Becoblohm
Case Study: Becoblohm
Industry: Various (Retail, Distribution, Freight)
Country: Venezuela
BUSINESS OVERVIEW
Imagine the complexities of managing 20 different companies. Now multiply those complexities by having each company operating in different industries and countries—with different business models. Creating the conditions where each of its independent companies can thrive is the formula for success for Valencia Venezuela-based holding Company, Becoblohm.
Among the many Becoblohm companies are: Fru Fru, an upstart multi-store apparel retailer, Servinave, an international shipping and freight company, and Ferreteria Epa, an established big-box retail chain. All are successful and all are using Compiere.
CHALLENGE
While each company makes its own decisions, Becoblohm offers its companies value-added services such as information technology, human resources and accounting services. Throughout its 20-year history, Becoblohm’s IT department has developed IT systems in house. Explained Manuel Rivero, CIO of Becoblohm, “We’ve always valued having control over our destiny in terms of data and IT systems. Yet building systems was becoming more difficult because we were using different technologies and architectures. We needed to deliver IT more effectively so we could provide more functionality to more users.”
Any solution would need to provide a standard platform and functionality—yet offer significant flexibility. Said Rivero, “We wanted a standard platform that makes it easier to operate as a single organization. We also wanted a set of functionality that we could easily tailor to address the specific needs within each of our companies.”
SOLUTION
Once they decided to standardize on a modern application platform, Becoblohm explored a range of solutions. Traditional proprietary ERP solutions, representin one end of the spectrum, offered significant functionality, but were relatively inflexible and did not provide the full access to source code Becoblohm valued. At the other end of the spectrum, developing solutions with Java, Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) and reporting tools, addressed the company’s desire for control, but at significant expense in time and human resources.
The company soon realized that its best option was an Open Source ERP solution, which was cost-effective, integrated, and would give it control over the source code. Becoblohm selected Compiere after representatives from several Becoblohm companies evaluated Compiere and attended training. “We were amazed,” said Rivero. “Compiere offered a standard platform that would allow us to implement functionality quickly. It also offered the flexibility to change screens, business rules, and so on, using a modeldriven architecture and active data dictionary. These capabilities allowed us to easily create customized systems for each of our businesses.”
In 2006, Becoblohm was in the process of starting up a multi-store retail apparel chain called Fru Fru. The retail operation would consist of 100-square foot stores handling 15K-17K stock keeping units
(SKUs). The plans called for opening the new stores in Venezuela and Mexico on an aggressive schedule. Becoblohm had no existing IT systems capable of managing the Fru Fru. The new chain needed a system to handle accounting, materials management/inventory replenishment and shipping as well as interface with Becholbolm’s point of sale system. And while Becoblohm wanted to use the same applications in all stores to achieve a comprehensive view of performance and ordering, operations in Venezuela and Mexico had significant differences, including different currencies and government regulations, that the IT system would need to accommodate. “Compiere’s flexibility allowed us to use the same architecture to meet the needs of the organizations in two very different countries without any problems,” said Rivero. “We were able to implement the Compiere applications in four months—and, Compiere enabled the on-time roll out of four stores in Venezuela and eight
stores in Mexico.”
Fru Fru has been very happy with its Compiere systems. Said Rivero, “Since our stores can only keep a limited supply of sizes and colors on hand, we needed to ensure that replenishment occurred on a timely basis. Our tailored Compiere system does that beautifully.” Servinave Concurrent with the Fru Fru efforts, Becoblohm used Compiere to support Servinave, a Venezuelan shipping company. Servinave required complex shipping documentation that included information such as ships, trips, lines, fares, as well as equipment and containers for each port. Not only did Compiere provide their analysts with the ability to rapidly create documentation and logistics systems, but the resulting systems integrated easily with the existing Compiere customer database, and financial processes.
Another project is for Ferreteria EPA, which has stores in Venezuela and Costa Rica. EPA had built up its existing application suite over a 15 year period with many designers using multiple architectural styles and user interfaces. Becoblohm wanted an integrated solution built on a common architecture with a common user interface. “We needed to completely rewrite our systems,” said Victor Rivero, CIO of EPA, “We could either do that from zero or jumpstart the process with functionality from Compiere and configure it where necessary. We went with Compiere.” Epa particularly likes Compiere’s model-driven application platform. Compiere stores business logic in an Active Data Dictionary rather requiring it to be hard-coded into software applications. This allows Epa to customize applications by simply creating, modifying, or deleting business logic in the data dictionary—often without programming. Epa was also impressed with the Ajax-based Web client in Compiere Professional Edition because it offers robust capabilities, performance and usability while allowing secure access through a web browser. A further advantage of the Web interface is that it eliminates software installation on desktop machines. Flexible reporting allows users to easily drill down to get additional information and drill across to view related documents. Rivero continued, “We’re finding that Compiere dramatically speeds development. Previously it took two days for developers to create new screens and three days to create new reports. Now they can complete these tasks in minutes.”
BENEFITS
Overall, Becoblohm has used Compiere to quickly and cost effectively roll out functionality that supports decentralized decision-making and serves its businesses’ diverse requirements. It has been able to implement standard capabilities where applicable while quickly and easily customizing capabilities. As a result, said Rivero, “Even though Fru Fru, Servinave, and EPA are very different, Compiere serves as a business accelerator for them all.”
