ERM Power to support high growth levels with SAP Business All-in-One
SYDNEY, Australia — ERM Power, Australia’s largest privately owned energy company, has chosen to deploy SAP’s Business All-in-One software suite with the help of SAP partner, Extend Technologies. The new software will provide the company with a clear view of its performance, help improve process efficiency, and increase automation. Ultimately, the enterprise software solution will provide a platform to support continued organisational growth and success.
“The vision for our business is articulated through three core values; people, planet and performance,” said Graeme Walker, chief financial officer, ERM Power.
“After a solid period of sustained growth and business activity, it was evident that we needed to transition to a new business process and reporting platform to sustain our high performance and ensure we continued driving towards our vision.”
In recent years, ERM has experienced significant levels of growth, expanding operations from electricity development and generation to gas exploration and electricity retailing. ERM required a new software solution which would support growth while simplifying transactions and processes across operational streams.
The deployment will involve migrating a variety of processes onto a single consolidated SAP platform. This will allow ERM to integrate and streamline the processes based on financial best practice guidelines.
“We selected SAP on the basis of its functionality and extensive industry experience in energy and utilities. By choosing to deploy an SAP system, ERM is effectively establishing the basis for sustained levels of growth into the future,” said Walker.
The deployment is expected to deliver immediate benefits, including increased accuracy, timeliness and clarity in financial reporting, a reduction in manual processes and fewer errors and omissions. The software will enhance ERM’s management reporting capabilities enabling them to create a wider variety of reports at different levels of the organisation. This will further reduce the time spent by the ERM finance team compiling reports, while increasing cost control for key business users and improving their access to data.
“Organisations with multiple entities or departments in their corporate structure are attracted to the Business Planning and Consolidation (BPC) component of the SAP BusinessObjects suite. It has been an area where traditionally, it has not been done well in most core ERP applications but that has changed for the better since SAP acquired BusinessObjects,” said Max White, Managing Director, Extend Technologies.
Other benefits ERM Power expects include greater levels of regulatory and corporate governance compliance.
ERM’s previous system required excessive use of manual processes and spreadsheets, which led to an inefficient use of resources within the critical departments of Finance and Payroll. There was considerable inaccuracy in financial statements, reports and presentations; ERM was losing a degree of control leading to increased levels of business risk. Seeking to continue its growth and minimise associated risks, ERM required a software package which would allow it to continue growing while minimising additional processes.
The new SAP solution is scalable, providing for future growth but without the need for additional staff. The implementation of the SAP software will help ERM Power centralise all core business processes into one system.
“This is part of our longer term strategy to leverage SAP solutions across our operations. ERM has experienced high volume growth and we needed to simplify and centralise our core processes into one system,” said Walker.
About ERM Power
ERM Power is Australia’s largest privately owned integrated energy company and the only energy retailer dedicated to serving large corporate and industrial customers. ERM has been a recognised leader in Australian energy generation for more than 25 years. ERM has led the development of more than 50 per cent of all new generation into the Australian grid. The company employs more than 130 people across Australia
About Extend Technologies
Extend Technologies designs, implements and supports SAP solutions for medium and large organisations. We transform companies by solving complex business challenges through innovative, cost effective and proven deployments of SAP and complementary applications.
About SAP
SAP is the world’s leading provider of business software(*), offering applications and services that enable companies of all sizes and in more than 25 industries to become best-run businesses. With more than 92,000 customers in over 120 countries, the company is listed on several exchanges, including the Frankfurt stock exchange and NYSE, under the symbol “SAP.” For more information, visit www.sap.com.
(*) SAP defines business software as comprising enterprise resource planning, business intelligence, and related applications.
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