Unified Finance and Resource Management System
Industry
Railway
Customer
Belarusian Railway, an organization of more than 200 legal entities located in different regions of the Republic of Belarus.
Project Background
IBA implemented its first SAP project for Belarusian Railway (BR) in 2005. It was Forwarder, the system that controls in real time the execution of contractual obligations by forwarding agents when providing transit/export/import cargo transportations. Forwarder features include processing of shipment requests, monitoring contracts with forwarding agencies, tracking online customer accounts (billings and incoming payments), maintaining the rail shipments database, calculating cargo transportation costs before a new shipment is initiated, and providing analytical reports.
Following the Forwarder implementation, IBA was appointed as SAP Service Partner. The system showed BR management that SAP suits the needs of a large–scale railway company and can serve as a basis for its unified resource and finance management system.
Project Overview
In October 2005, IBA jointly with BR launched a project for the implementation of the Unified Finance and Resource Management System (UFRMS) of Belarusian Railway. Based on SAP ERP 2005, the system is designed to unify multiple, non–coordinated workstation software in a single financial, HR and resource system that is built using a standardized approach and is capable of providing economic and financial information to BR management.
The final goal is to integrate the UFRMS with the Information Analysis System to Manage Railway Cargo Transportation that manages BR's technological processes. As a result, BR management will be able to optimize its operations both in terms of functional and financial feasibility.
Project Execution
The first project stage comprises the following subprojects:
- Budgeting System. Consolidation System. The aim of the two systems is to provide BR with a flexible tool to plan organizational budgets, control budget execution, distribute and manage funds, and generate and analyze consolidated financial reports.
- Accounting Template System. The project covers finance, accounting, fixed assets accounting, costs accounting and controlling, and material accounting. Within the project, a methodology for the development of a corporate chart of accounts (COFA) and COFA instructions were developed.
- Human Resource Management. The project is designed to create a unified automated system to manage human resources and organizational divisions of BR.
- Cargo Transportation Accounting and Control. The project includes a centralized preparation, creation and printing of transportation documents, bank accounting, Accounts Receivables and Payables accounting, and different types of reporting (station, logistic, statistic, and financial).
- SAP Integration with Technological Software of Belarusian Railway. The project includes implementation of SAP interfaces to the railway's technological software.
- SAP Basis Services. The project deals with the deployment of an SAP landscape (six systems) on RISC (application servers) and mainframe (databases) platforms.
The Budgeting System, Consolidation System, HR Management, and Accounting Template System were put to production at the Information Center and Locomotive Depot of the Minsk branch of Belarusian Railway. In the near future, Payroll Accounting (an extension of the HR Management subproject) and Cargo Transportation Accounting and Control will be deployed at the same enterprises. Subsequently, the subsystems will be replicated to all other BR branches.
Project Results
With assistance from IBA consultants, Belarusian Railway has automated and unified its business processes related to accounting, finance (budgeting and consolidation) and HR management. The further task is to extend the functionality and to roll out the system to all BR branches.
Belarusian Railway appreciates IBA for a unique knowledge base and experience in international projects, resulting in the introduction of state–of–the–ar t methods and technologies. Using the new system, BR management achieves cost reduction, receives a possibility to analyze and plan finances and resources, increases controllability and transparency, and improves management effectiveness. Valeriy Shubadyorov, Vice President of Belarusian Railway, says: “On behalf of the Belarusian Railway, I would like to thank IBA for assistance in the automation of business processes at our organization. We look forward to continued and fruitful cooperation with IBA”.
