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  • Local proves lekker
  • Electrical components      manufacturer      improves
  • Project control never      looked this good
  • Agile Software      specialists in      computerised      production control
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    Local Proves Lekker for Gundle Plastall

    Industrial packaging specialist Gundle Plastall is reaping the benefits of a locally-developed supply chain management (SCM) solution, realising what it says are “almost immediate” reductions in administrative costs and streamlined manufacturing processes. The solution, Interdyne Mass Production, was developed and implemented by Agile Software, a Johannesburg-based SCM software developer specialising in niche vertical markets. Interdyne is also a preferred IBM Independent Software Vendor (ISV).

    Wietsche Fourie, Financial Director of Gundle Plastall, says his company “didn’t even look at” some of the better-known competitors for Interdyne in the SCM arena, thanks largely to Interdyne’s long partnership with Gundle sister company Inmins Limited.

    “When we first looked at implementing Interdyne in 1998, we went through an exhaustive analysis of the various products on offer. After looking at a variety of products we realised that Interdyne suited our business down to the ground. Its real-time response capability is crucial in our manufacturing environment,” said Fourie.

    “What’s more, the Interdyne team have a solid understanding of the principles of manufacturing systems and costing, particularly in the South African set-up. They also came up with several suggestions for some problems that we’d been experiencing, which showed that they understand our business challenges,” said Fourie.

    Fourie says Gundle Plastall is already starting to realise better management control, improved efficiencies and reduced costs through the new implementation – and they’re not paying an arm and a leg, either.

    “The Interdyne Mass Production solution can run on a stable operating system such as Linux or Unix, and it’s not "hardware hungry", therefore eliminating the need for unnecessary hardware upgrades,” said Fourie.

    “Our aim is to be the lowest cost producer in our field. To achieve this we need accurate and timeous management information without expending excessive manpower and money to get the information. Our current system cannot give us the information without major input and modification,” he said.

    Albert Styger, MD at Agile Software, has long been an outspoken proponent of the notion that software should work the way the customers do, and not the other way round.

    “Customers today are demanding systems that are easy to implement and use. It’s also crucial that a supply chain in these environments is responsive and reacts immediately to any given change and this is especially applicable in the production and jobbing markets,” said Styger.

    “To minimise the barriers to entry the software has been specifically designed to make maximum use of legacy hardware while exploiting the latest generation of devices available. And through an in-depth understanding of our customers’ market, we are ideally positioned to offer a solution that is guaranteed to reduce fixed administrative costs, simplify the manufacturing and production processes and provide real-time information at any given time.”


    Getting the competitive edge with Agile Software Electrical components manufacturer improves MPC with Interdyne Mass Production SCM solution

    With a burgeoning export market driving demand for its products, a South African manufacturer of electrical components looked to specialist supply chain software vendor Agile Software to improve the efficiency of its operations. Grote and Hartmann (Pty) Ltd is a Johannesburg-based organisation that produces electrical components for the motor and white goods – domestic appliances – industries. Owing to the low cost of production in South Africa and the high quality of its manufacturing; operating within the standards laid down by the parent company based in Germany, the company has experienced strong growth for its products from international customers, explains managing director Peter Mauff.

    “We are the only major manufacturer of these components locally and have achieved the ISO9001/2 standard. With demand for our goods increasing rapidly, we had to look at improving our management planning and control (MPC) systems to boost productivity and increase the efficiency of the manufacturing process,” says Peter.

    While Grote and Hartmann GmbH is part of a global organisation that uses a Tier One ERP system to run its head office in Germany, it thoroughly evaluated a number of competitive products before selecting Interdyne’s solution as the preferred system to deliver the required functionality at an acceptable price point. Integration with its head office system was clearly also a prerequisite.

    “We were impressed by the real-time information that Interdyne’s solution can provide, which brings a level of business intelligence to our manufacturing process,” Peter continues.

    “Added to the greater flexibility offered by the Interdyne software, this made it the optimal solution to allow us to take control of our operations.”

    Because the Mass Production SCM solution gives the company greater visibility of the supply chain, it enables more effective control of logistics and allows for contingency plans to be activated should problems arise in the supply chain.

    “The concept of the Mass Production SCM solution is brilliant. It can be deployed as modules that seamlessly integrate, and it runs on our existing hardware infrastructure. Since implementing the system in January, we have seen significant improvements in management reporting, administration efficiencies and manufacturing control. Further, this is enabling us to make better use of our staff and facilities to address demand from our customers. Interdyne is helping to give us the competitive edge,” says Peter.

    Albert Styger, managing director of Agile Software, says it is helping South African companies like Grote and Hartmann to become globally competitive. “Better management of its production processes, enabled by Interdyne Technology, is positioning Grote and Hartmann to dominate its field of expertise,” he comments.

