ELAPCO Electronic Appliances is an air conditioning company, which was conceptualised in 1970 in the United Arab Emirates as an agent for O-General Air Conditioners. The company currently has branches over all UAE, Sudan, Jordan, and Iraq, with more than 400 employees. Since inception, the company has also added newer products to its portfolio such as MDV, Cooline, Sampo and Midea. Over the years, as the company started growing and new business started coming in, a need for better information management arose. In 2006, the company decided to implement an ERP solution and selected to work with Microsoft® Gold Certified Partner Columbus IT, to deploy Microsoft Dynamics™ NAV in order to improve financial, customer-relationship, and supply-chain management.

Being present in the Middle East market since 1970 as a supplier of air conditioning systems from O-General, the company had a rapid evolution and growth of business volume. The increasing number of customers and the region-wide expansion, together with the increasing level of competition on the market, made the company management to feel the need for an information system.

“Since we were growing at an unprecedented growth rate, we needed to collect more information about projects we were undertaking. We didn’t really want to limit the information gathering to just invoicing,” explains Ayham Housain, the IT Manager at ELAPCO Electronic Appliances. “This system was to be used for better management of the company's resources, which would address the company's specific business requirements.”

ELAPCO sought an integrated solution to replace the financial and accounting application, Sage ACCPAC Accounting. “The solution which we were using previously seemed no longer adequate, due to the company's evolution and the more complex requests of the company's management and employee base,” adds Housain. According to Jayashree Balasubramaniam, the Pre-Sales Manager at Columbus IT, the implementer of this technology, the previous solution lacked in many areas of business management.

“While Sage ACCPAC Accounting was a good solution, it didn’t quick meet the requirements, when the company wanted to expand its operations in the Middle East region,” comments Balasubramaniam. “That was one of the main reasons why a need arose for ELAPCO, to look for a better business management system.”

ELAPCO evaluated a variety of ERP solutions from companies in the region and in 2006 the company decided to implement Microsoft Dynamics NAV through Columbus IT. “We essentially arrived to our decision of going with Columbus IT for this deployment, because of the trust we had on Microsoft and the experience Columbus IT brought along,” comments Housain. “The implementation of the project started in 2006 and was completely deployed by May 2007.”

According to Balasubramaniam, the ERP system ELAPCO procured was Microsoft Dynamics NAV. The project involved the implementation of financial modules along with supply chain covering inventory control, sales and purchase order processing. The only module left out of the deployment was manufacturing. “The Microsoft solution was optimally covering the need for consolidated data and superior business analytics tools of ELAPCO, allowing for the continuous optimisation of strategic business processes,” adds Balasubramaniam.

Housain further explains that the scalability and flexibility of the solution enabling fast and efficient particularisation and developments through add-on modules were also very important reasons for this decision. “Microsoft Dynamics NAV is a comprehensive business management solution that has helped us work faster and smarter, and gives our business the flexibility to adapt to new opportunities and growth,” Housain is quick to add.

“It is ideal for organisations such as us, as it offers a breakthrough user experience and technology innovations that can simplify access to information, improve organisational agility, streamline integration with a wide range of applications, and enhance reporting capabilities – even for the most highly specialised industries and organisations. With Microsoft Dynamics NAV, our people can be effective, helping to drive our business success.”

Microsoft Dynamics NAV provides a user-friendly interface that enables easy access to information and a high rate of user acceptance already in the first days of use. “Usual training for the ERP system was definitely required at the initial stage,” adds Balasubramaniam. “However, because the system has a user-friendly GUI and looks and feels like Excel and Outlook, the training wasn’t much of a challenge. Also, since Microsoft Dynamics NAV naturally works together with other Microsoft applications, the acceptance rate amongst new users was very good.”

The benefits of the implementation were soon to be seen. At the company management level, the solution enabled superior control over operations, and at employee level, it made possible for the company staff to work efficiently, thus increasing productivity in the process.

By implementing Microsoft Dynamics NAV, ELAPCO gained a variety of benefits:

The specific development of the business intelligence module has enabled ELAPCO to quickly access the data provided by Dynamics NAV and to obtain personalised reports and also to create a specific system of alerts and notifications. A clear image of the company's operations was achieved by integrating the data from all departments which offers good-quality support for the decision making process.

By deploying Microsoft Dynamics NAV through Columbus IT, ELAPCO has gained a project and financial management system that increases the visibility of project and financial data throughout the organisation. Overall, employees are realising the benefits in financial management, data analysis, project management, internal communications, customer service and productivity.

ELAPCO Electronic Appliances

Web Site: www.elapco.ae

Dubai

Air Conditioning

Columbus IT

ELAPCO Electronic Appliances is an air conditioning company, which was conceptualised in 1970 in the United Arab Emirates as an agent for O-General Air Conditioners.