SAP Business ByDesign - another leading SAP ERP system from Teamsoft APA Facade Systems, worldwide experts in the manufacture of high-quality facade systems, describe the ease with which Teamsoft implemented the world-class SAP Business One ERP system for their business.
Financial Controller Lee Clohessy was impressed with how Teamsoft excelled in planning and managing the project from the outset. Teamsoft’s detailed approach resulted in an implementation that went to plan with no surprises along the way and a world-class system that lived up to its billing.
The Company
APA Facade Systems, manufacturers of high-quality facade systems for the global market.
APA Facade Systems is a leading manufacturer of high-performance aluminium profiles for windows, doors and facade systems since 1975. With over 40 employees in offices in Dublin, Leeds, London & Boston, they sell to the Irish, UK, European and North American construction markets.
The Challenge
Having used a legacy ERP system for many years, APA now needed to move to a more modern and well-supported system that could provide the tools they needed to continue to drive the business forward.
A fundamental requirement of new ERP system was the ability to integrate with an industry-specific design and costing system, to improve workflow and efficiencies.
Due to the complex and high-end quality nature of their business, this transition needed to both fulfil a demanding set of criteria and be seamless so as not to interrupt business operations.
They required a system that allowed them to do as much of the implementation as possible themselves in-house to keep the cost of the project to a minimum.
Why SAP Business One from Teamsoft
“Teamsoft and SAP Business One ticked all the boxes” – Lee Clohessy
APA Facade Systems’ financial controller Lee Clohessy was tasked with assessing the leading ERP systems in the market.
SAP Business One fulfilled all APA’s rigorous requirements:
- Ability to choose parts to implement themselves
- Flexibility to make changes themselves at any time
- Exceptionally strong reporting options
- Ease of integration with their third-party specialist system
After extensive research and evaluation, he found that SAP Business One fulfilled all their rigorous criteria. It also had the added advantage that the client could choose the parts of the implementation that they wished to carry out themselves.
He found that alternative systems were either “one size fits all” or were systems that needed costly development to be tailored to their requirements. In contrast, SAP Business One had the flexibility to allow him to make changes himself.
Lee found that SAP Business One was exceptionally strong on reporting options and would give him the ability to run reports without the additional cost of having them developed.
The ease of integration provided by SAP Business One fulfilled the essential requirement to integrate with their specialist design and costing system.
What Teamsoft Did
“With Teamsoft there were no surprises. Everyone knew where they stood” – Lee Clohessy
Teamsoft started by gaining an understanding of the APA business and used this knowledge to map out how the company’s business processes would be aligned within SAP Business One.
They then planned each step in the implementation project so that everyone involved knew their tasks and responsibilities.
Lee found this particularly helpful as it kept everyone on track with checklists and timelines and it meant there were no surprises, which was in contrast with implementations he has been involved with before.
He also found that the flexibility of the SAP Business One system and the Teamsoft approach meant that he could choose parts of the implementation he felt comfortable doing himself, while Teamsoft provided guidance and assistance at all stages. This refreshing approach to system implementation made it extremely cost-effective.
The Benefits of SAP Business One for APA
“The difference before and after is like night and day” – Lee Clohessy
Lee feels he now has a business management system in place that gives him the tools to manage and control the business in a far superior way than he had before.
How SAP Business One has improved APA’s operations:
- Superior tools to manage and control the business
- Design and run reports on demand
- Duplicate manual data entry has been eliminated
- Integration means automation
- UK HMRC ‘Making Tax Digital’ compatible
Instead of spending time pulling information together as he had previously, he can spend this time looking at the information provided by the system and making decisions based on it. He also has the ability to design and run reports from any section of SAP Business One on demand, using the knowledge of the system he gained from Teamsoft.
With the integration between SAP Business One and their industry-specific design and costing system, APA can now eliminate a huge amount of duplicate data that previously had to be input manually into two separate systems.
The data flow between the systems means Materials Requirements Planning (MRP), quotations and financials can be automated so that information is always accurate and up to date.
Another bonus is that SAP Business One is compatible with the new UK HMRC ‘Making Tax Digital’ requirements, and their Intrastat returns are now much simpler in relation to their imports and exports.
Conclusion
“Teamsoft respond quickly and know how to get the job done” – Lee Clohessy
Lee has been involved with a number of ERP system implementations in other organisations, which were problematic and lacking when it came to planning and communications.
He found the difference with Teamsoft was how well they set up the structure of the project at the beginning and managed the implementation from start to finish, keeping everything on track.
The in-depth knowledge and reliability of the Teamsoft people, combined with their excellent project management skills, meant it was the most straightforward and efficient system implementation Lee has ever been involved with.