    “The flexibility of our solutions is the embodiment of our approach to solving business problems – the solution must fit the customer, and not the other way around. With Grote and Hartmann, we have provided a system that increases the value of its supply chain, ultimately positioning the organisation to become more profitable,” Styger concludes.


    Project control never looked this good

    Project management has been around forever – but physical project control has largely been ignored, until now according to Albert Styger, MD of Johannesburg-based software company Agile Software. Project control cuts through the morass of administration generally associated with projects by monitoring the diverse physical elements which can make or break a project and then optionally automatically updating existing project management software.

    Project control is a boon to anyone who has ever seen their profits eroded by sub-contractor issues and sloppy use of internal resources, or battled to get a clear picture of a project’s status amidst the mountain of administration.

    What’s more, project control software makes project management infinitely easier by providing a single point of entry into the project control system, whether dealing with site preparation progress, the status of sub-contractors, tracking internal resources, customer billing and overall profitability.

    “Project control, or physical control, is not sexy by any stretch of the imagination. But it goes to the heart of the success of any project, which is where project management alone often falls short,” says Styger.

    The difference between project management and project control is simple, says Styger. Project management is the discipline of managing the various components of a successful project. Project control works with the hands-on execution of these project components and the physical use of resources in the process – and can then update the Project Management System, thereby sharply reducing Project Administration time.

    “Project management is great at providing the proverbial “helicopter view”, but it can’t tell you why a sub-contractor is running late, or what the state of a site is, and provide you the detail of the project component, allowing you to take remedial before the project is compromised.” says Styger.

    “Project control also allows you to collect and control every cost associated with a project and store it within the project with integration to the company General Ledger. This is a big departure from physically controlling costs manually and then laboriously capturing each entry into many different General Ledger accounts for reporting. Project performance, profitablility and history are stored for use by management. Quoting on similar project can be made easier by merely referring to history of previous work done and verifying any cost over-runs, poor sub-contractor performance and any other number of physical tasks that occurred during the duration of the project that could be a factor when doing new work.”

    Interdyne is something of a maverick in the enterprise software industry for a number of reasons. For a start, its software runs everywhere. Secondly, as Styger will tell you gleefully, it is completely customised to its customers’ way of working: “We say to our customers, how do you work? Then we’ll make our software work for you, and not the other way round.” Interdyne’s unique technology allows for these software changes to leave the underlying core of the system unaffected, allowing for upgrades to newer versions.

    A third reason for the company’s burgeoning reputation for succeeding where others fail is that it sticks to its knitting. It plays in markets it understands, and caters for the mass production & distribution; supply and maintain; project control and rental management markets.

    So why did nobody think of this before? They did, says Styger. They just priced themselves out of the reach of the mid-market, which is where Interdyne – the name refers to a precise measurement - is finding rich pickings with its common-sense business approach to technology.


    Agile Software specialists in computerised production control

    Manufacturing Resource Planning (MRP), Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) and Supply Chain Management (SCM) implementations have in the past had extremely high failure rates leaving customers disillusioned and sceptical with regards to computerising their manufacturing or production processes. Agile Software, a local supply chain management (SCM) software developer and preferred IBM Independent Software Vendor (ISV), specialises in computerising manufacturing processes in companies that have never successfully computerised Production Control before either due to legacy issues or failed implementation.

    According to Albert Styger, MD of Agile Software, the failure of these implementations can largely be attributed to the fact that the majority of solutions offered on the local market are developed for and aimed at European or US high volume companies. In trying to force their solutions onto the local market in a one size fits all approach they are burdening the companies with unnecessarily complicated and difficult to administer systems – leading to a high failure rate. In most cases the solutions offered by these companies are complex, rigid and instead of simplifying the process merely complicate the entire operation.

    Interdyne has moved to streamline these systems and through a dedicated SCM solution is able to provide consistent return on investment (ROI). “One of our key business philosophies is that the software works the way our customers do. Through an in-depth understanding of our customers’ market we are ideally positioned to offer a solution that is guaranteed to reduce fixed administrative costs, simplify the manufacturing and production processes and provide real-time updates at any given time,” says Styger.

    “Customers are demanding systems that are easy to implement and use,” continues Styger. “It’s also crucial that a supply chain in these environments is responsive and acts immediately to any given change and this is especially applicable in the short lead-time and jobbing markets.”

    To minimise the barriers to entry the software has been specifically designed to make maximum use of legacy hardware while exploiting the latest generation of devices available. This minimises initial hardware investment and allows for a gradual evolution to newer technology, while Interdyne’s skilled consultants, who have an intimate knowledge of how the systems work, the market conditions and challenges are at hand to handle the implementation.

    Through its focus on niche vertical markets Interdyne has been able to customise the processes and demands of key industries such as Fabrication; Mass Production; Gearboxes and Motors; Electronic and Electromechanical and industries requiring a strong project control solution. Experience gained in these industries by the consultants adds significantly to the added-value that Interdyne prides itself on while implementing its software.

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