Agricultural Seed Manufacturer

Industry: Manufacturing - Agricultural
Software Package(s): IFS ERP (Financial & Manufacturing)
Background: Agriculture seed manufacturer needed to replace an outdate ERP system
Challenge: The agricultural seed business is very cyclical and the manufacture of seed is difficult to predict. In the current model, demand planning is almost impossible. Unlike those who make a typical product line, seed manufacturers don’t know how much or what variety of seed they will have available to sell until the harvest is complete. The order cycle consists of ordering seed in the October with delivery not until April or May of the following year. Orders and forecasts are revised several times through that period of time.
Solution: An ASE was conducted and the recommendation to purchase and implement IFS was approved. Based upon the component based nature of the applications, and the flexibility of the modules that reduced the required modifications, IFS came closest to meeting the specific business requirements unique to their business. The client purchased the complete financial and manufacturing package solutions.

The final solution also included an interface to an existing shop floor package, which provided scanning on the shop floor which is specific to the seed manufacture business. The project team consisted of New Resources, client, IFS, and resources from a third party bolt on product. The project was implemented using the IFS AIM implementation methodology which consists of three distinct phases -- Implementation Study, Implementation, and Go-Live.

The Implementation Study phase consisted of discovery sessions, interviews, and workshops to identify and model the existing business processes. Improvements to business processes were reviewed and approved so the new models could be implemented into the software. In this phase, all modifications were identified, specifications developed, and development time estimated.

The client broke the project into two phases driven by their business cycles. The first phase consisted of only General Ledger and Accounts Payable from the financial applications, and all Manufacturing and a third party bolt on product application modules with the exception of Demand Planning, and MRP. The business decision driving this was the financial year-end for the client, and seasonality of the seed growing and harvesting business. The second phase consisted of remaining financial application modules, Demand Planning, and MRP.

As with any ERP implementation, issues arose through the Implementation and Go-Live phases, however following a structured methodology provided the framework for handling the issues in an organized manner.
Result: The new ERP was selected and implemented on time – a rarity in the world of ERP. The client is now able to integrate their financial and manufacturing applications and has a better handle on the demand planning of their business. With the system improvements, they saved time in processing, money on supporting legacy technology, and improvements to their business planning cycle.
Testimonial: "Our continued success is directly dependent upon the quality of our Partners, and we have been successfully working with New Resources Consulting for several years. Their talent in the areas of Project Management, Business Consulting, and Technical Development has surpassed our expectations, as well as their commitment to our clients. We look forward to a continuing partnership for years to come as we work together to deliver solutions that are "packaged for payback"!"