SAP® BUSINESS ONE

CASE STUDY

Customer: Interlogix

Industry: Transport and Logistics

Products/Services:

Transport broking

Clearing

Forwarding

Project Management

Warehousing

Packing

Unpacking & Lashing

Employees: 22

SAP Solution:

SAP Business One

Boyum IT - Usability Pack

SAP Business One Users: 16

Previous System: Pastel Partner & Eureka

Website: www.interlogix.co.za

Interlogix, a freight forwarding company with a

head office near Durban Harbour, specialises in

mining equipment and transport in and around

South Africa. The first Interlogix company was

established in 1999. It served as a fully licensed

clearing and forwarding business to complement

the management services of TLD Transport (Pty)

Ltd (est. 1981). This grouping worked extremely

well as the Interlogix and TLD teams partnered in

many large projects in and around Sub-Saharan

Africa.

In 2006, TLD Transport was sold but, by that time, Interlogix had recruited a formidable array of other transporters who more than adequately filled the gap left by TLD Transport.

Through this growth and expansion, basic accounting and multiple unconnected systems hindered the effective functioning of the company. There were two systems, one for filing and one for accounts, which increased complexity and account management time. “Fewer, more capable solutions are the way forward. Less is more! The ability to customise and reduce records ultimately sped up the capturing of data, significantly increasing our reporting capabilities and business intelligence.” Thomas Sage, Financial Director, Interlogix.

The decision to go with SAP Business One as the solution to help them reach ultimate efficiency arose from the realisation that their current accounting system was not up to scratch. SAP Business One satisfied all their needs and was able to provide them with extras that they needed. “Pastel was accounting only and it was more cost effective to go with SAP Business One compared to Pastel Evolution. One of our competitors chose that route and it cost them more than our entire SAP implementation,” says Sage.

SAP Business One was a great fit solution with a low total cost of ownership. Risk taking is part of their business and following the herd doesn’t happen often, and they were able to gain a competitive edge by implementing the solution. The decision yielded reduced costs, increased efficiency, and complete integration with all key business functions covered in a single solution.

“Interlogix are the leaders in their industry and have been able to use SAP Business One to grow their business without having to worry about whether the software will support their vision. They have a can-do attitude and have already received great value from the SAP Business One solution,” says Lyall O'Carroll, Bluekey Software Solutions.

The SAP Business One implementation was straightforward, although a great deal of thought and knowledge was put into the customisation of the required shipping module. The bulk of the effort was converting (using a screen customisation tool) the sales opportunities module to a shipping tracking module. By utilising standard functionality in a very clever way, Bluekey was able to take advantage of all the standard reports as well. The shipping module was coupled with financials, business partners and banking, and the Boyum B1 Usability Pack was helpful to customise the layout in every window in SAP Business One.

“A deciding factor was that we really liked the Bluekey team. They were friendly, professional, and informative which made interaction between the companies stress-free. We also enjoy that fact that SAP Business One was able to do the things we required to satisfy our business needs,” says Sage.

Interlogix wanted a system that would be able to grow their business without them having to worry about whether the software would support their vision

“Interlogix made the decision based on wanting a solution that was a proper accounting and ERP

system with which all the industry-specific extras were attainable”

Thomas Sage, Financial Director, Interlogix.

Bluekey specialises in the implementation of SAP Business One, and

with more than 200 implementations and multiple awards should

be your partner of choice!

We offer a total solution, from networking through data take-on and

system setup to management reporting. Our business is to make

your business more productive and profitable – through the

implementation of the best software technologies.

With more than 33 000 customer’s world-wide, the benefits of choosing a tried, tested, reliable and reputable SAP ERP solution designed specifically with SME’s in mind saw Interlogix improving business processes almost immediately:

Bad book debt is much easier to maintain with increased control and visibility

The previous system provided too much ‘wriggle room’ and SAP Business One provided the security, control and ease of use required

Increased productivity through time saving led to better customer relations

Payment runs, reconciliations and standard accounting tasks were performed far quicker than previously and in a more logical, intuitive way

Renewed faith in reporting as they now have the transparency and access to the up-to-date business data required to make educated and informed business decisions

Throughout the implementation of SAP Business One, certain stereotypes and perceptions of SAP were broken. Sage says, “SAP Business One is far more cost effective than we were led to believe. It has surprisingly low on-going costs. It was cheaper than the competitors and far easier to implement.”

SAP Business One is designed for SME’s as SAP Business Suite (R3) is designed for LE’s. There is big difference in terms of ease-of-use, price and sophistication between these two solutions. Interlogix was pleasantly surprised as they were led to believe that SAP is too big, too expensive, and too complicated, which through their experience with SAP Business One proved to not be the case.

SAP Business One is an affordable and easy-to-use business management software solution designed specifically for small and midsize enterprises (SME’s). It enables you to manage critical business functions in a single integrated business management system. With SAP Business One, you can instantly access complete and up-to-the-minute business information, so you can respond to customers faster and grow your business more profitably.

SAP Business One helps you bring sales, financial management, banking, purchasing, manufacturing, inventory management, customer relationship management and more all under one flexible, responsive system.

Johannesburg | Cape Town | Durban | Nairobi | Dar es Salaam

Tel: Freecall 080-BLUEKEY

email: info@bluekey.co.za website: www.sapone.co.za

“Fewer, more capable solutions are the way forward: less is more!”