Adapt IT Helps ADA KZN with Softline and Sage products

“We need to put a system in place that will comprehensively assist in the management of the business,” says Warren Chavda, Adapt IT Business Development Manager.

Agribusiness Development Agency had been formed as a special-purpose vehicle by the KwaZulu-Natal Government to provide support for emerging black commercial farmers in an effort to rescue the land reform projects from collapse.  The agency had secured R239 million from the government with the directive to create 1,099 permanent jobs and 2,538 seasonal jobs in the agri-business sector, which will also assist in sustaining and growing 1,045 entrant black commercial farmers.

Bongani Ntimba of the Agribusiness Development Agency in KZN said the agency had only been in existence a few months and did not have any systems in place to assist in the management of the business.  “A decision was made to implement an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system to cater for our immediate financial and supply chain management requirements.  We wanted to utilise an ERP solution that had a proven track record and we wanted to partner with a locally based service provider that is intimately acquainted with ERP consulting and familiar with the nuances of dealing with the public sector.  Adapt IT fit the bill and is in the process of providing the perfect solution in the form of Sage ERP X3 and Softline VIP Premier HR,” says Ntimba.

The fact that the Agribusiness Development Agency is a relatively new operation, provides a clean slate for Adapt IT to work from.  “Our implementation approach for ADA was to use the best of breed pre existing templates available in the system as far as possible, which were then customised to fit the client’s unique needs.  Sage ERP X3 is a highly adaptable and versatile product that is easy to configure, which has greatly assisted us in the implementation process by providing functional components that we can demonstrate to the client.  Change management has been identified as a key factor to the success of ADA and the Adapt IT team is assisting the client throughout the process to ensure that the implementation proceeds smoothly,” says Chavda.

Sage ERP X3 is a web-based software platform that integrates analysis and reporting, financial accounting, management control and operational management that encompasses production, purchasing, sales and inventory. Agricultural development and monitoring have so many additional aspects and operations to oversee that an integrated ERP system is imperative.  “The technological solutions offered in Sage ERP X3 is the best suited for Agribusiness Development Agency’s needs.  The ability to synchronise a system across a large base of operation is perpetuated in the scalability and functionality of Sage ERP X3,” says Keith Fenner, the Vice President of Sales at Softline Accpac.

Ntimba says that Sage ERP X3 positions ADA for future growth.  “The extensibility of the solution to cater for future requirements such as Customer Relationship Management, advanced project management and accounting are some of the functionalities that we will need in the near future.  The architecture of the system supports the use of one solution platform to deliver on all our needs and that is exactly what we set out to achieve,” concludes Ntimba.