QTerminals navigates global expansion with Oracle Cloud ERP and Oracle Cloud HCM

QTerminals is a leading international port and terminal operator that provides handling services for containers, bulk, general cargo, and livestock, as well as offshore supply and cruise ship services. Including the company’s flagship Hamad Port in Qatar and QTerminals Antalya in Turkey, QTerminals Olvia represents the third port asset in the group’s portfolio since the start of operations in 2017.

QTerminals used Oracle E-Business Suite for many years to support its back-office operations, namely finance and human resources. As the company grew, it built a variety of complex customizations within the platform to meet evolving business needs. Managing this environment began to prove difficult, resulting in manual processes that became a barrier to further growth.

On the human resources side, lack of data visibility caused the company delays in its recruitment, performance management, and training, making it difficult to efficiently attract and onboard new talent. Other areas such as payroll and benefits enrollment faced similar roadblocks, with long cycles and excessive manual tasks.

In addition, the company’s procure-to-pay process was fragmented, resulting in a lack of financial transparency when purchasing items like critical machinery and spare parts for port operations. Meeting compliance and regulatory requirements when billing suppliers also became increasingly difficult with the current systems.

Realizing a change was needed to streamline back-office operations, reduce manual efforts, and support the company’s plans for expansion, QTerminals began its search for a cloud-based human resources and finance platform. After assessing other vendors, the company’s positive experience with Oracle E-Business Suite made selecting Oracle Fusion Cloud Human Capital Management (HCM) and Oracle Fusion Cloud Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) a simple choice.

QTerminals stressed the importance of having a resilient and stable platform, and the company knew that Oracle Cloud Applications would provide that foundation. Because employees were very familiar with the E-Business Suite platform, migrating to Oracle Cloud HCM and Oracle Cloud ERP would make adoption much easier, leading to faster time to results.

Oracle Cloud Applications would also enhance the user experience, with a modern user interface, automation capabilities, and routine quarterly updates that offer additional functionality. These features would be key to supporting the planned growth and evolving needs of the business.

By implementing Oracle Cloud Applications, QTerminals gained a dynamic environment that allowed employees to be more strategic and support international expansion. Employees became connected with modern business workflows that seamlessly integrated finance, procurement, and human resources. Moving away from its on-premises systems, which were rigid and highly customized, to a more flexible and scalable platform in the cloud, the company was able to redesign processes for greater efficiency and faster results.

QTerminals used Oracle Cloud HCM to consolidate its HR data, streamline workforce management activities through automation, and gain access to enhanced performance metrics. For example, in the case of recruitment and talent management, the company’s HR department reduced its requisition to hire time, increased the visibility of its job postings, and simplified online job applications. Oracle Cloud HCM also improved internal communication related to transfer of opportunities, wages, benefits, and career development. Thanks to Oracle Recruiting and its integration with the company’s career website and LinkedIn page, QTerminals accelerated hiring and onboarding and slashed recruitment cycles from several weeks to just a few days.

Additionally, the company turned to Oracle Cloud HCM to run a two-week, on-the-job training program to hire, train, and retain recent college graduates to ultimately become future leaders in port and marine terminal operations. Adopting Oracle Learning also helped QTerminals digitize and move its previously manual training and development programs online. With a more effective process in place and better monitoring through the platform, KPIs improved, more insight was gained into training needs, and rollout times for new programs were reduced. Along with these improvements, the company significantly shortened salary and benefit payment cycles by approximately 40% with Oracle Payroll.

Deploying Oracle Procurement, part of the Oracle Cloud ERP suite, streamlined the purchasing process for critical machinery, spare parts, and services for port operations, all while automating supplier invoice processing. The tool also helped QTerminals simplify monitoring for compliance and regulatory requirements.

The integration of the redesigned procurement process with the company’s terminal operation and treasury systems provided better collaboration and visibility across the business. Centralizing the entire procure-to-pay network through Oracle Cloud ERP led to reduced costs, a more accurate view of spending, and financial transparency throughout the procurement cycle.

QTerminals selected systems integrator Mannai ICT to assist with its implementation of Oracle Cloud Applications. With vast expertise and a collaborative approach, Mannai ICT helped QTerminals transition from its on-premises Oracle E-Business Suite environment to Oracle Cloud ERP and Oracle Cloud HCM in just five months.