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Ramco OnDemand ERP Supports Fast-growing Trading Company in its Fight forMarket Share

Company Name: Kapico Auto 1 Headquarters: Coimbatore – Tamil Nadu (In Kuwait—KAPICO Group Holding Co.) Industry: AutomobileProducts and Services: Tyres, Tubes and FlapsWebsite: www.kapicogroup.com

ABOUT THE COMPANY

Imagine being trapped in a vehicle that took you to your destination in record time at breakneck speed! You’d love the fact that you were getting to your destination faster but you’d hate the fact that the control was not in your hands. That’s exactly how Kapico Auto 1 felt when they found their dream outrunning their vision.

KAPICO Auto1 is the sole authorized agent in India for Nexen tyres. They are into the tyre distribution business. Currently, they import tyres and sell it to distributors across India. Their head office is located at Coimbatore. Regional offices are located at Cochin, Hyderabad, Bangalore, Bhiwandi, Ahmedabad and Jaipur.

IT HELPS LAY A FIRM FOUNDATION FOR ITS OPERATIONS

When Kapico Auto 1 decided to make its debut in the booming automobile market, its key manaers knew that in order to grow in this immensely competitive environ-ment, they had to give the company a head start. A strong and robust IT foundation to streamline operations and business processes proved to be the perfect launch pad.

Kapico Auto began their Indian operations in 2008 by setting up a Head Office in Coimbatore. They are the sole authorized dealer for Nexen tyres in India. As the market for the product grew, an ERP implementation became indispensable.

THE SHIFT TO ERP

Kapico Auto had plans to expand its business in India. “We knew we would be requiring pan-India marketing offices, and hence we were looking for an ERP system on the SaaS model,” says Mr. Satheesh, Deputy Manager. After a lot of deliberation and product comparisons, Mr. Jolly George IT Group Head, decided to opt for RODE (Ramco OnDemand ERP). The company wanted to implement an ERP system that could streamline and systematize its distribution system and also let it track the sales of a particular product in a specific region. “Apart from this, Kapico Auto specifically wanted to find out which of its products were amongst the fastest moving. Considering these requirements, the Ramco ERP solution suited us,” says Mr. Satheesh.

BUT WHY A SAAS-BASED ERP SOLUTION?

When a company—big, small or medium sized —decides to put its systems on a SaaS model, it is because of the inherent benefits that a SaaS model brings along with it. “Firstly, having an ERP run on SaaS helps in getting rid of all the physical infrastructure costs of installing and later maintaining the systems,” says Mr. Satheesh.

“Since the CAPEX of a SaaS model is very low, and also because we didn't have big IT budgets, we opted for the on-demand model of ERP. Apart from this, in a SaaS model, most applications are delivered over the Internet, and are managed by the vendor. The system also allows users to work on different software functionalities without having to bother about installing additional hardware or software."

The functions covered under the ERP system at Kapico Auto include standard modules on inventory, procure-ment and sales management, financials, warranty man-agement and reporting. There is also a special module dedicated to providing MIS Reports. According to Ms. Sundari, Head Implementation, Ramco Systems, “This feature allows decision makers to 'measure, monitor and manage' their business objectives and assess their progress over a period of time.”

THE NEED FOR CUSTOMIZATION

Since Kapico Auto had unique warranty management processes, it needed an ERP system that could be molded to adapt to the needs of the organization. The Ramco ERP system was thus customized to address these needs.

Mr. Satheesh explains in detail how RODE fits the company’s requirements like a glove: Tuned to the needs of KAPICO AUTO's distribution system: Kapico Auto follows a 'direct to the customer' approach in its distribution policy. There are designated distributors all over the country, who place direct orders with the company.

These distributors are configured as customers in the ERP system and Kapico Auto delivers goods to them. Once an order has been placed and the payment confirmed, goods are dispatched to the distributors. They in turn have employed sellers who take the product further into the market and to the end-consumer.

Information on how a product travels, from the time an order is placed until it reaches the distributors, is fed into the ERP system.

“We provide solutions till the customer stage (in this case, the distributors).

The data on how a product is further distributed by the distributors to sellers is currently being captured on the online secondary sales portal,” says Mr. Satheesh.

Inventory management: Perhaps one of the most impor-tant factors for an automobile company is to manage its inventory well. Naturally, this was of great importance to Kapico Auto as well.

Since distributors place orders directly with the company, Kapico Auto needed a mechanism by which it could speculate with relative accuracy, how much it needed to stock up.

Ramco’s ERP system helped to track the inventory movement. The order bookings, dispatches, sales returns, stock left over in the inventory, etc. would be continuously fed into the ERP system. “As soon as a distributor places an order for a product, we are able to evaluate the order and have the product in our inventory well in time,” says Mr. Satheesh.

But did the implementation of this customized ERP solu-tion take time? The entire ERP implementation was com-pleted within 30 days and it has been a fairly easy ride for Kapico Auto. “That's the joy of adopting a SaaS-based solution,” affirms Mr. Satheesh.

The SaaS-based model has helped the company go live with the ERP system, swiftly.

The result is that the company is witnessing improved controls and better management of operations and inventory. The management is also empowered by better decision-making capabilities owing to transparency in systems and the availability of critical information and data in real time, from anywhere and at anytime.

“It is mainly because of this efficiency in operations achieved through the ERP system that the company has been able to grow significantly in the post-ERP era,” avows Mr. Satheesh. He shares the statistics that validate these facts: “At the time of the ERP implementa-tion, Kapico Auto had about 200 appointed distributors across the country. But now, this number has risen to 280.”

Considering how IT adoption has helped Kapico Auto, one can conclude that while an ERP implementation is a very critical step forward for any organization, choosing the right mix is also very crucial in ensuring the success of the IT implementation and that of the business itself in the long run. A company needs to have a vision of what it hopes to expect from the implementation. Since Kapico Auto had a well laid out IT implementation strat-egy and a clear idea about the kind of IT solution that it wanted to adopt, the implementation is yielding impres-sive results.

Going forward, we hope the firm continues its tryst with IT and scales new summits of success!

CAN RAMCO DO IT FOR YOU?

Of course it can! To find out more on how RAMCO can be stretched (or shrunk) to answer your need, call 1800 425 6667.

QUICK FACTS Plan centralized procurement to adapt to varying demands

offices/franchisees

to be procured

performance

franchisees

IMPLEMENTATION HIGHLIGH

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» Customer aging » Branch-wise sales comparison » Net cash flow for month and year

» Sales vs. collections

-rated in the business processes, based on increased

project activity within a day’s notice

flow projections

WHY RAMCO’S SOLUTIO

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requirement

BENEFITS Ability to track inventory at tier

2 level, leading to a lean and optimized inventory

take faster decisions

» On-time payment leads to vendor satisfaction

» On-time delivery leads to customer satisfaction

of advance

branches/franchisees

OBJECTIVES

operational control

details

decision-making

channels/franchises

EXISTING ENVIRONMEN

T

Non-integrated information systems

(Tally)

CHALLENGES & OPPORTUNITIES

Disclaimer: Information subject to change. Exact offerings, features, benefits, etc. may vary inStandard and Enterprise editions and for customers based on their individual requirements.

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