FI-IMS Fertilizer Industry Information Management System

Transcription

1 FI-IMS Fertilizer Industry Information Management System By: Ashraf Mohammed December 2011

2 Fertilizer Industry Information Management System FI-IMS Fertilizer Industry Information Management System Fertilizer Industry Information Management System (FI-IMS) is a comprehensive data management system that is exclusively designed to support the fertilizer industry. Its capabilities include, but are not limited to Fertilizer Plant Management. FI-IMS is capable of effectively integrating the fertilizer industry data across multiple domains and applications. The data so integrated is free of duplicates, is accurate, clean and in real time. Fertilizer executives, managers and engineers therefore have access to accurate reports and can make key decisions quickly. FI-IMS seamlessly integrates business process across domains, eliminates redundant processes and enables data sharing across multiple applications.fi-ims offers the Fertilizer Industry Information Governance which comprises of best principles, guidelines, rules and policies and acts as an umbrella in transforming the Fertilizer industry to effectively manage their business information to face the challenges of the Information age. The current POINT TO POINT Integration Nightmare Supply Chain Mgt. Procurement Plant Mgt. Enterprise & Planning Planning & Forecast Point to Point Equipment Mgt. ERP Manufacturing HSSE Compliance 1

3 The Negative Impact of Point to Point Integration Based on Master Data Management research and MDM case studies conducted independently by Tq Automation on companies in the fertilizer and agro chemical industries the following findings were made about the negative impact of Point to Point integration in different functional areas which further justifies the need to implement a comprehensive data management system such as FI-IMS. Finance: Longer monthly financial close cycles Inaccurate reports Supply Chain: Uncoordinated global supply chain No consolidated view of purchasing activity Poor production planning Human Resources: Inability to monitor personnel data Reduced worker productivity Marketing: Longer customer setup period Slow product development cycle Slow market analysis IT/Technology: Increased IT maintenance costs Legacy systems unable to meet business needs Manufacturing: Inability to comply with Governance and safety requirements Inefficient plant operations 2

4 FI-IMS HUB AND SPOKE DESIGN: Supply Chain Mgt. Procurement Asset Mgt. Enterprise & Planning Planning & Forecast FI-IMS ERP Equipment & Plant Mgt Manufacturing HSSE Compliance Key Features: FI-IMS is built on the efficient HUB and SPOKE design. Our centrally located FI-IMS hub collects data automatically, cleanses, matches, merges and harmonizes data sparing no duplicates. Our SOA(Service Oriented Architecture) design then allows different applications to use the same set of data, reducing duplication of efforts and improving data consistency FI-IMS transforms data into information which Technical and Managerial staff can use to make quicker decisions in real time which increases business profits. More time is spent using the reports and less time is used to create them FI-IMS is built on latest Microsoft technology. Middleware is embedded in FI-IMS Therefore point to point integration is eliminated and there is significant saving in time and cost FI-IMS can enable clients to achieve faster ROI on its research and bring new products to the market sooner 3

5 FI-IMS is valuable during mergers and acquisitions when after spinning off from the corporate parent; the company needs a data warehouse to support strategic enterprise business analysis FI-IMS can assist companies facing daunting data integration tasks such as: acquiring a major competitor while simultaneously migrating to a customized back-office SAP platform When there is a merger between two large international firms. After the merger, the new companies ability to operate efficiently and make accurate strategic sales decisions depends on creating a single, powerful, integrated IT infrastructure FI-IMS is able to solve this need FI-IMS is capable of providing HR teams effective tools to monitor and manage the HR trends throughout the company FI-IMS can efficiently support expansion to new market locations and ease new product introductions FI-IMS can help clients benefit from e-business by integrating accounting information systems and other chemical inventory management systems FI-IMS can improve resource planning Scenario Before ERP Implementation: Prior to an ERP implementation enterprises are weighed down by multiple silo applications. Each silo application deals with separate functional domains such as Finance, Sales, Marketing, Order Management, Human Resource, Customer Service Plant Management, Engineering, Supply Chain and so forth. These silo applications do not share data with each other in real time As a result master data is replicated and duplicated in each silo Top management and the key decision makers in the enterprise do not have access to a 360 degree, comprehensive view of their business data The different silos of data are not integrated and do not communicate with each other The lack of access to accurate data reports cause delays in decision making, planning and forecasting which translates into increased costs, low productivity and low profitability 4

