Provimi - RFgen

Challenge

When Provimi decided to standardize business processes, the company implemented SAP across its 80+ factories in 30 countries. They also needed mobile barcode scanning and labeling capabilities. However, each facility required the flexibility to customize the solution to specific needs at each site while still functioning as one integrated system.

“Because we often must deal with changing laws and regulations, if an adjustment is required, we’d like to make one change instead of many changes for all countries where the law applies — but it should not become a monster of an application,” explained Mohamed Seali, Provimi’s Global IS Operations and Integration Manager.

Solution

Provimi had four requirements for their mobile solution: flexibility, performance, scalability, and manageability. Combining all four would be a challenge since these demands are often contradictory. Such a large global rollout required the collaborative efforts of RFgen, global partner Actemium, and SAP implementation partner Capgemini.

Provimi uses RFgen Mobile Foundations for SAP to extend ERP functionality to the shop floor. RFgen mobile barcoding equipped each production site with rapid scanning, on-demand label printing, offline data collection, and real-time connectivity with Provimi’s centralized SAP environment. Every three months, Provimi developed plans to roll out the SAP-RFgen solution to additional facilities in new countries every three months.

Results

By implementing RFgen, Provimi was able to fulfill all its requirements for a mobile SAP solution while deploying at scale and on time. In the words of Seali: “We ended up being perfectly on schedule.” In addition, Provimi achieved:

Business process standardization across the enterprise
Flexibility to customize processes at the site level for maximum efficiency
Gains in performance, efficiency, and accuracy with a low-burden solution
Real-time connectivity between RFgen and SAP
On-time rollout at a global scale

Should the connection fail in lesser technological countries, the factory is able to keep running on RFgen regardless.

Mohamed Seali

Global IS Operations and Integration Manager | Provimi

24/7 Operational Continuity

RFgen’s offline mobility solution is crucial to building around-the-clock operational continuity. Normally, RFgen updates SAP as each scan occurs. But when connectivity to SAP from a site in Vietnam or Columbia is temporarily unavailable, RFgen offline data collection can fill the gap, ensuring that the factory can continue scanning barcodes and moving inventory without work interruption. The end result is continuous operations 24/7, 365 days a year.

In more than 80 factories in 30 countries, Provimi manufactures animal feed concentrates, premixes, additives and specialties which are delivered to feed manufacturers worldwide. The Provimi company was formerly a decentralized organization. That was changed in 2007 when the organization chose the ‘One – Provimi’ strategy. Processes and systems are now gradually being unified and centralized.

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