The airline "Eyre Astana" implements a corporate management system and planning

Background

Till 2010 Air Astana worked without uniform ERP system. The implemented OEBS replaced SunSystems (in it the Ledger was implemented before), developments for payroll calculation and personnel management. Nevertheless, in parallel with ERP in the company there is a large number of the specialized aviation systems. For example, it is Trax for engineering facilities and (working with the module FM OEBS) Monalisa for management of finance of airline.

System Selection

Tender at the choice of the supplier of ERP took place in January-February, 2010. 5 local system integrators took part in it. Two of them offered ERP Oracle, two more SAP and, at last, the fifth left with Microsoft Dynamics Nav, the vice president for IT and e-commerce of Air Astana Chamindra Lenava told CNews.

Shareholders, by words Lenava, did not insist on specific ERP (the company transfers financial data from the management system in Samruk-Kazyna) and Air Astana was free in the choice.

The tender won the BAS system integrator (Business Applications Solutions) created 2 years ago in which about 100 employees work now. It is private company which is owned by citizens of Kazakhstan, the chairman of the board of her directors Medet Rakhimbayev told CNews. For the BAS project in airline did not become the first - before there were implementations of the same ERP in several banks of Kazakhstan.

It is interesting that Air Astana British Peter Foster, and CIO of Chamindra Lenava airline – the native of Sri Lanka directs. Possibly, with respect thereto, from the contractor the English-speaking manager - Jeff Kraytri was appointed the project manager.

Start

Key project tasks became:

• creation of the integrated system connecting all functional areas of activity of the company;
• optimization organizational and workflows; growth of efficiency and performance;
• increase in availability and accuracy of management information;
• observance of directives of JSC Samruk-Kazyna and principles of corporate management;
• improvement of operational transparency, control and forecasting.

The important requirement to the project was overcoming restrictions of the existing systems and also integration into a uniform information field of processes of supply, conducting inventory accounting, management of finance and human resources.

Solution

The customer purchased 95 licenses for the financial module ORBS (FM), 54 for purchases (procurement, PM), 3 thousand HR licenses (here the functionality provides independent work of employees so the quantity matches their number) and 10 on Hyperion, Roman Bogdashkin, the IT manager told CNews to AirAstana business systems.

Peter Foster said that the system integrator received about $600 thousand for performance of work, and Chamindra Lenava explained CNews that total costs of the project (taking into account software licenses and small purchase of the hardware, first of all for data storage) made $1.4 million.

The single corporate system of enterprise resource planning which is the central komponenty IT strategy of the company is built. Implementation of the version of the Oracle E-Business Suite R12 complex is complete in record time - within 9 months.

The solution allowed to optimize business processes in key fields of activity of airline. A main objective of the project - ensuring effective management of the company according to requirements of shareholders, specifics of the aviaindustry and need of work with a set of information streams.

Results

According to the plan, the Oracle E-Business Suite R12 system is brought into commercial operation in the spring of 2011. As tools for automation of budget planning and the analysis of budget implementation Hyperion Planning Oracle applications were used. Project duration was 9 months. The project team consisted of employees Eyre Astany and Business Applications Solutions LLP, the Platinum partner of Oracle and the general contractor. Audit of implementation was performed by Oracle.

Air Astana announced input in commercial operation of a number of modules of the last 12th version of Oracle E-Business Suite (OEBS). In ERP work of financiers, department of supply and HR department is automated, there takes place payroll calculation and an inventory control is kept.

Let's remind that among large Russian airlines on OEBS S7 stopped. As the company in 2004 at the beginning of the project stated, ERP had to cover at first 430 jobs in central office, service of supply and a repair zone, and further to extend on management of marketing and sales. Today in S7 could not answer questions of CNews of the project course. Aeroflot for management of maintenance of courts, budgetings, storages of the normative reference information uses SAP. The airline implements modules of this ERP many years.

Opinions

"It is an excellent example of the successful ERP project not only level of the CIS, but also world, - Valery Lanovenko, the vice president, the chief representative of Oracle noted. – The full-function and difficult implementation caused by specifics of the aviaindustry and need of integration is implemented according to the plan and in the shortest possible time".

"Competent work of a project team, the correct planning and adaptation to unforeseen situations, accurate determination of roles, duties and purposes were a guarantor of the fact that the large-scale project was implemented in 9 months, - told Medet Rakhimbayev, the chairman of the board of directors of Business Applications Solutions LLP. - Mutual understanding between business users and the implementing command played the defining role on an equal basis with support of top management of all three parties".

"A priority of Eyre Astana airline are security and comfort in the sky and on the earth. For maintenance of high standards of activity, the national airline performs the innovation projects. In 2010 we implemented schedule system and resource managements of the enterprise – ERP. As the platform was the Oracle E-Business Suite R12 complex is selected. A project objective became optimization of all management processes in our company. And we highly appreciate the received results, - Peter Foster, the president of JSC Air Astana reported. - Important achievement is ensuring transparency of the business flows which are been the basis for accounting. We have long-term plans of development of the corporate information system meeting the requirements of business in today's conditions".