The Wrocław-based company Cermag has decided to implement the comprehensive mySAP ERP enterprise management system with the help of IDS Scheer.
Cermag conducts both retail and wholesale sales. It has opted for a comprehensive solution – the project, which has just started, will cover approximately 100 users and almost all departments of the company – finance, controlling, sales and distribution, materials management, and warehousing – located both at the Wrocław headquarters and in the company’s local branches: Legnica, Jelenia Góra, Świdnica, Opole, and Łódź. Experts from Cermag carefully selected both the system itself (mySAP ERP won against its direct competitor – Microsoft’s Axapta) and the implementation partner.
– An IT system for company management is a long-term investment – this explains why we spent so much time looking at various solutions. The system used until now was unable to meet Cermag’s needs, so we were looking for a solution that would not limit us in the future. That is why it is worth investing in proven solutions, such as SAP – says the President of the Management Board of Cermag, Józef Kaczkowski.
– The deciding factor in choosing IDS Scheer was the specific industry knowledge that the company’s consultants gained during a project implemented in a company with a similar profile to ours – adds Mariusz Laczkowski, Chief IT Officer at Cermag.
The wide scope of the mySAP ERP system implementation will allow Cermag to achieve several very important goals at once: reduce operating costs, streamline some processes related to customer service, and implement a very advanced logistics system.
– Warehouse logistics and customer service in showrooms are the most interesting parts of this project. Cermag offers a wide range of services: from a design prepared by an architect, through the delivery of materials specified in the project, to execution. The company has several thousand assortment items, and the specifics of the industry impose additional regimes – for example, tiles must be managed in batches, because individual batches may differ in shade or calibration – says Adam Jamroz, project manager from IDS Scheer.
The implementation schedule is very tight – its first stage began at the end of July this year, and the productive start of this part is scheduled for January 2007.
– In the second stage, we will implement CRM and a data warehouse; we want to get as many benefits as possible from the standard solution, avoiding potential perturbations associated with programming changes – announces Mariusz Laczkowski.