Grupo Senda Optimizes Financial, Supply, and Bus Fleet Maintenance Processes and Streamlines Management Operations
 
 

Grupo Senda Optimizes Financial, Supply, and Bus Fleet Maintenance Processes and Streamlines Management Operations

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Grupo Senda, a Mexican transportation company that provides passenger services, was founded in 1930 and is based in the city of Monterrey, Nuevo León. The company operates primarily in northeastern and central Mexico and in some US states. Grupo Senda provides passenger service on more than 250 major routes and to over 1,000 destinations. It also contracts employee and student transportation services for businesses and schools in some urban areas of Mexico, as well as charter services, where buses can be hired for special occasions, travel, and/or corporate events.
Each year, Grupo Senda carries 19 million passengers in its federal transportation business, using a 750-bus fleet, and it transports 34 million passengers in its industrial and school transportation operations, with 1,650 buses.

Focused on transforming customer service and driving innovation to spur continued growth, Grupo Senda upgraded its IT infrastructure to Oracle’s JD Edwards EnterpriseOne Release 9 in 2012. For 12 years, it had used JD Edwards OneWorld XE without updating it. With the upgrade, the company improved its finance, procurement, and maintenance processes. It also integrated its JD Edwards environment with other systems, such as a third-party logistics program that runs on Oracle Database, Enterprise Edition 11g, as its database, improving operational efficiency.

 
 

 
 

Challenges

A word from Grupo Senda S.A. de C.V.

  • “With JD Edwards EnterpriseOne, we’re on the road to efficiency and competitiveness. We reviewed our processes and improved our platform. We were in a car going 100 miles an hour, but the steering wheel was shaking. With the upgrade, we went with a more up-to-date model. Now we’re going faster, and we know we’ll continue to accelerate.” – Adrian Soto Montemayor, Systems Director, Grupo Senda S.A. de C.V.

  • Update Grupo Senda’s systems platform to simplify management of the group’s 20 companies that provide diverse transportation services
  • Standardize and improve processes, such as purchasing business items to facilitate maintaining the company’s extensive vehicle fleet and increase the group’s growth capacity
  • Integrate its enterprise resource planning environment with other systems, such as a third-party logistics program, to improve operational efficiency

Solutions

Oracle Product and Services

  • Deployed JD Edwards EnterpriseOne Release 9 to support growth and improve operational efficiency across the group, which brings together 20 transportation companies that provide services to individuals and businesses in Mexico and in the United States
  • Standardized processes, such as procurement and inventory, with JD Edwards EnterpriseOne Procurement and JD Edwards EnterpriseOne Inventory, increasing business visibility and improving organizational agility and efficiency
  • Enabled employees to use mobile devices, such as cell phones, to manage processes, such as purchasing, improving management operations with more convenient information access
  • Automated manual processes, such as purchasing materials for the bus repair shop, with JD Edwards EnterpriseOne Procurement, accelerating work order authorization
  • Accelerated bus maintenance using JD Edwards EnterpriseOne Condition-Based Maintenance by automating the workflow from the time a vehicle enters the shop until it is worked on, and providing mechanics with detailed information about problems, accelerating repairs
  • Developed a fault tree that includes problems, causes, and solutions for each vehicle in the fleet, saving on resources for repairing vehicles and extending their life, while making them more trouble-free
  • Used JD Edwards’ pre-integrated  JD Edwards EnterpriseOne  Financials and JD Edwards Enterprise One Capital Asset Management modules to automatically generate the fleet and assets depreciation process
  • Integrated JD Edwards EnterpriseOne with the logistics system from a third party player, using Oracle Database, Enterprise Edition 11g, matching the commercial offering with de vehicles distribution gaining a better use of the fleet
  • Reduced the time needed for the monthly financial closing process to five days

Why Oracle

After 12 years of working with Oracle JD Edwards OneWorld XE, Grupo Senda did not hesitate to continue with the same platform. “Upgrading to JD Edwards EnterpriseOne was the most important thing we could do to get the best results,” said Adrian Soto Montemayor, systems director for Grupo Senda.

“We didn’t evaluate other vendors, because JD Edwards EnterpriseOne is a robust system. We made that decision right away, to ensure continuity,” Soto Montemayor said. “In addition, Oracle has always provided us with excellent support during and after our implementations.”

Implementation Process

In late 2011, Grupo Senda started reviewing ERP processes, such as purchasing cycles and fleet maintenance. It then launched a proof of concept with help from Oracle Gold Partner E-nnovative Solutions, including evaluating how to migrate to JD Edwards EnterpriseOne and testing the tool before deployment. The system went live on April 2012.

Grupo Senda also integrated  JD Edwards EnterpriseOne with its third-party logistics system, running Oracle Database, Enterprise Edition 11g, and its internally developed commercial system. To link the systems, Grupo Senda simply adjusted the configuration of JD Edwards EnterpriseOne.

Partner

Grupo Senda worked with Oracle Gold Partner E-nnovative Solutions, S.A. de C.V. to review its ERP-related internal processes, to implement the maintenance, supply, and JD Edwards EnterpriseOne Financials, and to integrate the ERP system with its third-party logistics system and its internally developed ticket sales system.

“E-nnovative Solutions is our first choice for consulting. Its consultants understand JD Edwards EnterpriseOne and know how to help us get the most out of this powerful application suite. They advised us about best practices, not only in the area of technology, but also for our business. We’re still working with them on continuous improvement processes,” Soto Montemayor said.

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