Hydraulic and pneumatic systems and equipment specialist Hydra-Quip has discovered the power of ERP accounting and financial software to take business control, traceability, accuracy, transparency and stability to new levels.
The Hermanstad headquarters of Hydra-Quip in Pretoria West last year contracted mid-market ERP and business software specialist 4most, a member of the Logic Group, to supply, install and commission a SAP Business One solution.
A core requirement was greater control, tracking and information sharing for repair job costing and invoicing and for the large and complex inventory, said Hydra-Quip managing director Bradley Flynn.
“We needed safeguards. We hold 8 000 different line item part numbers and each has variations, so the total inventory amounts to about 40 000 spares and components. Tracking and traceability of pumps, hoses, seals, metal pipes, clamps and other fittings were a critical requirement for us.”
Flynn added that the SAP Business One system has been live for almost a year and fully available since switch-on. “Initially it can be a little intimidating to new users, and as laypeople we are probably using only 20% of the system capability. That will increase as time goes on, but in the meanwhile, our auditor is getting the right information first time, every time.”
What Flynn likes about the SAP system is that there are a lot of features that safeguard the business. “Debits and credits are totally accurate, debtors are properly managed and creditors are easier to deal with. It works for us the way we want it to.”
With inventory ranging from a small brass seal to a complex hydraulic pump worth more than R12 000, Flynn finds the “drag and relate” function in the SAP software extremely useful, as it enables items sold to be tracked instantly. This brings up who the item was sold to and when, who Hydra-Quip sourced it from originally as well as the original purchase price and the sale price. It also simplifies re-ordering.
“We relied on 4most to drive the whole go-live process and it was far easier than we thought; pretty painless in fact. SAP offers choices and engenders good utilisation. We find it actually encourages us to make use of the features. It handles all of our many product categories and the improvement in stock-taking and checking has been vast,” said Flynn.
The next step for Hydra-Quip is to implement the SAP bar coding software module, which will further streamline inventory management and control.
Another bonus for Hydra-Quip is the fact that Rapid Trade, an online marketing and sales tool that helps customers find the products they need and order them while they're online, easily integrates with SAP. “This was a major cost-saving for us, particularly as it also allows us to order on-line from our suppliers,” said Flynn. “Photographs of each part are accessible, ensuring that the correct part is easily identified - another cost and time saving feature.”
Hydra-Quip has branches in Silverton and Benoni and has affiliations with other suppliers elsewhere in South Africa, and SAP has also had an impact in this aspect of the overall business.
“A major bonus has been the fact that the Silverton branch is also on SAP Business One. This allows us to check financial data online and exchange inventory information,” said Flynn. “It is a facility which will develop further in time and allow us to trace stock held at other outlets for our customers' benefit.”
Hydraulics are a critical component of heavy working vehicles, earthmoving and construction equipment where the costs of downtime because of a seal or pump fault can have very serious implications.
“The availability of spares such as seals, pumps, hoses and clamps is therefore critical and we need to ensure that our services to the mining, construction, transport, earthmoving, motor vehicle and a range of other manufacturing industries and after-markets are executed with urgency and accuracy. The SAP Business One software will be playing a major role in this,” said Flynn.
“Our next priority is the maximisation of the Rapid Trade facility through SAP as this has the potential to extend the boundaries of our business and a second phase will involve online equipment assemblies. We looked at many software solutions and our conclusion is that SAP is an excellent fit for SME business.”
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