Industry: Manufacturing (Polypet) Background One of the leading polypet manufacturing enterprise in India wanted to integrate all the

department functions so that the efficiency of the organisation as a whole could be improved. The competition factor in the business environment has made many manufacturing companies to have a strong system in place and many organisations have realised the importance of IT as a strategic tool to achieve competitive advantage, this organisation is one of them. This company wanted to have an effective pre sales module, which could include costing and feasibility till the dispatch of goods. Since the competition is becoming fierce day-by-day, every one wants to be a price leader and wants to increase the customer base and loyalty. For this, enterprise should achieve the least production cost and better quality over other players in this industry. This organisation wanted to integrate various departmental functions and wanted to have a strong Enterprise Resource Planning system in place in order to achieve competitive advantage over others. The Challenge This Industry works backwards (i.e. starts with having packing material ready, then the accessories like cap, label etc., to be ready and then start the manufacturing of the actual jar/ bottle.). The other challenges are with the lead management (Customer Acquisition management) where the leads information is to be captured so that the feasibility analysis could also be done. The production planning process has to be in the reverse manner. The delivery time with schedules and the logistics management was the most challenging solutions that were required. The effectiveness of packing and the load ability of the goods to the Vehicle/Containers were also most complicated. Since these industries provide poly pet packing solutions to original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), its very important to maintain stringent quality standards and delivery time schedules. The importance of matching the demand and supply of OEMs is crucial as the productivity of the clients depends on the material supplied by them. Since the main clients for these industries are OEMs, sometimes the customers supply many of their goods and handling these goods requires special treatment in terms of Inventory Management. Not all are customers are OEMs; these industries will also have their own models or package solutions which can be sold in the market. Hence combination of stock based and made to order manufacturing concept is also prevalent and the ERP system should handle both methods. Machine handling is also important in this industry and this includes not only machines but also the moulds. The life of the moulds and its management, machine performance with maintenance of machines was also to be managed in the system. Overall the system should be flexible and user friendly to incorporate changes in the business process in the future. The Solution Agni Software provided a scalable, integrated ERP Solution so that all the challenges mentioned could be managed. The system is highly integrated to all the different department functions like the Production Department, Purchase Department, Finance and Accounts department, Sales and Marketing department, Machine Maintenance Department, Inventory Management and to the Quality Control Department. Since the system is integrated, all the departments can communicate effectively with no confusions and the efficiency of the organisation is improved.

The following modules were provided to this organisation:

Pre- Sales Module: This module takes care of Leads and activities for a particular lead. This captures required information of leads or prospects like Lead details, source of the lead, Executives follow up details, contact details, profile of the lead (like Business category, Number of employees, credit rating-by the lead vendors, financial details etc.,) product details (enquired product and also products which can be targeted in future) and their current supplier. This information is very useful in terms of Marketing Intelligence. Production Module: This module was designed to handle all the activities of the production department. Tools like Bill of Material (BOM), Production Planning, Work Order, Material Requirement Planning (MRP), Process definition, Program Execution etc., have been provided to optimise the resources and to increase the productivity. Costing Module: The costing module is used extensively in pre sales and for production Purchase Module: Order processing with different schedules, indent generation, Goods Receipt Note (GRN) and purchase invoice have been provided. Inventory Management: As explained earlier management of inventory is very different in these industries, all the required tools have been provided. Sales and Marketing Module: Sales order processing (including Schedules) right from sales quotation to the sales invoice has been designed in the system. Finance and Accounts Module: Accounts Payable (AP), Accounts Receivable (AR), General Ledger (GL), Budgeting, Cost Centres all types of vouchers, Aging Analysis, etc., are some of the features of this module. Also note that since the system is integrated, the sales and purchase transactions are updated in this module. This module also covers TDS and Excise. Machine Maintenance Module: The maintenance of Machine and Tools are handled in this module. Machine performance along with the history of Maintenance, maintenance (Preventive and Breakdown) are also handled in this module. Management Information System (MIS): This is a very important tool for any of the organisation. All the modules have extensive reporting and analysis to help the executives and the management to know the performance of each and every department in general and the organisation as a whole in particular. The system is designed to help to take strategic and tactical decisions of the organisation. QC Module: A simple QC module is designed so that all incoming and despatch goods are of required quality standards and QC for the production. Overall the system provided is simple and flexible and the transactions have been simplified and integrated. The system is able to handle all the challenges in this industry with respect to software. Results The solution provided is simple, scalable, and secure. The organisation is able to see some changes in terms of efficiency of various departments and hopes to see the efficiency of the organisation as a whole in a matter of few months.

Products and Technologies used: Borland Delphi and Interbase Company: Agni Software Private Limited.