ERP2 is a vital component
The Unipart Group of Companies is one of Europe's leading
independent logistics, automotive parts and accessories
companies.
Established in 1987 following a management buy-out, it was
recently listed as one of the top ten largest private companies in
the UK. During this time it has become a name respected worldwide
for its progressive policies and forward-looking approach to
business.
Unipart use SAP to support their business and there are up to
20,000 new transactions on the system every week. These
transactions span a wide range of business areas including
materials management, classifications, transport groups, weights
and dimensions, plants, stock and purchasing to name but a few.
The data entry requirements for each transaction are subject to
frequent change. Unipart's data was all uploaded either manually or
using other toolsets.
'We have used other toolsets in some of our processes,
but you need to be very technical to work with them effectively.
We're responsible for getting our data into SAP but we're not
technical people. We needed an easy way of uploading data. We were
also starting to get backlogs of work because the processes we were
using were too manually intensive and slow' says Sue
Brooks from Unipart.
Unipart's data input mechanism resulted in real financial loss
in terms of time taken to get the job done, and their ability to
react to mass data changing needs was severely impaired. Another
immeasurable side effect of manual data input is data cleanliness,
since manual input is prone to error and this can have a disastrous
and expensive effect on any business.
What Unipart needed was a non-technical and versatile data
integration tool that would enable them to upload many unique
transactions into SAP quickly and accurately. ERP² from Quadrate
has allowed them to do just that.
"Before ERP², getting our data into SAP was a very
time-consuming job." says Sue Brooks. "Quadrate
has speeded up that process for us. ERP² is brilliant. It's very
easy to use and requires no programming skills at all. It saves us
a tremendous amount of time and also reduces errors - which is a
must because data is king."
ERP² has allowed Unipart to drastically cut down the time
required to get data into their system, giving them the power to
adjust quickly to ever-changing requirements.
Time saved
"The increased data accuracy is a huge benefit. If you
get your data wrong at the start of the process it impacts every
single person involved in that process. The knock-on effect from
having incorrect data in our system is huge. It's too important to
get wrong and ERP² makes sure it never goes wrong. Quite simply, I
wouldn't like to do my job without ERP²", says Sue Brooks
from Unipart.
The creation of material masters is just one example of how
Unipart used ERP².
As Unipart has a SAP system for each of their customers, they
are responsible for all the data input. One of their customers
requires the creation of thousands of new material masters on a
regular basis. Using ERP², they are now able to quickly and easily
perform an otherwise arduous and lengthy task.
Data quality
Data quality improves dramatically by using ERP² because all
manual errors are eliminated. Furthermore, the simple ability to
see your data in one spreadsheet makes it easier to spot erroneous
data, allowing for quick correction before uploading into SAP.
Flexibility
Unipart's needs in terms of data uploads change continually.
With ERP², they are able to cater for entirely new requirements
within minutes.
Resource reallocation
With business users being able to perform their own data
uploads, Unipart's information technology team have been able to
focus their expensive resources on other important jobs.
ERP² from Quadrate is a data upload product that makes the
process of uploading data into SAP quicker, cheaper, easier and
more accurate. It is used in all scenarios, from implementation
work (such as moving data from legacy systems) to transactional
data uploads and use in support teams. In fact, almost anywhere
data needs to go in SAP, ERP² can make that process more
efficient.
Qubed from Quadrate is a data download product that makes
the process of extracting data from SAP quicker, cheaper, easier
and more accurate. It is used for ad hoc data queries as well as
for creating standard reports. Both products are designed for
non-technical as well as technical audiences.