OREANDA-NEWS. January 14, 2014. IBS Group, a leading software development and IT services provider in Central and Eastern Europe announces that the introduction of automated systems to manage maintenance and repair work at Efes Rus has been completed successfully. Maintenance and repairs at the company are now run through a single, SAP ERP-based information system.

The brewery Efes Rus is one of the four main players on the Russian market, boasting well-known brands such as: Efes Pilsener, Miller Genuine Draft, Stary Melnik, Velkopopovicky Kozel, Bely Medved, Sokol, Redd’s, Zolotaya Bochka, Zhigulevskoye, Warsteiner, Bavaria, ESSA and more.

Efes Rus was formed in 2012 through the merger of beer giants SABMiller and Anadolu EFES. During this integration process, dubbed One Company, the need arose to develop a single information system, as the two companies each used their own SAP ERP-based systems. The switchover to a single, unified, system took place in October 2013.

During this process, a joint IBS IT Services (a member of IBS Group) and Efes Rus team built a single, automated system for maintenance and repairs at Efes Rus facilities, oversaw data migration from the old system to the new system, and successfully launched this new plant maintenance information system at three of the company’s plants.

IBS IT Services also honed related spare parts and materials purchasing procedures. The project involved implementing algorithms for automatic stock replenishment and repair-related procurement planning for plant maintenance information system (PMIS) orders.

As Alexei Kalyuzhin, project head at Efes Rus noted: “Introducing a single, optimised maintenance and repair system across all Efes Rus companies was intended to spread SAP maintenance best practise. As a result, Efes Rus plants will see increased equipment reliability and greater efficiency in managing spare part stock. We anticipate that this will: lay the basis for the company to move from a “firefighting” approach to maintenance and major repairs to maintaining current conditions, reduce incidents of superfluous purchasing, and reduce stock volume without impacting repair operations.”

Decisions made within SABMiller before the merger formed the basis for the development of this single, unified system, and continued to evolve as the project progressed. One key requirement for the new system was replacing numerous additional developments with standard SAP ERP instruments. The project was implemented using Efes Rus’ project methodology and under the supervision of the company’s Project Office.

 “As recent experience shows, SAP systems make it possible to significantly reduce maintenance stock and cost of repair work while increasing service life,” said Anton Tabalin, head of maintenance system development at Efes Rus. “Automating maintenance processes delivers a more effective use of resources.”

Evgeny Zakharinsky, project head at IBS IT Services, said “The IBS team is glad to have had this opportunity to work with Efes Russia, and is pleased that we were able to apply our extensive experience in creating production management systems at one of Russia’s largest companies. We see growing demand among Russia’s leading industrial firms for similar systems, and are ready and willing to offer our services and efficient solutions to companies of any scale.”