Powering New Growth

Continued

As part of Oracle Accelerate, Oracle has also offered a database that is simpler to use and more self-managing, so it works right out of the box. "A self-managing database is particularly attractive to midsize companies because they don't have to hire a battery of technical people or pay a systems integrator to set it up and take care of it for them," Keever points out.

Oracle Accelerate includes implementation services from Oracle partners or Oracle Consulting, backed by those groups' expertise in specific industries. For example, BREG hired Abaris, a systems integrator and Oracle partner with a focus in life sciences, to help with its implementation. Working with BREG's in-house IT professionals, Abaris used the Oracle software to create a global chart of accounts and to help BREG share manufacturing information around the globe. "Our business requires real-time data for picking and packing," explains Romeo. "The same products are manufactured in different countries, and we use Oracle software to control the flow of raw materials."

Achieving this same type of supply chain automation is what motivated HOPPE to deploy Oracle software. Volume is everything in the industrial and building equipment supply industry, where HOPPE develops, manufactures, and markets door and window hardware systems in the European market. The manufacturer has nine factories in four countries and produces nearly all its products in-house.

HOPPE began evaluating Oracle software almost 10 years ago. At the time, the company had an annual revenue of €194 million and was in the process of expanding into several new countries. "We had to invest in IT to expand the business," recalls Norbert Mayr, CFO of HOPPE Holding AG.

According to Mayr, HOPPE's nine factories were essentially operating as independent companies, with little cohesion when it came to procuring raw materials, taking orders, or managing finished inventory. In an effort to rectify the situation, Mayr and his colleagues evaluated several enterprise software packages, but most of them appeared to be designed for larger companies. JD Edwards EnterpriseOne software, now part of Oracle, stood apart. It appeared to have excellent horizontal capabilities for general business management, along with the specific vertical domain expertise HOPPE was looking to automate its manufacturing operation. They decided to give it a try.

Opening New Doors on Efficiency

Full Speed Systems AG Group, an Oracle partner operating in Europe, helped HOPPE develop companywide applications for production planning and inventory control. "They taught us how to use the JD Edwards software to modify our core business processes," says Mayr. "After a couple of months together, we were able to complete the implementation by ourselves. The JD Edwards applications use a Windows-type interface, which helped us gain immediate acceptance of our new business applications."

Creating a single source of data as the foundation for production activities quickly sped up HOPPE's production cycles and improved its reporting capabilities. This enabled production managers to improve quality without increasing manufacturing costs. Consolidating its data has unified the corporation in other ways as well. For example, HOPPE can specify prices and determine gross proceeds quickly and easily among all its factories. Additionally, its sales representatives are more responsive to customers, and the accounting department can create financial codes in multiple currencies.

As BREG and HOPPE have learned, mature software applications, when properly deployed, can help midsize companies break free of the reactive cycle of continually responding to changes in the business. Step one is automation. Step two is improvement. For example, after getting the basic JD Edwards functionality in place, HOPPE took the opportunity to convert its production lines to the kanban method, which helps orient its production runs to actual customer requirements.