Kenyan social enterprise Hewatele has is modernising its technology systems as it aims to transform its production capabilities and scale up supply of life-saving medical oxygen to facilities throughout East Africa.

Hewatele is a social enterprise in Kenya that produces and supplies medical oxygen to the country’s healthcare system. The first production plant was opened in 2014, providing oxygen to multiple counties across Kenya. Ten years down the line, Hewatele has scaled its operations to five PSA production plants in Kenya and one in Uganda, supplying more than 150 medical facilities.

Dr Zulfiqar Wali, CEO of Hewatele, says the organisation realised during the peak of the pandemic that its current manufacturing model was not sustainable in the long term.

“The cost of manufacturing was quite high. We identified liquified medical oxygen via an ASU manufacturing model as the future for our production capabilities, which kicked off a lengthy due diligence process to raise capital for investment into the more energy efficient manufacturing technology, after realising that our PSA manufacturing dispensation were not fit for supporting our scaleup.”

The older business planning software Hewatele was dependent on could not deliver inventory and financial information timely and accurately, leading to delays in decision-making.

“We had trouble explaining to the board that our systems just couldn’t deliver financial information real- time. SAP has always been the blue-chip ERP solution, and considering our need to scale up information processing as we build out our new production capabilities, we made a strategic decision to migrate.”

The company has since embarked on the first of a two-phase implementation process. Phase One focuses on financial and inventory processes as well as some manufacturing. A second phase, set to commence in Q1 of 2025, will cover the remaining areas of the business.

Hewatele chose implementation partner VC ERP Consulting in Kenya to design and deploy the solution, which includes the flagship S/4HANA Cloud. The solution, designed and deployed by VC ERP Consulting, will streamline Hewatele’s operations and improve decision-making by providing real-time insights into key business processes.

Tejas Chhabra, vice-president: SAP enterprise solutions at VC ERP, says: “We invested time upfront to delve deeper into the problem statement to allow us to develop a solution that goes to the root of the problem. The input and support from process owners within Hewatele, from finance to sales and inventory, was critical to our ability to design the solution.”

Pooja Chhabra, finance SME and solution architect for the SAP S/4HANA solution at Hewatele and the driving force behind the implementation, adds: “We were laser focused on mapping the processes in a way the MIS Reporting become a lot simpler and automated, which was a critical requirement for Hewatele and their investors.”

A component of the solution also looks at building a foundation for the future adoption of new technologies such as artificial intelligence.

Dr Wali says there is huge potential of AI in the business. “Technologies such as AI can add value through greater efficiency, improved user experiences, and greater automation. Ultimately we want to achieve the highest levels of automation to ensure our customers get the best product at the best price, driven by efficiency and optimisation.”

The team are now busy with centralising production to always ensure the highest standards of quality and reliability. “Through SAP’S world-class technology deployment, our organisation will also be future fit for regulatory compliance, while our team members will have access to some of the latest technology to support the vital work they do.”

Hardeep Sound, regional sales director for emerging Africa at SAP, says: “Organisations throughout the region are making vital investments in technology to unlock greater efficiency, optimise core processes, and establish a strong foundation for future innovation.

“Hewatele’s outstanding implementation, supported by experienced partners at VC ERP, positions the organisation well as it prepares to scale up its life-saving production capabilities.”