Ball Packaging
FROM OUTDATED TO EFFECTIVE: TECHNOLOGY RENEWAL AND ENHANCED OPERATIONS FOR A PACKAGING COMPANY.
Oracle JD Edwards + ITCROSS Fiscal Solutions
COMPANY OVERVIEW
Ball Corporation supplies innovative, sustainable aluminum packaging solutions for beverage, personal care and household product customers. Founded in 1880, the company employs more than 16,000 people worldwide.
1. The Challenge
- Obsolete JD Edwards installation, with table space and performance issues
- Delay with ESUs/fixes updates installation, which was affecting them in several ways: they could not install ESUs with legal requirement updates, as many predecessors were not installed, and they were customizing an awful lot of standard applications for avoiding installing new ESUs.
- Two different targets at the same time: The upgrade project was done in parallel with a JDE Security design and implementation project (with AllOutSecurity software)
- Retrofit. Ball has many customized objects, and a lot of customization on standard applications.
- Bad experiences with prior Oracle JDE vendors, quality service was the target.
- Phase II: after the upgrade the company was aiming to move forward with many postponed enhancement projects (i.e.new modules, compliance requirements, integrations with other systems, US Gaap reporting)
2. Why ITCROSS
- Credentials and Oracle Awards for carrying out successful upgrade projects, reducing the customization level of the installation.
- Experience in solving complex compliance challenges, such as electronic invoice integration with 3rd parties in Argentina and Mexico.
- Knowledge about global implementations with multicurrency and US Gaap needs.
- Industry knowledge and manufacturing experience.
- Was AllOutSecurity partner.
- Offered a support team capable of carrying out the enhancements needed after the upgrade.
3. The Outcomes
- Successfully retrofitted approximately 700 custom objects, ensuring compatibility with the upgraded system.
- Comprehensive Technology Renewal: Developed and executed an installation plan for the upgrade from both CNC and functional perspectives.
- ITCROSS designed Upgrade and Security plan considering and trying to optimize users’ time, a valuable topic for Ball Packaging. New security matrix design, based on roles by processes
- After the upgrade, the many enhancement projects could be approached and were successfully implemented: Advanced Cost Accounting design, Equipment Maintenance design and Implementation, Rollout to Ball Mexico, Electronic Invoice integration in Argentina, Integrations with Oracle EPM, Bar Code, and electronic signature systems, Tax reporting, Imports process and reporting among others.
We have initially chosen ITCROSS in 2012 as a Support vendor, we were looking for a vendor that provided quality service for our operations at Ball Aerosol Packaging Argentina. I truly found out they were more than that, an excellent knowledgeable team with a flawless quality service, and the solution we needed for many fiscal challenges we had and other enhancement projects. We had bad experiences in the past, with two big vendors that couldn’t help us in all these aspects.
Besides support and their fiscal solutions, we carried out an upgrade project as well, with a totally clean go-live, and that included a security model design and implementation key to SOX certification. They were a great support to me and Finance team when I had to face the change of functional currency in Mexico, a project we successfully replicated years later in Argentina. Thanks to that, Ball Corporation achieved an important outcome, the PU & MM process implementation in Mexico. If I had to choose an Oracle vendor today, I wouldn’t hesitate on hiring ITCROSS.
Eduardo Lafontformer Finance Controller at Ball Packaging Argentina.