Fragmented and incomplete information drive the need for change
Tesla Blatná had historically relied on a number of unintegrated systems for its main processes, such as production, sales, finance, and time and attendance, with related information often being stored across several disparate systems. Accessing all relevant data therefore consequently required manual data consolidation and in circumstances when employees could not access all the relevant systems, information was obtained through intermediaries, often in a distorted form. Furthermore, this fragmented approach did not support business processes that the company required. This resulted in Tesla Blatná continually facing the challenges of a lack of visibility regarding the actual cost of individual products, the possibility of late deliveries due to delayed material procurement, excessive inventory costs, as well as a lack of strategically important information, most notably with regards to pricing and production capacity planning.
The company recognised it needed support for its inven- tory management and to integrate its production capacity planning with its open sales transactions and sales forecasts. Without a significant change to its existing business information systems, the company knew it would lose its competitiveness. A decision was therefore taking to search for a single, fully-integrated, ERP solution that would meet all the company’s many requirements.
The winning solution and project objectives
After a thorough tendering process, QAD ERP was selected by Tesla as it offered the best cost-to-functionality value as well as very good support for the company’s production processes, job orders, job order operations, job order structure, and detailed production planning and monitoring. “The scope of the proposed solution covered all our needs including workflow, attendance and payroll, meal plans, EDI, CRM, and B2B modules,” says Milan Klukner, ERP Support Officer in Tesla Blatná, about the choice of the QAD ERP system. He continues, “It is also helpful that the system is built on standard processes that can be customised to suit the customer’s requirements. This provides the detailed support for we need for our production processes and was also crucial for our decision.”
The primary objectives of the project were to consolidate multiple information systems into a single unified solution, simplify controlling and cost monitoring, mainly in production, and also to streamline production planning, management and monitoring. In addition, the company wanted to standardise and unclutter its processes, mainly in the sales and technical arenas, as well as reduce its stock levels and improve management awareness.
Expectations and benefits
The implementation of the QAD ERP solution met the primary expectations of Tesla Blatná. Paper processes were replaced with digital and became quicker, especially so in terms of communica- tion, approvals, comments and decision-making as the awareness of the relevant personnel improved. Further clear benefits were de- livered within a year as the employees became more familiar with the new system routines. These included a significant improvement management access to in-depth information in near real-time, even from areas they are not directly responsible for albeit within their authorisation.
As all the important data can be found in one place, financial control becomes more efficient, as Klukner summarises, “From a global perspective, the QAD ERP solution has provided a significantly higher level of detail of information about the core activities of the company and this is now also available to a much wider range of people. Performance and compliance with norms can be monitored in detail and we can now at last optimise pricing and promote profitability by having a detailed knowledge of the exact cost of the goods. In addition, electronic product testers have also been connected to the ERP system.” When it comes to the ben- efits of working with Minerva, Klukner is equally forthright, “What we value most about working with Minerva is their reliability as well as their helpfulness.”
