SMIT Internationale N.V., active in the maritime industry for over 165 years, has selected IFS Applications as its new ERP system. SMIT was looking for a way to optimize business processes for its four divisions and has chosen IFS Applications as the supporting software. The initial number of users will be 175 and is expected to increase to 500.
The scope of the project will be all four divisions of SMIT: Harbour Towage, Terminals, Salvage, and Transport & Heavy Lift. SMIT has chosen to implement the new system step by step. During the first phase the financial system, the order system, as well as the project registration will be replaced. In the following phases SMIT will add components that replace current systems for maintenance, purchasing, tendering, and CRM. Unique in this approach is that the pace of replacement will be determined by the end users. New components will only be added when prefaced systems have been fully approved according to requirements formulated by the end users.
Ruud van Oers, Manager ICT at SMIT, explains why SMIT selected IFS: Theres little support left on our current, 10-year-old software and a lot of functionality is added using Excel or Access. I often compare it with a car: when a car is 10 years old, parts become rare and difficult to obtain. Starting January 2009, all support on our old software will be stopped. For that reason we decided to start a project in order to select and implement new software to support our business processes.
During the selection it soon became clear that IFS stood out on important decision making criteria. They proved early in the process that they have extensive knowledge of our business processes and subsequently showed with their component-based software how to translate these processes into a software system, continues Van Oers. The end users will vary from ex-seafaring people to business end users and managers. The software needs to fit this variety of users as regards to ease of use, user interface, and report options. A final important reason to choose IFS as a business partner was the strong cultural fit: theres a real hands-on working climate at SMIT and we recognized the same mentality at IFS.
About Smit
SMIT has a proud tradition of more than 165 years of service in the maritime sector. The company has earned an excellent reputation by combining expertise and experience with high-quality materials and equipment in the nearly 50 locations around the world where SMIT is active. SMIT aims to provide its worldwide services in the main to shipping companies, producers in the oil and Liquefied Natural Gas industries, insurers, and governments. SMIT maintains the highest standards in respect of safety, health, protection of the environment, and quality.
SMITs services are organized into four Divisions:
- Harbour Towage: harbour towage services and related maritime services.
- Terminals: towage services and related maritime and management services to offshore and onshore terminals.
- Salvage: salvage, wreck removal, environmental protection, and consultancy.
- Transport & Heavy Lift: chartering, barge rental & transport, ocean, coastal and river towage, heavy lifting, and marine support to a variety of civil and offshore projects.
About IFS
IFS is a public company (OMX STO: IFS) founded in 1983 that develops, supplies, and implements IFS Applications, a fully-integrated, component-based extended ERP suite built on SOA technology. The company has more than 2,000 customers in 54 countries and focuses on seven main industries: aerospace & defense, utilities & telecom, manufacturing, process industries, automotive, retail & wholesale distribution, and construction contracting & service management. IFS has 2,600 employees and net revenue in 2007 was SKr 2.4 billion.
Add a Comment
No messages on this article yet