(The Malaysian Today; November 1st, 2003)

KUCHING: KKB Engineering Berhad, a Kuching based public listed company specialised in steel related business, launched its integrated Enterprise Resource Planning System (ERP) Phase I.
The launching was performed by the company's Group Managing Director Kho Kak Beng at a ceremony at its main office in Bintawa, recently.

A joint project between Sarawak Information Systems Sdn Bhd (SAINS) and Sunway Business Applications Sdn Bhd (SBA), the system is based on application solutions by JD Edwards, a leading provider of agile, business-to-business software solutions that enable collaborative commerce.

The project, which started eleven months ago, witnessed the complete teamwork and commitment of KKB staff to fully integrate and adapt the system into their current business processes.

Over the years, KKB Engineering has developed a strong base for steel fabrication. Its vast experience and intricate understanding of the industry has allowed the company to further expand into other synergistic manufacturing activities.

With much consideration and thorough planning, the ERP system was eventually implemented to assist the company to address the company’s basic business needs in today’s competitive commercial environment. These basic needs are to increase revenues, decrease costs, maximise profitability and optimise assets utilisations.

The ERP system shall be implemented in phases. Phase I saw the successful roll-out of financial, distribution and HR modules. Future phases will see manufacturing, project management and costing, construction management and asset management.

The company’s Executive Director, Ms Kho Poh Lin said: “We invested in the system to ensure the company reaches its full potential and will not be left out in the growing markets as our internal and external business processes and procedures will be improved.”

“We hope to fully implement the system eventually in all areas of our Group of companies activities so that we can fully benefit from it and get worthwhile return of investment.”

However, she said, the management met with some resistance from employees during the initial stage of introduction to the system as many of the company’s staff are less IT-inclined.

“The fear of the staff was that they have to learn something new and adapt to changes, which is understandable. Therefore, we have to take the time to change the general mindset in order for them to be more receptive to the technological changes,” Poh Lin said.

“It has been a challenge but their cooperation plus management support has made it worth the while. We are really looking forward to start receiving fruitful results through the implementation of this system,” she added.

The company’s Group Manager (HR & Business Services), Ms Kho Poh Joo who is also the Project Manager said, the board of management decided on using JD Edwards’ ERP Solution because of its many success references and the fact that it ranked amongst the Top 3 in terms of worldwide total Enterprise Application Solutions sales.

“We started with a vision in our mind that we can stand our ground in the growing markets and compete with other enterprises. Thus, it is important to upgrade our technology and our management system for the better.

"Of course we experience problems along the way, especially internally, but that is expected,” Poh Joo said referring to the resistance to change.

SAINS, a technology partner in the implementation, has long been recognised by the Sarawak State Government as the leading ICT company in spearheading IT growth in the state. Together with Sunway Business Applications Sdn Bhd., a KL-based company with enterprise solution expertise, this partnership will continue to provide services to other developing enterprise companies as well.