How Kaar enabled a Manufacturing Company sprint towards sustainable Growth via flawless information sharing among its Departments?



KAAR focus on designing, delivering, and deploying top-notch SAP expertise to digitally transform customer organisation.
 







Customer Overview






 
The Client was established in 2011 as a greenfield aluminium rolling mill plant to produce flat rolled aluminium products. It is one of the largest added value projects in the Aluminium processing industry with a total cost of 385 million USD.

The annual capacity of the Plant is 140,000 metric tonnes per annum of multi-purpose Aluminium sheets which are sold in the local markets and exported to the Middle East, Asia, Europe, Australia, North and South America. The Plant is located next to the Aluminium Smelter at Sohar, where smelted aluminium is transferred directly to the rolling processing and adjusted to various Alloys, depending on the market needs. The company signed a  long-term contract with Sohar Aluminium Company to get smelted aluminium directly, as a basic reason for the project.

The factory is producing Aluminium coils from 75 micron to 8 mm thickness and up to 1933 mm wide. The alloys produced are of  1xxx, 3xxx, 5xxx and 8xxx series. The aluminium coils are used in various industries such as manufacturing food containers, ceilings, building and construction materials, heat exchangers, etc. In 2014, they added a new aluminium  Coil Coating Unit with a capacity of 25,000 ton per annum built as an expansion to the existing rolling mill. The total project cost was OMR 32 million (USD 83 million)
 



Business Situation





 
The Client's operational transactions were handled by department-specific IT systems. This made strategic business decision making an up-hill task to evolve the business on a global scale, a business challenge that necessitated an integrated ERP solution. Organization-wide business data was processed in silos and the key business need was to use an integrated ERP solution across the organization. The solution would help the company achieve greater visibility and operational excellence through integrated business data processing.

After a detailed study of integrated ERP Solutions in the market, the client decided to implement SAP ECC system with required integration modules. The system would help them attain sustainable growth via flawless information sharing among the departments, which would further robust its business processes to facilitate more swift and informed decisions.
 














Solution Offered By
Kaar









 








 
Post analyzing the business situation, Kaar advised ASAP methodology to be the preferred implementation tool based on its proven track record in the global market. Kaar and the customer also partnered with the auditing firm – EY to validate the deliverables.

The status of systems before being replaced with SAP solutions:
  •  Finance, Sales & HR departments were operating on MS Dynamics
  •  Supply Chain & Maintenance teams were working on stand-alone Maximo system
  • Production planning & execution was done using KEOPS MES system
  • EHS and Quality departments using In-house/ customize solution
The following SAP products were implemented
      1. ECC 6.0/EHP 7
      2. APO SCM Server 7.0 / EHP 3
      3. Portal Netweaver 7.4
      4. MII 15
      5. BO 4.1
       6. Solution Manager 7.1
Primary project location : Oman
Number of active users implemented at time of application (incl. self-service users): 50
Number of users planned on completion of roll-out (incl. self-service users): 370
Duration of implementation from project kick-off to initial go-live: 9 month(s)
List of SAP Modules that were implemented:
  • Finance Dept. – FICO & FM
  • Sales Dept – SD
  • Supply Chain Dept – MM
  • Warehouse Dept – WM
  •  Planning Dept – APO & PP
  • Operations/Production Dept – MII
  • Quality, Technical Dept – QM
  • Maintenance Dept – PM
  • Human Resources Dept – HCM
  • EHS Dept – EHSM
  • All Users – ESS/MSS Portal
  • Management – FIORI / BIBO
  • IT – Single Sign On/ Solution Manager
 



















Challenges faced and
redressed











 






 
Project and Risk Management
Some of the key Project Management Challenges faced were:
  • On-time mobilization of consultants
  • Delay in master-data preparation, and
  • Delay in integration activities for the new unit which was under construction
Redressal:
Project Management risks were mitigated with the help of express-visa processing for Kaar consultants deployed to the project. The members of the steering committee were involved in allotting dedicated time slots for key users to fill the master data templates and prioritize integration applications delivery.

Organizational Change Management:
It was imperative to educate and train their internal customers to adapt to SAP best Practices while leaving behind the traditional work-ways and -methods they were utilizing. There was a visible apprehension among their employees to transgress to the new system, a challenge that Kaar had to address.

Redressal:
Kaar conducted workshops to educate Key users and other project stakeholders about the benefits of configuring SAP Standard solutions and Best practices rather than adding customizations. The business gap was identified for 160 FRICEWs to be changed in the standard SAP; however IT PMO was approved for only 50 key FRICEWs as they believed to utilize SAP best practice process. SAP IS-Mill SCM RDS Solution and HCM Oman Localization & SAP HANA were implemented for the first time. With the Mill industry implementation experts' and auditing firm's guidance, the project ensured all the key features of the solutions such as variant configuration, effective costing on WIP materials, funds management and Omani payroll model were put to good use. Custom developments were majorly limited to reports and dashboards. however, some of the processes were minutely customized to fit the gaps in requirements with the IS-Mill solution that was implemented. Customizations were listed out and reviewed by Kaar consultants on the basis of key users' assigned priority. Then it was audited by EY and on final approval from respective Department heads in the steering committee, changes were developed and implemented.

IT Infrastructure:
Some of the key Hardware & Network risks faced were:
  •  Low internet bandwidth
  •  Server stability
  •  Business continuity in case of natural calamities
Redressal:
Hardware & Network risks were identified by collaborating with the Hardware implementation partner (HP). The below mentioned technical solutions were included and implemented as part of the project for all the IT systems involved.
  •  ISP (Internet Service Provider) with better bandwidth
  • Schedule automated Back-up
  • Disaster recovery infrastructure
 






Business Benefits







 
Higher Visibility through:
  • Content rich and intuitive SAP Reports
  • FIORI & Dashboards with validated data will enable faster decision making at the top management level.
Quicker learning curve through:
  • Simplified portal based solutions in MII - for Operations
  •  Portal (ESS/MSS) & EHSM - for all employees enables easier knowledge transfer to those with very basic computer knowledge in quick timeline.
Business transformation through:
  • Re-defined Efficiency
  • Integrated Information System
  •  Enhanced Reporting Capabilities
  • More Responsive Customer Service
  •  Improved Security
About KAAR

Kaar Technologies is a global consulting firm focused at designing, delivering and deploying the finest ideas and SAP expertise to empower companies in achieving new heights of excellence in today's challenging business landscape.

Our combined thrust drawn from the business vision of our leadership team and assimilated SAP capability propels us to partner with our clients in identifying and architecting their business agenda. As a CMMi level 3 company, Kaar believes in being a trusted advisor to clients and fosters long-term working relationships by exceeding customer expectations.

Driven by the steadfast pursuit of excellence, Kaar Technologies exudes professionalism and proficiency in all areas of function. Every day we are inspired to impact businesses with original and imaginative approaches, helping to cultivate tomorrow's breakthroughs. ​


 

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