New Industry-Specific ERP System for Compounders. Case Study Poly.ERP 2012

Transcription

1 New Industry-Specific ERP System for Compounders Case Study Poly.ERP 2012

2 Polymer-Chemie Group was facing a precedent-setting decision during mid It had to introduce a new system to depict its corporate processes An ERP System for the Polymer-Group Company Profile Polymer-Group A Polymer Compound Manufacturer Orders Development of an Industry Solution Copyright 2012 Kirchhoff Datensysteme Software GmbH & Co. KG; All Rights Reserved

3 Module-Based Introduction of Poly.ERP Interview with Dr. Gerald Hauf Continuous Practical Focus Kirchhoff Datensysteme Profile 3

4 Process analysis and consulting An ERP System for the Polymer-Group 4 Polymer-Chemie Group was facing a precedent-setting decision during mid It had to introduce a new system to depict its corporate processes. Although the in-house developed software modules Inventory Management, Production and Quality Assurance used to date pragmatically handled many corporate functions in a user-friendly way, over the course of time, these modules no longer could meet the requirements of the growing and increasingly diversified Group. An analysis conducted by external consultants quickly identified the obvious approach to solving the problem: introduction of a standard ERP system! The consultants developed an initial software roll-out scenario including a rough cost estimate. However, Polymer business management decided to take a closer look at the proposal after hearing about negative experiences of friendly companies with significant budget overruns and establishment of standard processes that were unsuitable for the industry.

5 A second analysis focused on the process-related objectives of Polymer Group: Which operational processes must be pragmatically depicted by the system in an industry-specific way? How do suitable systems support these processes? Do the new processes improve the efficiency of work task handling? The result of this analysis was surprising! The analysis revealed that instead of a standard system, 3-4 partially specific industry applications would be needed to efficiently depict the relevant business processes in line with the needs of the industry. And, of course, these systems had to closely dovetail with each another via interfaces. A comprehensive standard ERP system that depicted the key processes of compounders in a holistic, consistent and industry-compatible way was not available on the market.

6 Polymer-Chemie GmbH The Polymer- Chemie Group Polyblend GmbH Polymer Group is headquartered the Bad Sobernheim, Germany, and originated from Polymer-Chemie GmbH, an independent, privately owned company founded in 1973 that compounds, refines and modifies polymers. Polymer Group flexibly and efficiently supports its customers throughout Europe with innovative and tailor-made products of the highest quality. Today, Polymer Group comprises seven polymer compounding companies Polymer-Chemie, Polyblend, TechnoCompound, PolyMIM, Polymer-Chemie Rus, Sun Alloys Europe and Masterbatch Winter. 400 employees contributed to sales of about EUR 150 million in TechnoCompound GmbH PolyMIM GmbH ООО Полимер-Хеми Рус Sun Alloys Europe GmbH 6 Masterbatch Winter Herstellungs- u. Vertriebs-GmbH

7 About Polymer-Chemie Polymer-Chemie is an independent, privately owned company that considers itself as a link between raw material manufacturers and the plastics processing industry. Polymer-Chemie compounds, refines and modifies polymers, conducts customer-specific development work and responds to current market requirements with new products. Developing innovative products and new formulations is the core competence of Polymer-Chemie. Market Leading Supplier of PE, PP and PVC Compounds in Germany The Polymer-Chemie business activities are focused on compounding PE, PP, PVC and technical plastics for customers in Germany and Europe. Polymer-Chemie is one of the leading polymer compounding companies in Germany. It is particularly strong in the PVC and polyolefin compounding segments both with its own products and with toll compounding products. Customer-Oriented Product Development and Application- Technical Consulting Polymer-Chemie utilises its many years of experience in manufacturing customerspecific formulations and providing colour matches for all established processing procedures. Its customers benefit from its rapid clarification of technical requirements as well as its flexibility and speed in sampling, production and delivery. Polymer- Chemie also offers its customers tailormade support and consulting services provided by qualified application engineers in starting up new compounds on site and in technically optimising production processes. 7

