Ghassan Holding Group (GHG), one of the largest business conglomerates in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, on Saturday announced the selection of Orion ERP II software solution from global technology solutions and services provider 3i Infotech. Ghassan Al-Nemer Group is a privately-owned family business renowned for the gold business. The family has been involved in the gold business (originally as goldsmith) for approximately 122 years. Ghassan A Al-Nemer started his business in 1985, and expanded rapidly. Ghassan now operates 19 gold jewelry outlets in the Kingdom with wholesale offices in Dammam, Jeddah and Dubai. Ghassan has been ranked “number one” as a gold supplier in the Kingdom with gold trading turnover of SR13.476 billion ($3.6 billion) for fiscal year 2008. In line with the Kingdom's policy of encouraging the indigenous work force, 70 percent of GHG employees are Saudis, who have been rigorously trained to cope with the needs and requirements of their work. In addition to the gold and jewelry business, the group has diversified portfolio with interests; in real estate, financial investments, general contracting, trading in electronics, hardware, manufacturing of wooden furniture & fixtures and heavy transport business. GHG is a significant player in the transportation business and owns some 200 heavy commercial vehicles. As the group steadily expands, GHG deemed it fit to utilize a software solution that would help maximize “Enterprise level Resource Planning” to better address the multifaceted business needs of all the Group companies and further enhancement of its operations and services, such as: • Group level consolidation, to review the business performance at the group level • Company-wise consolidation of data to review each company's performance • Seamless integration of all the business functions (marketing, HR, finance, operations etc) of each company • Proper controls and visibility of end-to-end process of all the companies • Proper control and visibility of procurement process • Proper control and visibility of vehicle fleet (key aspect of transportation business) • Availability of centralized customer information • Create self service and paperless environment • Accurate information to analyze the business performance • Timely availability of accurate information to all the management team for fast decision making 3i Infotech's Orion ERP II is an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) solution that will help Ghassan Holding in its operations across Saudi Arabia and the GCC by providing effective control and visibility on stocks, procurement, costs, processes and documents. The solution will centralize fleet management, consolidate various systems, and provide information for effectively managing project timelines. Commenting on the tie-up, Ghassan A. Al Nemer, chairman of Ghassan Holding, said: “Our vision is to actively participate in the economic development of the Kingdom by heavily investing in key sectors. In line with our strategy of business diversification and geographic expansion, we scouted for a technology partner that would map our requirements and provide the right consultancy. We feel that Orion ERP II is a highly dynamic, scalable and a flexible solution that can take us to the next level and cater to our needs within the GCC and globally.” Pankaj Chawla, CEO and president, 3i Infotech, MEARC, said: “At 3i Infotech we have understood the critical requirements of Ghassan Holding and we are providing the best ERP solution that will augment future growth plans of this visionary Group. It is with this focus that we recently set up our office in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and put in place a dedicated team of professionals who will look after key clients such as GHG. In a highly competitive business environment, excellence could best be realized with the application of a greatly efficient and dependable solution from 3i Infotech, and it's here where Orion ERP II software solution has a significant edge.” Ashish Dass, senior vice president & business head (Middle East, Africa, Russia & CIS), 3i Infotech, said “with Orion ERP II software solution in place, GHG is set to achieve notable gains, such as: • Effective control and visibility of stocks, costs, process and documents for all the GHG companies • Group and each company level consolidation of data • Implementation and centralization of human resource policies • Cost and process control will provide the visibility on the cost incurred when any asset (property /land) is acquired • Fleet management solution for the transportation business will insure the effective utilization of driver and vehicle and increase the profitability • Vehicle life cycle management. This will provide vehicle wise profit/loss statement • Effective control tracking of project timelines and cost • Effective and timely availability of information.”
