Date: 9 Nov 2009
ERM Power to support high growth levels with SAP Business All-in-One
SYDNEY, Australia -- 9 November, 2009 - ERM Power, Australia's largest privately owned energy company, has chosen to implement SAP's Business All-in-One software suite with the help of SAP partner, Extend Technologies. Implementing the new software is expected to provide the company with a clear view of its performance, help improve process efficiency, and increase automation. Ultimately, the enterprise software solution will provide a platform to support continued organisational growth and success.
"The vision for our business is articulated through three core values; people, planet and performance," said Graeme Walker, chief financial officer.
"After a solid period of sustained growth and business activity, it was evident we needed to transition to a new business process and reporting platform to sustain our high performance and contribute to our organisational objectives."
In recent years, ERM has experienced significant levels of growth, expanding operations from electricity development and generation to gas exploration and electricity retailing. ERM required a new software solution which would support growth while simplifying transactions and processes across operational streams.
The implementation will involve migrating a variety of processes onto a single consolidated SAP platform. This will allow ERM to integrate and streamline the processes based on financial best practice guidelines.
"We selected SAP on the basis of its functionality and extensive industry experience in energy and utilities. By choosing to deploy an SAP system, ERM is effectively establishing the basis for sustained levels of growth into the future." Mr Walker said.
The implementation is expected to deliver immediate benefits, including increased accuracy, timeliness and clarity in financial reporting, a reduction in manual processes and fewer errors and omissions. The software will enhance ERM's management reporting capabilities enabling them to create a wider variety of reports at different levels of the organisation. This will further reduce the time spent by the ERM finance team compiling reports while increasing cost control by key business users and improving their access to data.
"Organisations with multiple entities or departments in their corporate structure are attracted to the Business Planning and Consolidation (BPC) component of the SAP Business Objects suite. It's been an area that is has not traditionally been done well in most core ERP applications but that has changed for the better since SAP acquired Business Objects," said Max White, Managing Director, Extend Technologies.
Other benefits ERM Power expects include greater levels of regulatory and corporate governance compliance.
ERM's previous system required excessive use of manual processes and spreadsheets, which led to an inefficient use of resources within the critical departments of Finance and Payroll. There was considerable inaccuracy in financial statements, reports and presentations; ERM was losing a degree of control leading to increased levels of business risk. Seeking to continue its growth and minimise associated risks, ERM required a software package which would allow it to continue growing while minimising additional processes.
The new SAP solution is scalable, providing for future growth but without the need for additional staff. The implementation of the SAP software will help ERM Power centralise all core business processes into one system.
"This is part of our longer term strategy to leverage SAP solutions across our operations. ERM has experienced high volume growth and we needed to simplify and centralise our core processes into one system," said Walker.
The first phase of the implementation will see 130 ERM employees and contractors use the system for time entry, travel management and purchasing.
"Extend Technologies are partnering with ERM Power for the long run - they are a growth oriented company and an SAP solution will ‘leave doors open' as ERM Power's enterprise application needs evolve," said Max White.