8 Complex requirements for systems and on processes A Polymer Compound Manufacturer Orders Development of an Industry Solution Polymer-Chemie modifies and compounds polymers, develops customer-specific solutions and keeps adapting its product portfolio to the latest market requirements. Innovations and the development of new formulations are Polymer-Chemies core competence, which enables customers to purchase tailor-made solutions for their specific needs. Polymer-Chemie Group business management decided to take an unusual approach. It contracted the development of a specialised industry solution that was able to depict the business processes of all Group companies in a standardised but also industry-specific way. As standardised as possible and as individual as necessary! The guideline for the development work was: As standardised as possible and as individual as necessary! From the very beginning of this project, Kirchhoff Datensysteme Software focused on developing an industry-specific ERP system. In this context, ERP meant that all operational corporate processes must be consistently depicted within an integrated corporate database so that all Company departments can work hand-in-hand in completing their work processes. 3 circumstances contributed to the success of this demanding project: 8

9 1 The existing, in-house developed modular software Individual modules developed in-house by the Company s IT department head using in-depth understanding of the fundamental departmental processes provided a robust framework for process and functional analyses. 2 Close involvement of professional personnel The process and functional models were developed based on existing deviation analyses while working closely together with the respective operational managers. 3 Scope of requirements of Polymer Group Polymer Group consists of seven, independent companies. Although they all are polymer compounders, each company has its own process specifics. These are sometimes due to the type of business. In other cases, they are based on historical developments or management personnel decisions. This meant that from the very beginning of the project, there was a lot of pressure to identify business-critical special needs and industry-specific requirements for standardisation. 9

10 First modules went live in August 2010 Module-Based Introduction of Poly.ERP The new Poly.ERP industry solution was developed and introduced on a module basis. The first modules went live at the PVC compounding subsidiary in August A number of fundamental changes in work processes were introduced at the same time: Container-Based Inventory Control Barcode-controlled inventory administration using mobile data terminals was introduced with Poly.ERP. Using this system, each container is marked with a barcode upon receipt until it is consumed, from its manufacture until it is shipped. That way, it can be tracked throughout its logical lifecycle via scanner. The simple, user-friendly scan functions have been designed so that they can be easily used by production and logistics employees. Order-Integrating Production Planning The production control station is directly connected with booked order data so that integrated order delivery date-based production planning can be made without circulating documents. The software also considers industry-specific order types such as toll compounding orders, master call-off orders and production/technical special cases such as blending processes and start-up control for granulate materials. 10

11 Scanner-Controlled Production Processes Regardless of whether batch tracking, raw materials consumption, material demand or manufacture of finished products is involved: All production processes are directly recorded by a scanner and are available for review in the system. The modules were developed one after another and successively introduced in the Polymer Group companies. A comprehensive ERP system was developed during an almost five-year period that covers all operational processes of the polymer compounder. Special solutions were implemented in addition to the normal business processes of a formulationbased compounder. EDI Integration A business integration module for external companies was implemented. This interface manager enables an externally operated logistics centre to be connected with Poly.ERP. With this configuration, for example, documents are electronically exchanged between the Company subsidiary Polyblend and an important customer. Integration of the Russian Subsidiary Introduction of Poly.ERP to the Russians subsidiary OOO Tula Polymer of the Polymer-Chemie Group required that several country-specific system processes also be depicted. It was very helpful that the Poly.ERP software architecture was designed for multilingual use throughout the system. Modifications to suit customer-specific processes of a polymer compounder can be easily made using parameter control. 11