6 How FI-IMS can ensure a successful ERP Implementation: ERP Limitations How FI-IMS fills in for ERP ERP is rigid and has a limited capacity to be effectively configured and customized. Making too many customizations and over configuring ERP is a major cause for failure of ERP implementations FI-IMS chief strength is its unique IT architecture which allows Enterprise data models to be easily configured according to each source application Another pitfall in ERP implementations is when customers try to use ERP to do the job of Master data management (MDM) FI-IMS includes Master Data Management (MDM). FI-IMS primary job is to provide a 360 degree, pristine, integrated view of Enterprise data across each and every silo application in the enterprise. Another chief reason for the failure of ERP implementations is that business processes and the scenarios around master data are not adequately identified The ERP modules although sold under the same brand name such as SAP ECC & SAP CRM, or Oracle Finance, Oracle People Soft, Oracle JD Edwards etc. are not completely integrated to work together. The underlying data models and designs are different since many of these modules were originally created by independent entities but are currently sold under one umbrella due to mergers and acquisitions. This is another common cause for the failure of ERP implementations. FI-IMS focuses on master data. FI-IMS performs key operations on master data such as cleanse, match, merge, de-duplicate, data hierarchy etc. This ensures that the enterprise s master data is in pristine condition and ERP implementation is successful. FI-IMS is designed to act as a middleman between these different ERP modules. FI-IMS functions as a Hub & becomes a central layer between the different ERP modules.fi-ims effectively translates the business processes and underlying data structure between the different modules and applications. This ensures that the different ERP modules function in harmony with each other and ERP implementation is successful. ERP modules are unable to share data between each other in real time FI-IMS allows 2 way flow of data between different ERP modules and applications. This ensures enterprise data is always current, comprehensive and ensures successful ERP implementation. Even with ERP, enterprises need to add a separate semantic layer in order to make offerings available over the web, partner portals and through mobile devices In traditional ERP implementations, customers find out during the actual implementation process the FI-IMS facilitates and enables cross sell and upsell opportunities by allowing offerings over the web, partner portals and through mobile devices FI-IMS functionality includes MDM. Therefore FI- IMS is easily able to identify data conversion and 5

7 need for MDM. When they try to add on MDM concepts it results in failed ERP implementations,since ERP is not specifically designed to perform MDM integration issues upfront while migrating data from different ERP applications. This removes the pressure off of ERP during data integration. With the FI-IMS layer in place, ERP modules can instead focus on supporting business Processes, which they are specifically designed to do ERP provides multiple tools to address the needs of each business function in an enterprise such as Finance, HR, Engineering, Production, Procurement, R&D, Supply Chain and so forth. However, there always exist gaps in the ERP Enterprise Data Model, especially with regard to data quality, processes, governance, data integration, data migration and data profiling FI-IMS steps in as a middleman to fill in this ERP Data model gap by performing a thorough gap analysis which is capable of clearly profiling source data, assessing the quality of source data from the existing silo processes and recommending steps and processes to mitigate gaps in ERP When is the right time for FI-IMS? It is very important for businesses to implement Master data management (MDM) prior to ERP in order to ensure efficient, successful and hassle free ERP implementation. Implementing MDM before ERP with FI- IMS will help the customer enjoy an end to end, hassle free, efficient ERP cum MDM solution. ERP implementation without first implementing FI-IMS, will result in the following: When FI-IMS is not implemented, the errors in master data are bound to cause ERP to fail and create even bigger data issues for the customer than those they faced before ERP implementation. Without FI-IMS, ERP will be a very expensive, slow and tedious process for the customer because the data that they are trying to integrate with ERP already has multiple problems which FI-IMS could have easily fixed Trying to implement FI-IMS after ERP will be like trying to patchwork around data issues. The customer will not be able to enjoy the full benefit of an ERP implementation right away FI-IMS after ERP will also result in higher implementation costs and longer implementation cycle Risk of attempting ERP without MDM: The following are the risks of attempting an ERP implementation without first implementing an MDM strategy like FI-IMS: Higher implementation costs and longer implementation cycle Without MDM the errors in master data compromise enterprise Data quality. This is bound to cause ERP to not only fail, but create even bigger data issues for the customer than they faced before ERP implementation. Without FI-IMS, ERP can be a very expensive, slow and tedious process because the data that the customer is trying to integrate with ERP, already has multiple pre-existing issues which FI-IMS could 6

8 have easily fixed. Trying to implement FI-IMS after ERP will be like trying to patchwork around data issues. The customer will not be able to enjoy the full benefit of an ERP implementation right away. t FI- IMS Project Life Cycle:n 7 FI-IMS Study Implement Strategy &Planning Build Design About the Author Ashraf Mohammed is a TOGAF and IBM Master Certified Information Architect specializing in MDM Master Data Management. Ashraf has worked at reputed IT concerns like IBM, Oracle and Siebel in delivering MDM projects across industry verticals such as agro-chemicals, finance, telecom, multi-media, publishing, e-government, retail, O&G and so forth. Realizing the phenomenal benefits Master Data Management can provide to an enterprise, he believed the time was right for an MDM solution, designed specifically to solve the complex data challenges faced by enterprises, in today s age of the internet, mobile computing, social networking, intuitive applications big data and cloud solutions. Thus was born and iclassic MDM. In designing iclassic MDM, he has consciously eliminated many limitations seen in current MDM solutions. iclassic MDM is an agile, cloud based, flexible, highly configurable, end-to end MDM solution seamlessly built using the latest and greatest in technology. See To leave your questions, comments and feedback for Ashraf please write to [email protected] 7