InteGREATZ ERP: Breaking Barriers
Most Indian SMEs do not invest in ERPs for three reasons: They are too time consuming, require too much training, and are too expensive. InteGREATZ’s ERP gets around all of those challenges.Deep within Chennai’s Ambattur Industrial Estate, amid the clanging and the heat, is a company that machines thousands of components and has 12 operations, out of which six are subcontracted. It looks and sounds like many of the other companies located in the estate. It’s also similar in nature to other small manufacturing companies: It manages its data manually. While the company wants to leverage IT to automate its processes and infuse efficiency, it has been discouraged by the exorbitant cost of ERPs, and the perception that implementing ERPs is a time-consuming, training-intense process.
This company is not alone. Most Indian SMEs manage their businesses with almost no real-time data of their inventory or their manufacturing process.
Today, plenty of SMEs in India want user-friendly, cost-effective, and plug-and-play ERP solutions-which large, established ERP vendors fail to provide. These vendors offer ERPs that are designed and implemented with a business logic that meets the low-cost promise, but are heavy on the purse in terms of services. These ERP products have many possible configurations, which only increases the time and the cost of getting an ERP into production. As a response to this situation,local ERP vendors have developed low-level, isolated programs as an alternative for SMEs. But these don’t promise quality. InteGREATZ ERP has taken it upon itself to change that.
Back in 2007, K.R. Natarajan, CEO and MD of InteGREATZ founded the company with a vision to design a product with
zero service cost. He wanted to create a product that was ready to use from day one and that did not require intense training.
Natarajan was tapping into an inherent need. He knew that SMEs do not employ ERP proficient staffers or have the luxury of time to train their employees using an ERP. That is why InteGREATZ has created an ERP solution that incorporates all the requirements of customers within the same product. It ensures that all business process requirements are met from day one, and that with minimal customization, the product is ready for implementation. Also, pre-configuration of masters with seed data minimizes implementation time to just two weeks.
InteGREATZ focuses primarily on the manufacturing sector and has designed its ERP solution so that even small manufacturing organizations can afford it and reap the benefits of business process integration. Take for instance, a Chennai-based company that was struggling with a low 48 percent on-time delivery success rate. Once it implemented InteGREATZ’s ERP, it acquired total control of its manufacturing process and has successfully achieved over 78 percent on-time delivery. Another Coimbatore company that implemented InteGREATZ’s ERP was quickly able to track the pilferage of copper coil raw materials.
All of this is possible because InteGREATZ’s ERP solution is pre-structured, and is easily understood by non-technical people. Also because Natarajan found a way to reduce variable costs and lower the cost of ownership of an ERP.
"We treat ERP as a product, not a project. So there are no service charges and other variables,” says Natarajan. “And that’s exactly what lowers the ownership cost for SMEs, making it affordable.”
In the near future, InteGREATZ plans to offer its ERP solution from the cloud. Currently, it serves clients from across India and will soon expand its business globally with specific focus on the Middle-East and countries in the Far East. It also plans to create offerings around CRM & HR payroll.
Natarajan was tapping into an inherent need. He knew that SMEs do not employ ERP proficient staffers or have the luxury of time to train their employees using an ERP. That is why InteGREATZ has created an ERP solution that incorporates all the requirements of customers within the same product. It ensures that all business process requirements are met from day one, and that with minimal customization, the product is ready for implementation. Also, pre-configuration of masters with seed data minimizes implementation time to just two weeks.
InteGREATZ focuses primarily on the manufacturing sector and has designed its ERP solution so that even small manufacturing organizations can afford it and reap the benefits of business process integration. Take for instance, a Chennai-based company that was struggling with a low 48 percent on-time delivery success rate. Once it implemented InteGREATZ’s ERP, it acquired total control of its manufacturing process and has successfully achieved over 78 percent on-time delivery. Another Coimbatore company that implemented InteGREATZ’s ERP was quickly able to track the pilferage of copper coil raw materials.
All of this is possible because InteGREATZ’s ERP solution is pre-structured, and is easily understood by non-technical people. Also because Natarajan found a way to reduce variable costs and lower the cost of ownership of an ERP.
"We treat ERP as a product, not a project. So there are no service charges and other variables,” says Natarajan. “And that’s exactly what lowers the ownership cost for SMEs, making it affordable.”
In the near future, InteGREATZ plans to offer its ERP solution from the cloud. Currently, it serves clients from across India and will soon expand its business globally with specific focus on the Middle-East and countries in the Far East. It also plans to create offerings around CRM & HR payroll.
