Challenges

• Reduce manual data entry requirements for financial tasks, such as closing month-end accounts
• Increase the speed at which users in remote manufacturing and sales locations can access forms for entering data about glass products
• Generate financial, purchasing, and glass-processing reports faster and make it easier to export these reports in different formats, such as PDF, XML, and Microsoft Word
• Cut system patching requirements and improve the stability of the ERP system
• Control the amount of waste glass produced during the manufacturing process
• Create auditable records of manufacturing costs to improve cost controls

Solutions

• Generated financial, purchasing, inventory, and glass manufacturing and processing reports 50% faster
• Reduced the time required for staff in remote locations to access glass manufacturing and sales forms by at least 50%—from up to 15 minutes, depending on the network, to less than 5 minutes
• Cut the time to close month-end accounts from seven days to one day—and significantly improved data accuracy—by more quickly compiling financial information, such as stock quantities and costs
• Reduced inventory costs by 10% by recording more accurate information about the actual costs of raw materials, finished goods, and spare parts for stock valuation
• Cut purchasing times, from up to a week to a few days, by sharing documents, online, between manufacturing units and the head office and implementing a hierarchical approval system based on workflow
• Fulfilled customer orders in one day, compared to three days, previously, by providing the shipping department with greater visibility into inventory and production information
• Reduced scrap glass by 10% by improving control over raw materials consumption and glass wastage
• Lowered the average time taken to repair glass manufacturing machinery by 20% by providing more information about maintenance histories and available spare parts
• Cut system service costs by 15% by upgrading to a more stable ERP platform which is less reliant on support from third parties
• Minimized scheduled downtime by reducing the amount of patching required for the ERP system
• Decreased time taken to file tax returns, by automatically calculating net-payables taxes and generating the invoice for payment to tax authorities
• Enabled users to more easily design and customize ERP reports in simple templates and export them in PDF, XML, and text-based formats using Oracle Business Intelligence Publisher
• Improved cost control and stock valuation by generating auditable cost records that show the actual cost of production

Why Oracle

Gold Plus Glass Industry originally chose Oracle, as it provided more cost effective ERP products that were easier to operate, compared to those from other large ERP vendors, such as Microsoft and SAP.

“We were more than satisfied with the original Oracle ERP products, so decided to continue with Oracle,” said Lalit Wadhwa, chief financial officer, Gold Plus Glass Industry Ltd.

“We are very happy with how Oracle E-Business Suite has helped us streamline day-to-day business activities and regulatory compliance, as well as reduce inventory costs, financial reporting times, and month-end accounting time,” said Jimmy Tyagi, executive director, Gold Plus Glass Industry Ltd.

Implementation Process

Rather than upgrading directly from Oracle E-Business Suite Release 12.0, Gold Plus Glass Industry decided to install Oracle E-Business Suite Release 12.1 as a fresh implementation.

“We wanted to implement Oracle Process Manufacturing and Oracle Enterprise Asset Management, which we weren’t able to do previously,” said Wadhwa. “We had also just merged four different legal entities and thought it was important to re-implement Oracle E-Business Suite to ensure we fully consolidated the data from these entities.”

The implementation took three months, including deploying and testing the modules and conducting user acceptance testing. Oracle E-Business Suite Release 12.1 went live in April 2011.

Partner

Gold Plus Glass Industry initially engaged Oracle Specialized Partner Path Infotech to provide postimplementation support after the earlier implementation of Oracle E-Business Suite Release 12.

“We were satisfied with the services of Path Infotech, so decided to work with the company again for our re-implementation project,” said Wadhwa. “Path Infotech, which has been with us for more than three years now, not only helped with the re-implementation itself, but also provided quality pre- and postimplementation services and support.
 
“Unlike other consultants, consultants at Path Infotech take the time to understand user requirements and provide a solution that is not only easy to implement but easy to operate,” said Wadhwa. “They worked well with all levels of management, which ensured the implementation’s success. Their post-implementation services have been highly reliable and their response and issue resolution times meet our expectation and requirements.”

“The support from the Path Infotech team has been extremely good,” added Tyagi. “We strongly believe Oracle and Path Infotech will remain our partners for the many IT projects we have in the pipeline.”

Resources

• Read more Industrial Manufacturing successes with Oracle E-Business Suite