 "SAP ERP Simplifies Decision Making At Encube Ethicals")
Encube Ethicals Private Limited is a well known player in the contract manufacturing of cream, lotion and other derma solutions. The company manufactures these products and supplies it to pharmaceutical companies like Elder pharmaceuticals, Sandoz, Nicholas Piramal and others. The R &D division which is the core division of the company focuses mainly on the development of new formulations, technology transfer and new drug delivery.
The company has deployed SAP ERP ECC 6.0 in order to facilitate quick decision making through the availabilty of real-time data.
Unavailability of real-time data
The non-availability of real time data was posing decision making hurdles before the management. Encube Ethicals was using FoxPro based legacy system which was inefficient in handling the burgeoning demands of the clients and the business.
As Chirag Gandhi, manager, Systems and Projects, Encube Ethicals Private Limited, reinstates, “Our old legacy system was not up to the mark and it was not suitable to handle the growth. It was very difficult for our top level management to take right decisions as the data was not available. We were not able to satisfy our clients’ demands. With the head office in Mumbai and plant at Goa, accessing information from the head office was also a tedious job for the management.”
The company was also facing the heat in terms of streamlining business processes to maintain relations with its partners and suppliers. It was mainly looking for IT rationalisation to create a more flexible, integrated and cost effective infrastructure.
Inputs from clients
Encube Ethicals captured inputs from its clients while zeroing down on an appropriate ERP solution. Afetr careful evaluation, SAP ERP was selected. Coconut Software assisted in the project execution, which was concluded in six months time. Opines Gandhi, “SAP has a strong hold in the SMB segment and the easy maintenance of the systems tempted us to go for it. It took us nearly one and half years to stabilise the whole processes and systems. We have purchased 20 licenses from SAP.”
The company has purchased all the six modules from SAP. The total cost involved in the deployment process was around Rs 1.10 lakh.
Appreciation, a major ROI
The deployment has streamlined the inventory process and transformed the business processes such as demand and supply planning, manufacturing, maintaining cordial relationship with clients, procurement, finance, costing and last but not the least the whole working environment has changed drastically.
“It is not the ROI which we are looking at rather it is the appreciation we are getting from customers, which is important for us. We are into servicing the client so client satisfaction and confidence are valuable for us. Now everything is easy; starting from accessing information on inventory to supply to finance and human resource management,” states Gandhi.
With future plans to connect its plant with the head office, the company is now looking into the connectivity infrastructure and enhancing the capacity for smooth transfer of data.