Oman Flour Mills, which was established in 1977 as a joint stock company, is today one of the largest flour milling companies in the Middle East. The Government of Oman currently owns a 51 percent stake in the 32-year old company, which produces various kinds of flour for local as well as export markets.

The mill, which has its own Feed Mill plant, has grown not only in stature but also in credibility features that have been consolidated with sheer hard work and determination to deliver high quality products. These attributes have helped Oman Flour Mills in gaining an exceptional market share in Arabian Gulf, in addition to developing exports to Africa, the Commonwealth of Independent States and the Far East.

The company has been operating in the market for over 30 years now, and has now grown to a size wherein the prevailing IT infrastructure was proving to be inefficient. The company, which takes pride in offering its customers a traditional and personalised service, quickly realised the value of using a dependable IT infrastructure that could support its business and fulfil its customer’s needs quickly and efficiently.

“Until 2007, we were using a bespoke application, based on Oracle to manage our operations. This was sufficient until we decided to expand our product line, thus growing the company further,” explains Brijesh Walia, the IT Head at Oman Flour Mills. “We needed a solution that could grow with the business and handle our entire operations smoothly and seamlessly.”

Walia further goes on to comment that though Oman Flour Mills was using a locally developed application based on Oracle, the modules used in the system were not interlinked. “Since the previous software was not an integrated system, the information exchange within the modules was not being reflected across the various departments of the company. This in turn tremendously slowed down the operations of the company,” adds Walia.

Oman Flour Mills needed a solution that could be customised to meet the specific needs of the food industry, such as finance, sales and marketing, purchase, warehousing, and production. But it was also essential to keep the costs low and minimise the operational disruption the company could face during the implementation phase.

 

Oman Flour Mills decided to put test, various ERP Solutions available on the market. After mulling over the results and comparing the cost versus performance statistics, the company decided to opt for Microsoft’s Dynamics NAV through Columbus IT, the software giant’s local partner. “Various products and vendors were evaluated and Columbus IT was chosen because of their experience and resources available. They had previously done a similar implementation at Sudan Flour Mills, and that helped us zero-in on the right implementation partner,” comments Walia.

According to Walia, by choosing to go with Microsoft Dynamics NAV, Oman Flour Mills chose a flexible solution that could be customised to meet any of the company’s unique industry requirements. “We quickly realised what Columbus IT means by ‘we’re with you, every step of the way.’ The implementers were hands on. Columbus IT’s team of ERP experts modified Microsoft Dynamics NAV in several ways to better meet Oman Flour Mills’ specific requirements,” explained Walia.

As mentioned earlier, the project covered implementation of Microsoft Dynamics Navision modules such as finance, sales and marketing, purchase, warehouse and production. “For HR and Payroll, we had to use third party software, because Microsoft’s Dynamics NAV doesn’t offer that module,” said Walia. “The project required seven month to complete and cost US$130,000.”

Microsoft Dynamics NAV provides a warehouse of shared knowledge, best practises and industry experience, which Columbus IT applied directly to Oman Flour Mills to save development time. “Our vertical solution has already been deployed at several food companies and as a result, it fits almost perfectly to Oman Flour Mills’ needs,”. “More than 90 percent of the company’s requirements were covered off in the initial rollout. All we had to do is make a few changes and tweak the system a bit to fit well into the company’s working culture.”

Microsoft Dynamics NAV is a line of integrated business management solutions that enables companies to make business decisions with greater confidence. “Microsoft Dynamics NAV works like familiar Microsoft software such as MS Office, which means less of a learning curve for companies, so they can get up and running quickly and focus on what’s most important,”

Columbus IT’s adaptation of Microsoft Dynamics NAV meets the needs of Oman Flour Mills such as its specialised production processes, inventory controls, logistics handling and warehousing needs. “Within a very short time, we were able to carry on with our operations very easily,” explains Walia. “There has not been a single problem since the solution went live. All the data is correct and unlike the old system, the exchange of information is seamless.”

While all the staff at Oman Flour Mills had to be trained to use the new system in place, Walia says that it didn’t take much time and effort, because the users found the system easy to understand. “Oman Flour Mills is spending less time these days generating reports and information, thanks to Microsoft Dynamics NAV’s drill-down capabilities and easy-to-use Windows-based platform. We’ve cut our reporting time and now have faster access to information, which will likely help us make faster, better decisions,” concludes Walia.

Customer: Oman Flour Mills

Web Site: www.omanflourmills.com

Country or Region: Oman

Industry: Food

Partner: Columbus IT

Customer Profile: Oman Flour Mills, which was established in 1977 as a joint stock company, is today one of the largest flour milling companies in the Middle East. The Government of Oman currently owns a 51 percent stake in the 32-year old company.