Global recycling company Sims Metal Management has increased its presence in Europe in recent years. With expansion largely due to company takeovers, the IT infrastructure consisted of many disparate technologies. This made group consolidation difficult and entailed high administrative expenditure. Sims Metal Management decided to introduce international group software to benefit from professional industry-specific functions, transparent accounting and easier group consolidation. It chose enwis), a software solution based on Microsoft Dynamics NAV.

Business Needs
Sims Metal Management recycles metal and electronics waste for its customers-from big businesses to local communities-throughout the world. Metal recycling represents the greater proportion of the group’s activity, but today’s consumers recycle more and more electronic goods.

In Europe, the group grew largely through takeovers, which brought them a highly diverse IT infrastructure. This was also due to the fact that industry-specific solutions fit for international use in the field of waste disposal and recycling are still very rare, and some of them are out of date. As a result, Sims Metal Management was forced to operate a variety of local applications to accommodate the needs of its international divisions.

Peter Barclay, Group Information Communications Technology Director for Sims Metal Management, Europe, says: “Group consolidation cost us a great deal of time and effort, as different software solutions were used for accounting. Even more problematic was the lack of integration between our companies, making it difficult to achieve a full view of data across the organisation. Now we have an integrated solution for each of our local European companies.”

In 2005, Sims Metal Management decided to change its software. The project’s main aim was to equip all European offices with standardised group software. “If your prices aren’t right, you’ll put off potential customers. The service has to be right too, and has to adhere to European environmental standards, “ says Barclay

Sims Metal Management felt only enwis) offered enough depth of detail in terms of industry-specific functions to provide smooth integration between financial and operational processes. Based on Microsoft Dynamics NAV to facilitate group reporting, enwis) is the world’s first industry-specific solution to be recently awarded the “Certified for Microsoft Dynamics” standard. To qualify for certification, Gold Certified Partners need to present a solution based on the latest release of Microsoft Dynamics NAV and provide 10 references from customers willing to recommend it. The solution is then tested by an independent company on a wide range of criteria, from ease of use to customisation.

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