-progress items. This resulted in additional cost savings, increased productivity, and improved product quality.
During the implementation phase, Birlasoft addressed the issue of disjointed operational cycles and a need for more planning for production and delivery. With standard reporting, the transformation process was fast-tracked, saving time and resources while better understanding the client's production, delivery, and procurement processes. Furthermore, implementing the SAP ERP solution enabled transactions to be carried out on the go, such as approving purchase orders, purchase requisitions, creating PR, credit block approval, credit memo approval, and more. The subcontracting process got mapped in SAP, making it easier to manage. The client was now able to improve the efficiency and accuracy of their production processes while also gaining real-time visibility and control over their data while simultaneously working huge volumes of SKUs.
Streamlining Operations and Increasing Efficiency
Better Management of Stock keeping and Real-time information on the production process. The (ERP) system helped the manufacturer to track and manage inventory levels, automate purchasing and reordering processes, and provide real-time visibility into production status and costs. Our systematic approach and carefully planned delivery model reduced the risk of stockouts and overproduction while improving their operations' efficiency and accuracy.
Process Mapping and system integration
SAP integration was used as a replacement for the client's existing configuration functions. Subcontracting was now much more accessible and resulted in enhanced productivity. And implementing a single integrated module as part of a digital transformation strategy helped the client to improve coordination and collaboration between different departments. The solution architects at Birlasoft collaborated with all the relevant stakeholders and process owners across all the functions by using a single system that integrated various modules such as accounting, sales, and production.
Perfecting the delivery model
The client approached Birlasoft with a requirement to have a transparent enterprise application as a replacement for legacy applications, resulting in a delay in operations. With connected systems and cloud capabilities infused into the ERP system, the reporting system could now generate standard reports that offer information on the status of deliveries, production, and procurement. Standard reports helped the client get visibility consistently with up-to-date information about their operations, allowing them to monitor KPIs on different SKUs.
