Port Autonome de Cotonou Lowers Total Ownership Cost, Gains a Sustainable Business Intelligence and Port Operations Management Solution
 
 

Port Autonome de Cotonou Lowers Total Ownership Cost, Gains a Sustainable Business Intelligence and Port Operations Management Solution

Printer View Printer View

Port Autonome de Cotonou is located in Benin’s economic capital. It is the largest urban center in Cotonou and one of the major shipping ports in the region—a natural deep water harbor in a strategic location. The port covers 400,000 square meters, providing seven docks for container vessels and one dock for roll-on/roll-off cargo vessels. It serves Benin and its neighboring countries—Niger, Burkina Faso, Nigeria, Togo, and Mali—providing imports, such as consumer goods, manufactured items, and cement. Major exports leaving the region through the port include petroleum products, bauxite, iron, and cotton.

Port Autonome de Cotonou wanted to improve its performance, physical security, and cargo capacity to reduce consumer transportation costs. It also sought to reduce container and cargo waiting times—to increase merchandise traffic volume from 4 million to 6.3 million metric tons per year—and to decrease the time required to clear customs from four days to one day.

As such, the port needed to replace its heavily customized third-party accounting and payroll system with a semi-automated, fully monitored financial management solution that provides direct visibility into the port’s financial and payroll status. The organization also wanted to enable authorized employees to generate periodic financial and payroll reports without contacting the organization’s IT specialists. Finally, it sought to lower the IT infrastructure’s total cost of ownership.

With Oracle’s JD Edwards EnterpriseOne 9.0, Port Autonome de Cotonou has a highly reliable, secure, and scalable application suite. The application immediately improved system performance and accounting visibility, standardized business processes, and increased operational efficiency. The organization worked with Oracle partner LP2I, leveraging LP2I’s Oracle Accelerate Solution to complete the implementation within five months, on a limited budget.

 
 

 
 

Challenges

A word from Port Autonome de Cotonou

  • "With the help of Oracle partner LP2I, we achieved the first successful implementation of JD Edwards EnterpriseOne in an African port and the first implementation of Oracle Business Intelligence in West Africa. The deployment of JD Edwards EnterpriseOne 9.0 immediately delivered the performance we had hoped for and substantially improved operational efficiency. With Oracle Business Intelligence Enterprise Edition 11g, we enabled our managers with valuable insight into financials, procurement, inventory, and human resources without putting a strain on our IT department." – Joseph Ahanhanzo, Chief Executive Officer, Port Autonome de Cotonou

  • Replace third-party accounting and payroll software—which had been enhanced with manually created human resources (HR), purchase, inventory, and maintenance documents based on Microsoft Office applications—with a semi-automated, fully monitored financial application that provides direct visibility into the port’s financial and payroll status
  • Enable authorized employees to generate periodic financial and payroll reports without IT support
  • Ensure stable operation with 24/7 access to operational data and better data security
  • Lower the port’s IT infrastructure total cost of ownership, establish a sustainable solution by relying on a world-class technology provider with strong regional support, and provide proper employee training without constantly relying on external consultants

Solutions

Oracle Product and Services

  • Deployed a highly reliable, secure, and scalable application suite with Oracle’s JD Edwards EnterpriseOne 9.0—immediately enhancing performance and accounting visibility, while standardizing business processes and improving operational efficiency
  • Worked with Oracle partner LP2I, leveraging its Oracle Accelerate solution to complete the implementation within five months, on a limited budget
  • Provided personnel with the ability to perform independent financial and business analysis, without relying on the IT department to generate reports—improving efficiencies across all departments
  • Deployed Oracle Database, Enterprise Edition 11g, to protect the Port Authority from server or site failures and to reduce downtime, saving at least two working days per month
  • Provided flexible financial and human resources applications, streamlined reporting, and enabled faster access to data and payroll analysis capabilities, while eliminating all payroll report inconsistencies
  • Enabled employees to perform basic HR functions online—such as for leave requests and reimbursements—instead of visiting the HR office, enhancing the work experience and improving HR efficiency
  • Reduced dependency on external contractors when resolving IT-related problems, as well as lowering associated costs, while ensuring knowledge transfer to the port authority’s IT staff
  • Deployed Oracle Business Intelligence, Enterprise Edition 11g, providing dashboards for detailed, real-time insight into financials, inventory, procurement, and HR, without sole reliance on the port's IT team to create reports that previously took several days
  • Reduced IT infrastructure total cost of ownership and provided the organization with a sustainable solution for its operational and business intelligence needs

Why Oracle

The port authority chose Oracle because of its competitive pricing, short implementation time, and the support provided by an experienced Oracle Platinum Partner with a proven track record in JD Edwards EnterpriseOne deployments.

Implementation Process

The port authority worked with Oracle Partner LP2I, the first Oracle Accelerate solution partner with African operations, to complete the implementation in five months, on a limited budget.

Partner

Oracle Platinum Partner LP2I specializes in integrated IT solutions across industries and has more than fourteen years of experience in implementing Oracle ERP systems. LP2I was the clear choice due to its competitive pricing and rapid implementation timeframe.

"Implementing a complete ERP solution within five months on a limited budget was an enormous challenge. LP2I did an excellent job, completing the project on time and within budget, using its Accelerate implementation methodology, while providing excellent training support. We definitely plan to work with LP2I for our future needs," said Joseph Ahanhanzo, chief executive officer, Port Autonome de Cotonou.  

Resources