Colorlak

The need for change

Colorlak is the largest producer and distributor of paints in the Czech Republic. In 2006 Colorlak decided to review its business information systems in order to facilitate its future development plans to move towards a more comprehensive management of the wider Colorlak Group. This highlighted not only the inability of the compa- ny’s existing system to meet the increased demands that would be placed upon it, it also revealed that its supplier lacked the resources to develop the system in such a way that it could.

The search therefore began for a new Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system that could be implemented across all the companies within the group with the tender process closing at the end of 2007. Jan Rajmic, then Colorlak head of IT explains why the winning bid was from Minerva Česká republika with the QAD ERP solution. “We preferred a global ERP solution supported by a high-quality supplier with a large number of relevant references.”

The power of domains

In terms of meeting the wider group information management re- quirements of the group, one of the most important features within the QAD solution is its „domain-based“ architecture. In essence, each domain is a separate business entity held within a single da- tabase. Users can only access the company for which they have the relevant access rights which allows each company to be managed separately while providing group-wide visibility at a glance, for example, product sales statistics from the manufacturing plant across all subsidiaries.

Another area where this is very useful is in managing receivables as it allows customers to be checked for any outstanding debts relating to any Colorlak companies. „One of the greatest benefits for our business is the data unification”, explains Radek Lapčík, the current IT manager at Colorlak. He continues, “Since we are a group of companies, we greatly appreciate the do- main-based arrangement that allows us to manage both the material flow and financial operations across the group.

Saving time and money

Jiří Hróz, Financial Director of Colorlak and management repre- sentative of the Colorlak Group’s new Implementation Steering Committee, emphasized the following benefits of the system includ- ing those not measurable in economic terms. „After a thorough ten- dering process, we decided to deploy QAD because its functionality and pricing best met the requirements of our group’s size and struc- ture.” He continues, “By unifying the database of the parent com- pany and its two largest subsidiaries, we have established the basis for the co-ordination and management of planning, production, and sales processing. The unification of accounting systems and consolidation of financial statements provides complete visibility about economic developments in the group. Each of the companies is a unique accounting unit, yet at the same time, it is possible to obtain information in real-time about the revenues, costs, stocks, receivables and payables of all members within the group. This significantly speeds up the flow of information, saves us time, supports cash flow management and cuts costs across the group.“ The most important benefits of introducing this new ERP system are the improvements in and availability of the level of business data. Within the Colorlak Group we have been able to consolidate the previously fragmented database. For example, the creation of uniform codes, and auto- mation of internal transfers have made it possible to manage and optimise stocks of our own products and goods across the group. As a result of this unified inventory and the ability to redistribute stock, the group can reduce its cash flow requirements.

The QAD system also delivered a range of benefits in the follow- ing areas. As a result of introducing barcode technology, materials and products can now be transferred to dispatch warehouses quicker and more efficiently. Quality control has been streamlined as a result of the automated linking of final product technical checks with each batch prior to dispatch. Operational production planning has been improved thanks to QAD’s MRP II functionality. Now production plans for individual production lines based on specific orders and sales forecast are created on a nightly basis with these forming the basis for the subsequent issuing of job or- ders. Finally, Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) is now used for the timely communication of orders and invoices between customers as well as with business partners.

„User satisfaction and the overall benefits of any solution are often de- pendent on the quality of the relationship a company has with its sup- plier”, notes Jan Rajmic before continuing, “Minerva ČR were consist- ently professional in their approach, and their flexibility and expertise helped us resolve all the challenges involved in the implementation. It proved that while the process of choosing the right system and partner was time consuming and relatively demanding, it was worthwhile and that we made the right choice.” He concludes, “I am convinced that Colorlak will benefit from its choice in the years to come as we intensify the development of our infrastructure and look to continually improve our use of the QAD core business information system.“

QAD is a reliable solution for the ever-developing company, as it adapts flexibly to all new requirements. In addition to the growing need for electronic data interchange, there is increasing need for the process automation; these are primarily new requirements such as DMS, active reporting, new stock optimization methods and production control, as well as strengthening business relationships with the customers.