Peter Karlsson, general manager at EastGate Technology Ltd, believedin these visions, and outsourced his entire ERPERP system. "And I havenever regretted it since," he says. Alles zu ERP auf CIO.de

Specialisation that works

EastGate is a contract manufacturer for optical storage media, whichincludes mastering, replicating, printing, packaging and distributingCD-ROMs, audio and video CDs, DVDs, and CD cards. It is a fast-movingand fluid business , where deals are made and broken almostinstantaneously, assets and capabilities are ruthlessly scrutinised,and lead-times for fulfilling orders can be as short as 12 hours. "Infact, it is not unusual for us to receive an order and be expected tofulfil it in less than a day," says Karlsson, who is the generalmanager at EastGate.

To survive and appease its highly demanding customers, which includethe likes of MicrosoftMicrosoft, Adobe, IBMIBM, Compaq, Iomega andHewlett-Packard, the US$45 million company decided to implement anOracle-based ERP system that gives them an accurate bird's eye viewabout the health of their disparate operations in Singapore, Hong Kongand Taiwan. Alles zu IBM auf CIO.de Alles zu Microsoft auf CIO.de

Tall order for a company with a staff-strength of 400, and which hasno inclination to become an IT shop. "The ERP system, running on SunMicrosystems servers, eliminates duplication of informationprocessing, maximises the use of manufacturing capacity, improvescustomer service and supports expansion plans," says Karlsson. "Butmaintaining it can be a challenge - that's not our corecompetency."