Guest post by Detlef Aden, GiS
Entrepreneurial excellence is required
The wind energy sector is dominated by medium-sized, young and aspiring companies experiencing rapid growth. This high growth could results in a number of business challenges if, as a result of the focus on daily operations, the company structure and strategy does not keep on evolving. A company with 10 employees may communicate easily and directly, as there are only a few interfaces. It’s easy to just call the boss or walk into their office. In companies with 20 or more employees this becomes problematic.
Excel and Co. is no longer sufficient
Every company started off in a small way. In the initial phase, it can be controlled at a reasonable cost using Excel, Access, and Co. However, when the company is growing, the limitations becomes clear. Financial, budget, business, personnel and project planning can no longer be managed easily using a database and Excel. Above all, there is no time, and the top priority is on operations. So it is not uncommon that payment deadlines are missed, outstanding accounts become time-barred, and thus quite a bit of money gets lost.
It’s time to think about an integrated solution that connects all areas of the business and makes the information the employees need to get the job done available to everyone. Management requires full transparency of the financial situation of the company. The best format for this are simple and easily understandable graphics with traffic light functions that enable management to see at a glance which sections of the company work properly and where the rough spots are. Businesses with more than 20 employees should start taking care of these issues for growth as well as survival reasons.
Avoiding the burn-out risk for the company
“Burn-Out” describes a state of exhaustion with reduced performance. “Burn-Out” is usuaöly known in the context of managers working excessive hours. The term “Burn-Out” could also be used to describe the situation of a company severely limited in its capabilities by using the wrong tools, in particular in the areas of IT and organizational structure. If there’s a challenge or task to tackle, people use an existing piece of software, like Excel, to calculate an offer, for example. The quotation is then written using a word processor. Later, when a confirmation has to be sent to the customer, we use a word processor again. Accounting receives a copy and enters the articles and services sold manually into an accounting solution. There are too many steps where errors can occur, too many people are involved and a lot of time is wasted.
Most companies in this phase are aware that something has to be changed. What is missing, however, is an individual in the company that is entrusted with this task. This employee has to be given the time required to look into the issue. But business is good and the order books are full, so nobody can take on this task. And what happens if nobody cares? The company sneaks into a state of exhaustion, and its efficiency decreases month after month. The result: The company is overtaken by competitors, customers are dissatisfied and change, because the agreed services are not provided, and new customers will not sign contracts because they do not want to wait weeks for an offer.
It is worthwhile to choose software that serves all corporate areas, ensuring that each department is provided with the information necessary for the fulfillment of a task or job. Software that can secure communication across departments. Software that creates time, so that the company can attend to its customers. Software that automatically keeps itself up to date without the need for updating the computers over the weekend – and the risk of you coming back on Monday and nothing works.
And if this software creates little effort, because no server hardware needs to be purchased, if no license and maintenance costs for the software have to be paid, if I don’t have to worry about data backup because I can be sure that my data is safe from being accessed by hackers, then the Board is also pleased because this money can be invested in the company’s core business. And I’m way more flexible, too.
Support required for service and maintenance
Wind turbines have become very complex, almost as complex as conventional power plants. Like each other plant, wind turbine generators (WTG) are subject to an aging process. If not properly maintained, their efficiency deteriorates with age. The loss of efficiency, however, also means a loss of revenue, since the wind turbine will produce less and less power. Everybody knows from his own private area that you can ensure the performance of your car with good care. Regular inspections will also help to preserve the value of the car. Another example can be found in conventional power plants. Despite of them being relatively old, German power plants are always among the ones with the highest performance, i.e. the plants that produce the highest amounts of electricity per year. This is only possible by using advanced software supporting, coordinating and logging maintenance measures. The benefits of an IT-based maintenance were previously only available to large companies, as these software solutions were expensive and only suitable for computer experts.
Until now, the SME market could not afford qualified maintenance solutions.
GiS mbH Weinheim now offers a software solution with SAP Business ByDesign that allows SMEs to use professional maintenance functions. At the same time, the application also provides a fully integrated business solution for all areas of the enterprise.
By implementing the solution jointly developed by GiS mbH and SAP, the customer gets a solution that already includes pre-defined business processes for maintenance and for configuring the PM measures. All business processes, whether in sales, accounting, purchasing, human resources, production and service & support, have already been defined and only require minor adjustments. This saves money because the implementation costs are significantly lower than in conventional ERP solutions.
Reduce costs and focus on one’s own core competencies
Traditionally, software runs on in-house servers. The resources required, e.g. personnel, are tied to the operation and maintenance of IT and thus not available for the actual core operations.
More and more companies, particularly SMEs, increasingly use the opportunity to rent IT performance. On-Demand, SaaS (Software-as-a-Service) or Cloud are the familiar terms here. These solutions no longer have to be installed by the company itself, they are immediately ready to use and are used over the Internet. This also leads to short implementation times, reduces acquisition and operating costs and – last but not least – technology resources. With SAP Business ByDesign, the customers do not have to worry about how to integrate employees from other countries using a different language. SAP Business ByDesign is multilingual. Foreign subsidiaries that are subject to different laws and regulations are no problem because they are always up-to-date – thanks to SAP Business ByDesign. Companies benefit from the fact that the IT-related tasks, updates and innovations will be provided automatically. Companies using the ERP software functionality from the cloud can therefore concentrate entirely on their core competencies and added value.
Summary
Companies must deal with the deployment of a comprehensive ERP business solution early on, otherwise they will get lost. By combining this type of solution with the Cloud, the company will benefit from low investment and operating costs. In addition, when using such a solution they are automatically at the cutting edge of technology and compliant with the latest regulations of the tax laws.
The issue of e-balance sheets, for example, will keep many companies busy over the next few months. Companies leveraging a cloud solution such as SAP Business ByDesign will experience less effort here. They can save time, money and manpower and use these resources in those areas of the company where the money is made.
SAP Business ByDesign in combination with the Maintenance Apps from GiS is a reasonable solution that enables operators and service providers to focus on their core business.
For more information:
- Contact Detlef Aden via email: d.aden@gis-systemhaus.de
- Visit the website: http://www.gis-systemhaus.de/
- Learn more about the solution: http://www.gis-systemhaus.de/en/sap/windernergie.html
