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TVS Group is adopting ERP

The first such implementation, ongoing at Sundaram Clayton Limited, is using software supplied by the Netherlands based Baan Infosystems. It is expected to go live in June.

T O D A Y

• The E-Trade Barrier • Microsoft in Madras • JTS coming to India • TVS is deploying ERP

Speaking at a seminar on 'agile manufacturing', organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry, K Vijay, head of the information systems at SCL, said that a group of professionals specialising in ERP had been formed within the TVS group.

The ERP group would help in drawing lessons from the project at SCL and aid in the implementation at other TVS companies.

SCL is initially implementing the Baan solution in "basic'' areas of manufacturing, finance and distribution. The company is employing 15 in-house personnel along with seven external consultants in the project.

The total time taken for the implementation is expected to be 10-15 months. According to Vijay, the "key issues'' involved in implementing ERP include the time taken for standardising documents, project tracking and control mechanisms and the tendency to get "overwhelmed'' by the large functionality of the package.

The problem areas include localisation to make the product adjust to specific Indian laws such as excise and Modvat, the long turnaround time required by the ERP vendor for fixing bugs and the lack of sufficient functional and product expertise in the country including among consultants.

Based on SCL's experience, Vijay recommended that Indian companies going in for ERP implementation "keep it simple'' in the initial stage. "Show the business benefits to management within the first six months. After gaining management's support, you can spread it out,'' he added.

- Compiled from the Indian media

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