JSE-listed openpit mining and materials company Afrimat has deployed the MWare extended relationship management (XRM) software system over the past three years to improve productivity levels and gain a more detailed understanding of its quarries and equipment.

Afrimat group business systems manager Lizette Munro informs Mining Weekly that the system was developed at the company’s pilot site, the Brewelskloof aggregates quarry, in the Western Cape, to develop a standard system for the group.

The standard measuring and reporting tool was developed for regional managers at different levels of the business, she adds.
Software solutions provider One Channel, together with partner and enterprise resource planning (ERP) specialist MyMethod Consulting, implemented the solution, which is based on the Sage 300 ERP platform and the Sage customer relationship management (CRM) system.

Afrimat business systems support manager Pierre Marais says one of the biggest challenges for any company in manufacturing is using time and equipment productively.

“The main reason for implementing the MWare system is to ensure that our plants per- form optimally and to identify process improvement opportunities in the various production steps.”

He points out that the MWare system is also used for procurement management, supply chain management and various service manager functions.

Additionally, MWare product director Mich Martins says the system provides management with timely and reliable insight to assist in important business decisions.

“The philosophy of using CRM as a front-end operating system is simple – it is easy to use and requires almost no user training, compared with using an ERP system directly.”

He explains that, in software engineering, the terms ‘front-end’ and ‘back-end’ are distinc-tions, which refer to the separation between a presentation layer and a data access layer respectively.

“The front-end is an interface between the user and the back-end. “The front-ends and back-ends may be distributed amongst one or more systems.”

Martins also asserts that the system is a business solution that enables companies to improve business processes, manage new and existing customer relationships closely, increase revenues and decrease inefficiencies.

He explains that XRM refers to the use of a common CRM system, such as Sage CRM, as the development platform for specialised vertical applications.

“The benefit of leveraging such platforms is that they allow for complete form and field customisation. “They are also equipped with a powerful workflow engine, as well as an escalation and a notification service.”