Battery and storage media manufacturer Maxell is using
its UK IT team to help roll out enterprise resource planning
systems to its global operations as part of a worldwide
implementation of ASW software from IBS.
The ability of the ASW system to cope with accounting standards
across the world meant that implementing it has cost about a third
of what it would have cost to use software from a larger ERP
supplier, said Martyn Lloyd, European IT manager at Maxell. It has
also been cheaper to support.
"In the beginning we were quite surprised that a little-known
software company could meet our requirements in every country. Some
other suppliers had problems with finances in some locations, but
ASW covered accounting practices in all countries," Lloyd said.
Maxell, which has global sales of £1bn a year, made the decision
to go global with ASW in 2004 and expects to finish the
implementation next year. The UK has been a model for the roll-out
since the system was first used in this country in 2000.
After success with ASW in the UK, the company decided to
standardise at a European level, which was completed in 2004. "We
wanted to have a common system for Europe and were struggling with
the existing systems in some countries," said Lloyd.
Because Maxell factories are highly standardised, the IT team in
the UK has been able to apply its experience in the European and
global implementations.
Following the European implementation, Maxell decided to go
worldwide with ASW, rather than try to upgrade the software it had
been using in the Far East. The system has gone live in Malaysia
and Hong Kong, and it will go live in Shanghai and Mexico in the
next few months.
In Europe, the system has already delivered business benefits,
Lloyd said. "We have reduced staff in offices as the administration
is easier and orders can be processed more quickly," he said. The
company also hopes to reduce inventory using the IBS system, Lloyd
added.