Implementation at Pipelife Czech s.r.o. completed successfully
There was a requirement for a new information system to control all processes within one information system and to find a strong partner to complete the implementation and to be flexible in reacting to future needs concerning further development and maintenance of the information system.
The Pipelife company was using an outdated version of Exact information system, while their warehouse operations were managed by Megastore system, strategic and operational planning was supported by a proprietary system created in MS Access, with reports presented in MS Excel and Crystal Reports.
Microsoft Dynamics NAV information system and NAVISYS company were chosen in the selection procedure. The original project was divided in two phases. Phase one was started on October 20, 2008 while its goal was to launch the system as of January 5th, 2009 with the most standard features for all key company departments, including manufacturing and compartment warehouse. Phase one was launched for production operations according to the original time plan.
Phase two focused on introducing customer requirements regarding sales, warehouse, transport planning, metrology and customer complaint procedures. An important part was development of tools to support strategic and operational planning – both from the financial and sales/manufacturing perspective, which was based on a sophisticated system of future demand forecasting.
In the area of manufacturing, specific requirements concerning production of pipeline systems were introduced to the system – this included, for instance, keeping records of technological data or material consumption for an entire production lot consisting of several types of products, with its subsequent allocation to individual products after completing of the job order.
Phase two was completed on June 30th, 2009 and thanks to diligent adherence to SureStep implementation methodology the entire initial project was completed in accordance with the planned times and within the originally planned budget.
In the course of implementation Pipelife Czech s.r.o. acquired INSTAPLAST spol. s r.o. company, which resulted in a merger of both the companies as of September 1st, 2009. Following a mutual agreement, the project of Microsoft Dynamics NAV implementation was extended to include phase three, reflecting necessary steps associated with the merger, training of new users, and also incorporating new manufacturing technology into the existing processes. The final phase was completed in accordance with the original plan on September 30th, 2009, while implementation of the entire system was finished at the same time.
Development of Microsoft Dynamics NAV information system has not ended with completion of the project at Pipelife Czech s.r.o. There are further activities planned for the year to come – advanced manufacturing capacity planning, technological data collection automation, compartment warehouse process automation, launch of company intranet based on Microsoft SharePoint technology with a tight link to Microsoft Dynamics NAV.
The commentary of Mr. Lukáš Bílek, Financial Analyst Pipelife Czech s.r.o.:
"When introducing the new information system, our goal was to integrate the information environment in our company into one application to a greatest possible degree, creating at the same time a reliable platform for further development visions. We gradually manage to achieve this goal.
In comparison with the previous system, we can see a clear progress in reliability and flexibility with respect to the new functionality requirements.
Collaboration with Navisys has been conducted at a professional level. All the requirements have been fulfilled duly and timely. Possible defects are corrected very quickly. Working together with consultants we have streamlined some inefficient internal processes."
