Sunway Group (SAP Business Suite)

To ensure competitiveness and optimize management processes, companies are actively implementing business applications that allow them to effectively manage all enterprise resources.

The direct implementation of the information system is preceded by a whole range of work on the design, construction and implementation of the corresponding infrastructure solution, on the successful completion of which the further functioning of the IP largely depends. It is important that the created IT infrastructure takes into account the requirements of the customer's business and provides the necessary functionality of the implemented business application. Only in this case, the effect of the implementation will be maximum, and the investment will pay off in the shortest possible time.

The most expedient in this case is the implementation by one executor of a complex turnkey project, which includes the implementation with subsequent maintenance of the information system and work on building an infrastructure solution. It is this approach in business automation that was used by Microtest in the project for the implementation of the integrated SAP system at Sunway Group.

In recent years, the Sunway Group business has experienced rapid development, accompanied by significant diversification of activities. This naturally led to a change in organizational and functional structure. The speed of changes has led to a significant increase in the number of business processes used. In addition, the costs of managing a large number of legal entities included in the Sunway Group significantly increased, and an effective tool for overall group management was required. The need to maintain manageability with rapid growth required the ability to quickly calculate many cost items and the overall profitability of some types of business.

In 2006, in order to improve transparency and reduce costs throughout the product lifecycle, Sunway Group management decided to dramatically revise its management principles, rebuild and optimize business processes. The practices included in the SAP Business Suite were chosen as the standard for doing business. This choice was due to the high efficiency of using SAP products in large and geographically distributed companies, the availability in the system of all the necessary functionality and possibilities of unlimited scaling as the business grows and the company needs.

Decision

The main requirement of the customer was to obtain a complete turnkey solution, built and supported by one executor. To effectively solve the problems of Sunway Group, Microtest proposed a comprehensive project, including:

• audit and analysis of business processes,
• building and standardizing existing and designing new business processes,
• Optimizing business processes according to SAP standards
• development of the implementation concept,
• Creating an infrastructure solution for SAP
• Design, develop, and implement solutions based on the SAP Business Suite.

At the first stage of work, Microtest specialists conducted a comprehensive analysis of all business processes and interaction schemes used in the Sunway Group. Based on the results of the work, a conceptual design for the implementation of SAP Business Suite was developed for all areas of activity and all Sunway Group companies.

The implementation of the system was divided into several independent projects. The first of these - automation of the company's transport business - was chosen as a pilot zone. Currently, at the head office of the company, the transport solution has already been put into commercial operation. Until the end of 2007, it will be replicated to all regional divisions of the Sunway Group.

For this project, Microtest has developed its own universal solution that is fully adapted to the needs of diversified enterprises of various profiles. The solution is currently being certified by SAP, which will confirm its status.

The second project implemented as part of the integrated automation strategy is the implementation of the SAP Business Suite management system in an autonomous group of companies in Ecuador, which is the main production center of the Sunway Group. The prerequisites for the implementation of the system in this part of the business were the need for integrated management of all companies included in the holding, as well as quality management and cost reduction at each stage of production and supply of products. In addition, the system was supposed to support the management of capital invested in production directly from the parent enterprise of Sunway Group, located in St. Petersburg.

Within the framework of this project, the management of banana production (cultivation, fumigation (fertilizer) and other related processes), packaging (sorting and packaging of products, autonomous logistics processes), transportation of products to the port before loading products onto the ship will be automated. In addition, the functionality of managing the quality of banana production will be implemented, including on the basis of certification of production.

In particular, SAP quality management solutions are designed to ensure that the quality of products meets all standards adopted in the banana business. One of the tasks that the system will help solve is to determine the field activities to improve the quality of products based on the analysis of the collected data. In addition, thanks to accounting at each stage of production, the company will be able to assess the real percentage of low-quality products. Another important task that the system will solve is to optimize the cost of fumigation, which includes the maintenance of its own fleet, maintenance of aircraft and runways. The SAP Maintenance and Repair solution integrated with the overall corporate management system will be used for this purpose.

Currently, Microtest specialists have already completed a survey of enterprises in Ecuador and have begun implementing a solution developed taking into account all the country characteristics of the business. For the correct management accounting and universal generation of management reporting, the local specifics of doing business, accounting and tax policies, and the legislative framework were studied. In particular, the system will implement functionality that supports the Anglo-Saxon type of accounting and a memorial-warrant record of transactions, based on the legislation of Ecuador and completely not typical for Russia. The functionality of the system includes tools for the correct transformation and consolidation of data in those sections that are needed by the parent enterprise. This will allow the management of Sunway Group to quickly receive the required management reports and make decisions based on current data to better manage financial resources. A productive start of the implemented solution is scheduled for early 2008.

Achieved result

Microtest, together with Sunway Group, conducted a preliminary assessment of the business results achieved after the implementation of a corporate system based on SAP technologies:

• Increase in profit due to cost optimization and, as a result, decrease in product cost ~ 15-20%
• Reduction of working capital in stocks due to optimization of commodity chains ~ 35-45%
• Reduce product insurance stocks by implementing optimal planning methods ~ 40-50%
• Reduce cost of product storage equipment by optimizing storage capacity ~ 20-30%