2004 - ANDRITZ Vertical volute pumps

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GLOBAL SERVICES/ACTIVITIES
BUSINESS PROCESS MANAGEMENT
BUSINESS
PROCESS
MANAGEMENT
The strong growth of the Andritz Group over the
years has added a wide variety of organizational
procedures and IT systems. This creates a challenge
for inter-company integration of Business
Areas, which is an increasingly important goal. In
2002, Andritz established a centralized function to
focus on these issues and to standardize essential
business processes where needed. This includes
the implementation of the business processes
within a common IT structure.
Need for a Group Enterprise Resource
Planning (ERP) system
A detailed study within Andritz identified several
different and local ERP systems in use. Most of
those systems had been used for a number of
years and do not fulfill the long-term requirements
of the Andritz Group. Given the global activities of
the Business Areas, the Andritz Group made the
decision to change to a global ERP system.
ASAP – Andritz towards global SAP
Following the decision to establish one global
ERP system and after choosing the vendor (SAP),
a project was established under the name of ASAP
(Andritz towards global SAP). The project was
officially started at the end of the First Quarter of
2004.
Since then, about 50 team members have been
working on the definition and harmonization of the
ASAP Business Processes. The task has been to
determine how the essential business processes
– from sales and project execution to procurement,
manufacturing, service, and finance – will be
supported by SAP in the future.
Goals of the new ERP system
The main goal of the new Andritz Global ERP
system is to support the business activities as
efficiently as existing systems do today, with the
added advantage of being able to function globally
for all Andritz organizations. This global system
ANDRITZ 2004
will facilitate Group integration, common global
business, integration of new acquisitions, and
organizational flexibility.
The global ERP system will enable global
resource sharing, reduction of inventories, pooling
of functions (i.e. accounting, purchasing, etc.),
automation of inter-company business, and
improved financial overview and reporting. Risks
– and therefore costs – for IT system operation are
expected to decrease since there will be just one
global system to be maintained and updated.
It is anticipated that the global ERP system will
result in improved customer service, which will give
Andritz a competitive advantage.
Major project steps
After defining the relevant business processes,
the ASAP team began implementing them within
the SAP system in June 2004. Approximately
80% of the processes were finalized in 2004.
At the end of 2004, the new ERP system had its
first test – integrating all the related business transactions
of an existing customer project, including
service orders. The test was successful.
So as not to disrupt daily business more than
absolutely necessary, the ERP system will be
established step-wise over a period of six years.
Each location is being staged for implementation
based upon when their existing systems would be
in need of replacement.
Beginning March 2005, the ASAP team will
focus on Finland where outdated systems will be
replaced and SAP will be implemented for about
420 users. This is the first rollout of the system. It
is planned to begin implementation in China at the
end of 2005 and move to North America, where
most of the old systems will be replaced in the
course of 2006.