RIYADH, 29 April — The Al-Faisaliah Group (AFG) has announced that two of its subsidiaries — Sony Trading and Al-Faisaliah Medical and Measurement Systems — will go live with SAP R/3 system in September this year.
The main advantage of this business applications system is that it empowers the end-user by making abundant information available and facilitating better and faster customer service. It helps in inventory control, after-sale service, cash management and in boosting productivity.
AFG joins Saudi Aramco, SABIC and other major national and international organizations in implementing the SAP R/3 system.
According to Prince Muhammad K.A. Faisal, vice president, AFG, the SAP system will go live in eight subsidiaries of AFG, with Megastar, Al-Faisaliah Advanced Systems Technology (FAST), Al-Faisaliah Integrated Media (AIMEE), Al-Faisaliah Electronic Services, Modern Media Systems and AwalNet set to follow in November. He said the project kick-off meetings commenced on April 16 in Jeddah and April 18 in Riyadh.
Addressing AFG executives in Jeddah, Prince Al-Faisal observed: “The change implemented by AFG has set the stage for the organization to become world-class. This is also emphasized in the vision of the project which seeks to establish and leverage information technology to enable the transformation of how AFG collaborates, transacts and interacts locally, regionally and globally.”
Prince Muhammad said key milestones to be achieved during this final implementation phase of the project include the successful designing and testing of the system, end-user training, data migration from the legacy to the new system and installation of infrastructure. The infrastructure includes network, computers, printers and application software, to ensure connectivity between respective business units.
AFG management feels that a vital element of the implementation approach will be to confirm the new system’s compatibility with the pilot sites and end users. Another important aspect will be furnishing end-to-end documentation of the business processes.
“The challenge of achieving a successful implementation of SAP R/3 in AFG’s eight remaining business units will require a high level of focus in meeting the deadlines. Those requirements will exact a toll on everyone involved with the SAP R/3 project,” their statement said.
It added that the Al-Faisaliah Group inaugurated SAP R/3 live service in December 2000 in four of its business units. On April 1 this year, additional four business units linked up with the system, bringing to eight the number of AFG’s business units implementing the SAP R/3 system.
In reply to a question, Selman Al-Fares, managing director of AwalNet and AFG’s Chief Information Officer, said SAP R/3 had already been implemented at the Al-Faisaliah Head Office, Al-Safi Danone, Al-Safi Dairy and Al-Faisaliah Plastics.
According to Al-Fares, these business units served as the pilot sites on the SAP R/3, which was designed to meet their operational needs. The subsequent implementation that began on April 1 this year included Saudi Flexible Packaging, Wasmi Meat, Areen Fresh Products and Modern Petrochemical Establishment.