Harison Toshiba Lighting Japan gets web integrated on iBaan system

Leading industrial liquid crystal backlights manufacturer Harison Toshiba Lighting of Japan says it has increased productivity by 200%, cut indirect cost by 50% and reduced component inventory and product lead-times by 30% following its implementation of an iBaan enterprise IT solution from developer Baan, part of Invensys Software Systems. The achievements are the extraordinary results so far of Harison Toshiba’s major ‘Fresh-21’ corporate information systems integration project which is founded on the Baan systems. iBaan was originally implemented in the sales and manufacturing areas of the firm’s Electric Discharge Lamp Division, and is now being implemented across other divisions. The firm says that by aligning its processes with its business goals it is achieving similarly dramatic improvements as each division’s operating conditions and data became transparent. It cites its sales and marketing department, whose operatives have already gained real time visibility of the progress of current orders, enabling them to be more responsive to customers. Takaki Watanabe, vice president and general manager of the Electric-Discharge Lamp Division and in charge of IT for Harison Toshiba, says: “We needed to drastically review the corporate organisation … heighten our operational quality … and realise even greater efficiency. These were essential to raise customer satisfaction and enable us to increase orders while maintaining our current high quality assessment.” Takahiro Sugiyama, Baan Japan President comments: “iBaan has enabled Harison Toshiba Lighting to integrate its primary operations – planning, procurement, manufacturing, sales and accounting – and establish a business foundation that is optimal company-wide. In addition, operations are being reformed into a ‘global standard’ work system by reforming existing corporate customs and cultures.” It’s a considerable affirmation of iBaan’s now classic personalised web integration stuff – allowing people, functions and processes to work together collaboratively in real time and seamlessly. Says Watanabe: “We aligned our processes with those indicated by Baan and kept customisation to a minimum so that we could build a system that didn’t seek to satisfy system users, but to truly satisfy customers. We succeeded at capturing a business flow on a global standard by maximising the functions and benefits that ERP itself possesses.” As for the choice of Baan, he says that was based on “consulting provided by IBM Japan.” And he adds: “This was due to its high functionality and flexibility for the manufacturing industry, and the ability to achieve operations via standard functions.”