12 Dr. Hauf, why did you contract development of an ERP system during a period in which the market was full of standard corporate applications? Today, many processes and interrelationships are much Information we received from companies with which we have a friendly relationship about their experiences in introducing a well-known and widely used standard ERP system puzzled us. A detailed analysis revealed that many process steps that, at first glance, seemed to have been standardised, did not improve our corporate processes when you analysed them more closely. However, implementing more efficient processes was a key objective of introducing the system. Bottom line, the KDS concept was more convincing than everything else we had seen up to that time. clearer than they were prior to the introduction of Poly.ERP. 12 But wasn t that very risky to contract customer-specific ERP system development? Of course! However, we were able to limit the financial risk by concluding a certainly unusual master agreement. We had the following idea: Polymer-Chemie would finance development of parts of an industry solution for polymer compounders. In return, it would receive a tailor-made, comprehensive ERP system to meet its own specific requirements. Of course, we could not completely eliminate implementation-related risks, but we considered these risks to be lower than the risks of How do you view the results of your decision today? Today, we have system-supported processes throughout all departments of our Company. Since introduction of Poly.ERP, we have been continuously working on improving our processes and making them more efficient. We have made a lot of progress in doing so, but, of course, there Interview with Dr. Gerald Hauf other alternatives. At the end of the day, our success proved that we were right. Do you mean that you made a precision landing from a budget point of view? Unfortunately, not completely (while smiling)! We underestimated the internal efforts needed to modify our processes within our organisation. is still a lot of work to be done in this area in future. In addition to improving our work processes, Poly.ERP also improved our process transparency, a second important aspect. Today, many processes and interrelationships are much clearer than they were prior to the introduction of Poly.ERP. And of course, that is crucial for making good corporate decisions. What are the key benefits of Poly.ERP from your point of view?

13 I am sure that if you speak with the various managing directors of the Group and with the respective department heads of the individual companies, each one will naturally have a different view of what is beneficial. From my point of view, I feel that it is very helpful for the Group that, thanks to standardised processes, we have an ever better understanding of what is going on in the companies. At the same time, Implementing more efficient processes was a key objective of introducing the system. other standard systems have become more suited in the interim to meet our industry-specific requirements. As we know, the world continues to develop further. But if nothing has significantly changed in this area, we would make the same decision again! their industry-specific topics are efficiently depicted. A good example of the above is the transparency we have gained regarding gross profit performance. Would you make the same decision today that you made 5 years ago? About Dr. Gerald Hauf Dr. Gerald Hauf is a managing partner of Polymer Group and a second-generation member of the founding family. After completion of his studies of mechanical engineering with a major in plastics engineering at the RWTH Aachen University, he acquired structuring expertise while working for the McKinsey & Company consulting firm before he joined the family company in No! Today, you can buy Poly.ERP as an industry solution. That would certainly be more cost-effective! All jokes aside! I don t know to what extent 13

14 Continuous Practical Focus In addition to expanding modules and departmental functions, Polymer-Chemie The results of this work are routinely included in new software releases and thereby In doing so, KDS is striving to become the market leader in the ERP field for polymer Group, working together with Kirchhoff continuously improve the work sequence compounders. To achieve this objective, Datensysteme Software (KDS), established a organisation within the Company. KDS will continue the practically-oriented continuous process improvement process. further development of the system that Operating managers from all operational Kirchhoff Datensysteme Software has been was begun with Polymer-Chemie. Each new areas and system developers continuously marketing the Poly.ERP ERP system as a customer gained will help KDS to further work on improving the efficiency, practical specialised industry solution for polymer expand the functionality of the software, a applicability and controllability of work pro- compounders in the European market since process that will benefit all existing custom- 14 cesses and the related system functions. the beginning of ers.

15 Wackernheim Location: Kirchhoff Datensysteme Software GmbH & Co. KG Kleine Hohl Wackernheim Phone: Fax: Erfurt Location: Kirchhoff Datensysteme Software GmbH & Co. KG Vollbrachtstraße Erfurt Phone: Fax: Internet: software.kds-kg.de polyerp.de Poly.ERP is developed by Kirchhoff Datensysteme Kirchhoff Group has been operating for more than 22 years as a respected software development and system house. It has more than 100 employees and offices in Erfurt (home office) and Mainz (Wackernheim). It also has a development center in Prague and additional locations in the Czech Republic (Šumperk, Brünn and Budweis). Kirchhoff Group initially focused on development partnerships with large automobile companies. During the past few years, it has also gained customers from a wide range of industries. At the beginning of 2012, KDS positioned itself as a supplier of standard ERP software for polymer compounders and has been very successful with its products in this industry. software@kds-kg.de info@polyerp.de 15

16 We do speak compoundish. Contact us - in any language you like. Kirchhoff Datensysteme Software GmbH & Co. KG Kleine Hohl Wackernheim Phone: info@polyerp.eu Internet: