NILKAMAL LIMITED -

@HOME
SAP XI enables Nilkamal Ltd. - @Home to
make a successful entry into the Retail
Complete Home Solutions Sector
Background
Nilkamal Ltd. is one of the leading manufacturers of plastic
crates and molded furniture with pan-India operations.
It has 6 manufacturing plants across the country and in
SriLanka and Bangladesh as well. @Home was conceived
in the year 2004 as a complete home solutions retail
store and the frst store was opened in Pune, India in July
2005. The vast stores of @Home offers integrated lifestyle
solutions and interior planning services for homes as well
as institutional services. Currently, there are 8 stores in 7
different cities with 200 employees and an annual turnover
of Rs. 30 crores. By the year 2010, @Home plans to expand
to 38 company-owned stores across India, with an annual
turnover of Rs. 300 crores.
When we launched @Home in 2005, it was
mainly a trading and retailing company. So we
needed industry-specifc software, which had high
benchmark practices and certain hygiene levels.
SAP came out with IS-Retail and SAP XI and these
met our requirements perfectly,
Manish V. Parikh, Director, Nilkamal Ltd.
AT A GLANCE
Company
n
Name : Nilkamal Ltd.-
@ Home
n
Industry : Retail
n
Major
product : Furniture, Home
accessories and soft
furnishings
n
Employees : 200
n
Website : www.nilkamal.com
www.at-home.co.in
n
Implementation
Partner : Seal Infotech,
Chennai
Challenges & Opportunities
n
Scalable integrated system to
support rapid business growth
n
Standardizing business process
es across all manufacturing units
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Building a robust information
engine
Objectives
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Access to real-time inventory
information
n
Data security and control
n
Complete integration of in-store
POS with ERP system
Why SAP
n
World leaders in Business
Software
n
Single integrated solution meets
all requirements
n
Good after-deployment support
SAP Solutions & Services
n
SAP Netweaver Process
Integration (Exchange
Infrastructure)
Implementation Highlights
n
Users: 40 on ECC and 2 on XI
system
Key Benefts
n
Real time information in a single
view across the organization
n
Better analysis and interpreta
tion of data
n
Visibility of fnance and cash fow
across different business lines
Existing Environment
n
Database : SQL Server
n
Software : Visual Basic
applications
SAP Customer Success Story
Nilkamal ltd.-@ Home
With such rapid expansion plans, @Home wanted an industry
specifc software for their company which would integrate
all business processes including merchandising, inventory
management and in-store POS transactions.
Our goal is to become Indias largest retailers in the home
segment and have a 10% market share in the ready-to-assemble
furniture category. We had a rapidly growing retail square feet
and to successfully manage it was a challenge, says Parikh.
Since most business is done through bookings, real-time
inventory information is critical to its success. Reduction in cost
of inventory management with a better turnaround time was
another factor. We have a mother warehouse which is 150,000 sq
ft. big and needed a full-feged warehouse management system
too, says Parikh. Effective transport management was necessary
for internal cross-functional relationships and externally for
better order fulfllment and price control. One of the major
requirements was the complete integration of the in-store POS
with the ERP system which was already in place. Thus, the
requirement was for a robust IT solution, which was capable
of handling the entire business while providing complete data
security and process control. It also needed to have improved
quality management system and aid in supply chain and
logistics.
After careful consideration of other vendors like JDA, @Home
fnally decided to opt for the SAP Netweaver Process Integration
(Exchange Infrastructure). Nilkamal Ltd. was already running
SAP R/3 for the past 3 years and they had already realized the
benefts of implementing SAP. SAP is the world leader in
business software and is getting into the retail sector in India in
a big way. Moreover, it is the only enterprise-wide retail solution
with integrated functioning like merchandising, sales, fnance,
warehouse management, quality management and customer
service. No other company offers such a complete package,
says Parikh. SAP supported the latest benchmark practices of
the industry. A major beneft of SAP was that the fnance and
accounts modules had been confgured to comply with Indian
standards and legal rules.
Implementation
The project was started on November 20th 2006 and went live on
1
st
May 2007. Several modules like FI, CO, MM, SD and PM were
implemented simultaneously. There was absolutely no parallel
running of the legacy system and the SAP solution. The day
we went live, we switched off our old systems. The warehouse
system, supply chain and all stores across the organization were
integrated and switched on in a single day, says Abdullah Fatiya,
DGM - IT.
Benefts
SAP has given @Home a fully integrated system across the
organization, a single platform from where reliable and online
information is accessible.
One of the highlights of this SAP solution is
the remarkable speed at which the data from
the in-store POS is transported to the back-
end,
says Mr. Fatiya.
Earlier, @Home had a distributed database and the sales fgures
for each store was consolidated manually. Also the in-store POS
was being used only for billing purposes and booking of orders
was done manually. But now, as inventory levels across the
organization can be seen in a single view online, it is easier to
commit accurate delivery dates to customers. This has really
helped us to reach out to our customers better and customer
relationship has vastly improved. In fact, we have realized the
benefts of SAP right from day one itself, says Parikh. Post-sales
support like customer queries after delivery is also answered
online now.
The replenishment planning and the order-booking processes
were being done manually earlier. Now, they have adopted the
system best practices while being done online. Most activities
are now process driven, rather than people driven. This has
reduced human error to a great extent, says Mr. Parikh.
There have been tremendous savings in the costs of inventory
management as well as the turnover time in the supply chain.
Purchasing costs have been reduced as well.
There is now better analysis and interpretation of data across
the organization, as inventory and demand information is
available in a single view. One of the major benefts has been the
visibility of fnance and cash fow in the business. Also business
line-wise visibility for sales and proft fgures has been made
possible. There is faster communication between the strategic
team to the stores regarding information about promotions and
markdowns. This helps them to respond to the customer needs
much more rapidly.
The benefts which @Home has experienced due to the
implementation of SAP has been summarized below:
Sl Property Before SAP After SAP
1. Database There was a disributed
database with discrete
chunks of data
One single integrted
database with reliable and
online data that is easily
accessible.
2. In-store POS Was used only for billing
purposes. All other business of orders etc.
done
manually
Is now being used for all
business functions. Order
booking is now being
done online.
3. Customer relationship Customers were given
approximate delivery dates depending on
stock available in the mother warehouse.
Inventory levels across the organization are
easily available in a single view. Customers
are now being given accurate delivery dates.
4. Replenishment planning Was done manually and
hence was time-cosuming and error prone.
Now being done online
with the help of SAP best
practices.
Future Plans
@Home plans to implement the BI module shortly. The
existing R/3 data will be integrated with the ECC data to come
up with business-wise strategic reports. Plans are already on
to implement the CRM module in the company to help them
maintain their large customer base. They are also considering
integration the HR module into the current solution.
We are defnitely satisfed customers of
SAP. That is why we repeated our choice.
And defnitely in the years to come, this rela-
tionship will only grow,
concludes Parikh.
The SAP XI Solution has thus enabled @Home to achieve
business integration and large productivity gains, thus making
successful inroads in the Retail Sector.
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