Good adherence to compliance practices and improved ability to make quick business decisions are the key benefits All Nippon Airways (ANA) experienced in just eight months, after its new enterprise resource planning (ERP) system went live.
“The ERP tool has improved efficiency and productivity. It also allowed us to understand and visualise procurement trends much better too, Manabu Yada, ANA’s manager for corporate office procurement, materials and services.
In future, the Oracle ERP Cloud system will be used for aircraft procurement and jet fuel purchases. Eventually, it will be used for all procurement and will be extended for use to all its 88 branches.
Going forward, Yada said aims to cut procurement costs for indirect materials by five per cent, he added on the sidelines of Oracle OpenWorld 2019 held two weeks ago at the Moscone convention centre in San Francisco.
The Japanese airline last year switched to Oracle ERP Cloud. It took one year to implement before going live earlier this year. Previously, it had used a Japanese procurement system.
Speaking to Asean media during OpenWorld, Yada said that an area ANA wanted to tighten up was compliance and governance.
On the older system, users could use fax and e-mail for procurement transactions. ANA management wanted to capture in one place all the procurement transactions and communications.
It was important because the airline which carries 47 million passengers annually is growing rapidly. With the Tokyo Olympics coming up next year, the airline expects more tourists. Hence, ANA saw a need to improve efficiency, productivity, compliance and governance.
Yada explained the company used cost-benefit analysis to identify the ERP system that best suited the airline.
During implementation, the challenge was to find a way to fit Oracle ERP Cloud to ANA’s business process. “The system was flexible but we had to customise some processes to fit with Japanese business rules.”
The ERP system covers procurement processes and reduces required transactions. It also provides a log of all transactions, allowing the airline to identify ways to reduce costs and risks and increase profitability while remaining compliant to regulations, he added.
Yada said a key reason for selecting Oracle ERP Cloud was that it had a good user interface and was easy to use. A simple, step-by-step online instruction is available for users who need support to use the system.
CLARIFICATION at 07/11/2019 10:37pm: An earlier version of the article stated that ANA has already started using Oracle’s software for aircraft procurement and jet fuel purchases. The airline has clarified that it has yet to start on this but plans to do so in future.
