Demystifying ERPs In Manufacturing: A Case Study Of Synresins Ltd

The growth in research and development, and technological advancements in industries like paint and coatings, constructions, and transportation, name them, which are heavy application segments for epoxy and resins are likely to drive the industry demand.

After years of streamlining internal operations, boosting plant productivity, improving product quality, and reducing manufacturing costs, to mention a few, companies are focusing on supply chain strategies as the next frontier in organizational excellence.

One reason for these initiatives may be the substantial cost reductions to be achieved by improving logistics performance. Thus the birth of Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP).

ERP is a comprehensive transaction management system that integrates many kinds of information processing abilities and places data into a single database.

Prior to ERP, this processing and data were typically spread across several separate information systems.

Synresins Limited

The above intro marks Synresins’s business model and operations in the Kenya space thanks to what it has done with ERP tools to expand its product portfolio and business performance.

Named, Synresins Limited, the organization was established more than four decades ago.

It is a Nairobi-based company located specifically in the Industrial area.

According to the company profile, it is a mid-sized organization with 75 employees and prides itself as the largest manufacturer of synthetic resin in East and Central Africa with an installed annual capacity of 10,000 MT.

Synresins Limited sells its products directly to customers with the biggest market being the paint industry. It also supplies to the paper, textile, and leather industries.

To this end, the firm has been using a solution that streamlines all supply chain functions like formula management, production, purchase, sales, material and production planning, delivery, and such. These tools are under the ERP umbrella and are industry-specific.

Firms such as SYSPRO have been at the forefront of offering ERP products to manufacturers in Kenya.

Synresins Limited uses SYSPRO ERP software to manage vendors and by-product management, not to mention quality control and the overall safety of the facility and workers.

“Despite the teething problems we experienced during the upgrade, I would highly recommend SYSPRO 8 as it has great features. If there is SYSPRO 9, I don’t mind being the first company to upgrade,” says Mira Shah, CEO Synresins.

To note, Synresins is the first company in this region to use SYSPRO 8. This was done back in 2018.

So far, Synresins says the tool is being used by more than 20 active users that are spread across finance, production, and supply chain departments.

It is also important that the complexity of ERP tools is not seen from the front end, which is why the company says that the ERP solution has gone a long way to simplifying and streaming operations. This then allows staff and management to focus on other parts of their business.

“I can generate a sales or inventory report at a click of a button. My staff do not have to spend hours putting together reports. Extracting a report from SYSPRO 6 was very difficult because it was not possible to extract the reports in excel or PDF formats,” adds said Mira Shah, Synresins CEO.

Final words

“SYSPRO as a company has great customer support. Our transition to SYSPRO 8 had many challenges, but through tremendous support from the SYSPRO team, we were able to navigate through and enjoy the benefits of the upgrade. Despite the teething problems we experienced during the upgrade, I would highly recommend SYSPRO 8 as it has great features. If there is SYSPRO 9, I don’t mind being the first company to upgrade,” said Mira.

The company demonstrates that ERP practices can have a discernible impact on competitive advantage and firm performance, and so have other organizations that continue to enjoy the benefits of streamlined business operations.