SYNOPSIS

Company: Tata Iron and Steel Company Ltd (TISCO)

Problems: TISCO faced two major problems from the systems that existed for a
long time. Firstly they were not customer friendly. The whole system was tuned to
the process and very little attention was paid to the customer demands. Secondly
the systems were outdates and the modalities of operation were too complex and
not error free. The employees and management at TISCO faced a cumbersome task
exchanging and retrieving information from the system. Further, the reliability of
information obtained was questionable because of inconsistency and duplication of
data from different departments. Also there was no built-in integrity check for
various data sources. Besides, several times the information against certain items
was found missing. In order to rectify these issues which would otherwise prove to
be major setbacks to the company the organization resolved to take up ERP. This
was instigated by the concerned departments. Leading consultants were hired and
the business structure was studied and suitable plans were drafted accordingly.
Introductions: This Company, TISCO, founded and established in the year 1907
is known to be one of the leading steel giants in the country offering multiple
products and successfully running many subsidiary corporations. Tata Steel's
Jamshedpur plant has a capacity of 4 mn tons per year, and produces flat as well as
long products. Currently, to meet growing demands, the plant is being expanded to
accommodate another million. TISCO deserves lot of credit for implementing ERP
because of the fact that many organizations in the global level have given up the
very idea of ERP due to the fact that there are lots of failures associated with it
even in the implementation stage. ERP implementation did in wrong manner have
caused havoc to organizations more than bringing profits. This being the case it is
natural to expect a large company (in terms of Size and volume of operations) like
TISCO to discourage the idea of Enterprise resource planning. However TISCO
proved to be different from the others by choosing ERP in the right time and
implementing it in a proper manner
Objectives: The Company wanted to keep its lead in the competitive steel industry
through constant learning, innovation, and refinement of its business operations. It
had to transit from a production-driven company to a customer-driven one. The
legacy systems had outlived its life and were quite obsolete.
Methodology: TISCO proved to be smart by choosing ERP in the right time and
implementing it in a proper manner. They implemented it into the whole systems
in one single spree. The method of implementing it in one spree carries a lot of
risks especially for a bigger company. They went ahead with associating and
implanting TISCO to all the stakeholders so that they become compatible. The
business process was divided into two main segments. The core functions were
denoted to be major ones. Similarly the supporting functions were named minor
ones. A plan of action on the proposed ERP's impact was drafted depicting their
relation to one another and to the business process. All of them were made to bear
in mind the fact that ERP's implementation was imperative and that the deadlines
were not very comfortable. The company took all efforts to ensure that the change
did not produce any sort of resentment in the organization. This was done by
educating everyone on the need and desirability of change. In addition all
apprehensions relating to change were discussed and clarifications made to the
fullest satisfaction.
The net results of their ERP software have been described to be path breaking and
a trendsetting one.

Expected Contributions and out come: The key element for ERP success is to
know how to implement an ERP project. Past experiences recommends best
practices such as:
Rapid/realistic project timelines due to external pressures (acquisition
synergies, legal reorganization)
Command-and-control approaches from a central project management office
A global business process owner who has the authority and credibility to
approve process designs and business model/ organization changes

However, theres much more to it than these few general principles. Implementing
ERP is complex and takes a team of knowledgeable and experienced ERP
professionals to successfully implement an ERP project.

Limitations: Implementing any ERP system is a challenge for an organization
because of the declining success rate of ERP implementations world-wide. The
challenge is compounded if the ERP provider is a world leader - SAP. At Tata
Steel however the real challenge for them did not lie in successfully implementing
SAP or in rolling it out to our 46-odd geographic locations across the country
under a big bang approach in just eight months. The real challenge lay ahead in
building a conductive environment where SAP will be embedded in the hearts and
minds of the people and the customers of Tata steel.