The company
The Unipart Group of Companies is one of Europe’s leading independent logistics, automotive parts and accessories companies.
Established in 1987 following a management buy-out, it was recently listed as one of the top ten largest private companies in the UK. During this time it has become a name respected worldwide for its progressive policies and forward-looking approach to business.
Background
Unipart uses SAP® to support their business and there are up to 20,000 new transactions on the system every week. These transactions span a wide range of business areas including materials management, classifications, transport groups, weights and dimensions, plants, stock and purchasing to name but a few. The data entry requirements for each transaction are subject to frequent change. Unipart’s data was all uploaded either manually or using other toolsets.
“We have used other toolsets in some of our processes, but you need to be very technical to work with them effectively. We’re responsible for getting our data into SAP but we’re not technical people. We needed an easy way of uploading data. We were also starting to get backlogs of work because the processes we were using were too manually intensive and slow,” says Sue Brooks from Unipart.
Unipart’s data input mechanism resulted in real financial loss in terms of time taken to get the job done, and their ability to react to mass data changing needs was severely impaired.
Another immeasurable side effect of manual data input is data cleanliness, since manual input is prone to error and this can have a disastrous and expensive effect on any business.
Understanding that preparation before go-live and execution of maintenance afterwards could take away much of the unnecessary challenges with the upcoming move to the new ERP system, Brooks was looking for a solution.
The knock-on effect from having incorrect data in our system is huge. It’s too important to get wrong and Syniti makes sure it never goes wrong. Quite simply, I wouldn’t like to do my job without Syniti.”
Solution
What Unipart needed was a non-technical and versatile data integration solution that would enable them to upload many unique transactions into SAP quickly and accurately. Data Workbench from Syniti has allowed them to do just that.
“Before Syniti, getting our data into SAP was a very time-consuming job.” says Brooks. “Syniti sped up that process for us. Data Workbench is brilliant. It’s very easy-to-use and requires no programming skills at all. It saves us a tremendous amount of time and also reduces errors — which is a must because data is king.”
Data workbench has allowed Unipart to dastically cut down the time required to get data into their system, giving them the power to adjust quickly to ever-changing requirements
Before Syniti, getting our data into SAP was a very time-consuming job. Syniti has sped up that process for us. Data Workbench is brilliant. It’s very easy- to-use and requires no programming skills at all. It saves us a tremendous amount of time and also reduces errors, which is a must because data is king.”
Benefits
Time Saved
“The increased data accuracy is a huge benefit. If you get your data wrong at the start of the process it impacts every single person involved in that process. The knock-on effect from having incorrect data in our system is huge. It’s too important to get wrong and Syniti makes sure it never goes wrong. Quite simply, I wouldn’t like to do my job without Syniti”, says Brooks.
The creation of material masters is just one example of how Unipart used Data Workbench. As Unipart has an SAP system for each of their customers, they are responsible for all the data input. One of their customers requires the creation of thousands of new material masters on a regular basis. Using Syniti’s Data Workbench, they are now able to quickly and easily perform an otherwise arduous and lengthy task.
Data Quality
Data quality improves dramatically by using Data Workbench because all manual errors are eliminated. Furthermore, the simple ability to see your data in one spreadsheet makes it easier to spot erroneous data, allowing for quick correction before uploading into SAP.
Flexibility
Unipart’s needs in terms of data uploads change continually. With Data Workbench, they are able to cater for entirely new requirements within minutes.
Resource Reallocation
With business users being able to perform their own data uploads, Unipart’s information technology team has been able to focus their expensive resources on other important jobs.
Results
Data Workbench from Syniti is a data upload product that makes the process of uploading data into SAP quicker, cheaper, easier and more accurate. It is used in all scenarios, from implementation work (such as moving data from legacy systems) to transactional data uploads and use in support teams. In fact, almost anywhere data needs to go in SAP, Data Workbench can make that process more efficient.
Data Workbench from Syniti also acts as a data download product that makes the process of extracting data from SAP quicker, cheaper, easier and more accurate. It is used for adhoc data queries as well as for creating standard reports. Both products are designed for non-technical as well as technical audiences.