A major producer of recycled ferrous and non‑ferrous metal products in southern Africa, Melrose Arch-based The New Reclamation Group (Reclam Group) has realised tangible benefits from its decision to centralise the accounting operations of its head office and 72 branches with a SAP Business One accounting and ERP software solution from 4most, a Logic Group company.
Reclam Group IT manager Allan Palmarozza said the SAP solution is operational at all branches through the use of terminal servers, enabling senior management to access critical business information at a keystroke.
“A bespoke system was also developed for each purchasing yard within the group, which collates and manages yard stock and provides dashboard reports that are integrated via i-Bolt into SAP and provide information at very close to real-time,” said Palmarozza.
“This standardisation on SAP Business One takes on great importance, especially in the tough economy that has prevailed over the past year. The more real-time our data is the better. Business intelligence tools are being used within the ERP system to monitor purchases, sales and stock and price movements.
“In the past, the extraction of this type of information would take three weeks and now it is available in real-time.”
The SAP Business One solution was implemented by 4most initially at a branch pilot site, and then extended to all 72 branches so that the solution became fully integrated throughout the Reclam Group.
This endeavour has made life a lot easier for Reclam Group management to manage efficiently and very effectively. Palmarozza said control has been improved thanks to the high visibility into the business and the various markets, which is a huge plus factor in metal recycling. “It is most important that we know what the market is doing and to be able to keep track of prices.”
He added that Reclam Group management is very happy with the SAP Business One system. “There were some issues at the handover but that's to be expected with something new. Now the system is going through more than 400 000 transactions a month in real-time and a tailor-made security solution developed by 4most to control and secure our general ledger account has also been implemented.
“Management is happy with the visibility the system provides into the company operations and users soon saw the benefits, and the vast majority are very happy with the solution and its benefits. Previously, a lot of database capturing was required, but this is now done automatically and has considerably reduced the margin for input errors and month ends are much simpler and easier.”
Palmarozza says the Reclam Group business can be likened to “above the ground mining” as it beneficiates basic metal commodities that are sold to the same customer base, the difference being that Reclam Group's raw material is secondary or recycled as opposed to beneficiating ore mined underground.
Recycled paper, cardboard and plastic products are produced as well as aluminium ingots and pellets, and copper sulphate products. These products are largely used by Reclam Group's customers as input materials to manufacture steel, a variety of non-ferrous metals, glass, paper and cardboard.
The company has a fleet of 700 purpose-built vehicles and more than 6 000 specialised containers for storage and transportation of recyclable materials and more than 1.5 million tons of recycled products are collected, processes and delivered each year. It also offers waste management solutions.
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