By John Mark V. Tuazon
Computerworld Philippines
July 26, 2010

A local company who pioneered the sale of pearl shakes in the country is embarking on a journey to bring in a new kind of “cool”—that is, implementing one of the latest breakthroughs in business IT for small firms, called SAP’s Business One.

Zagu Foods Corporation, owner of the Zagu franchise which brought to the Philippines flavored shakes with “pearls”, or tiny chewable balls made of tapioca flour, recently acquired SAP’s solution for small businesses in an attempt to streamline the company’s reporting process.

Reporting was a cause of constant headaches for the duration of the company’s 11-year run, according to Erwin Spencer Lim, chief operating officer, Zagu Foods Corporation. “We saw [many] inefficiencies with our in-house data. There are mounds of paper, and it took a long time to generate the needed reports. So we thought, why not give it a shot?” he explained.

Lim said the involvement of human hands with the reports generation process compromised the quality of the data. “Everytime [the data] is transferred, and multiple people enter [and add] data, then the source of errors increases,” he explained.

This tedious process extended the reports generation lead time, which often took “a couple of weeks,” according to Lim, also because the franchise’s 200 outlets are sporadically dispersed nationwide.

By implementing SAP’s Business One solution, the ERP system tailored for small businesses, reports will be generated in almost real-time, according to Jeremy Joseph del Rosario, marketing manager of XCEL Software Solutions Philippines, the partner who implemented the SAP solution for Zagu.

Lim said it took them more than 10 years to implement a comprehensive solution that will handle their reporting processes “because it took us a while to let go of our in-house system and transform, because we always felt that our people won’t be able to handle the change.”

The Zagu COO added that they were not too keen on automating their business process the past few years because they were not confident with themselves and the offerings at that time. “Now, with SAP Business One, I think we’re more ready,” he chided.

Currently in the middle of implementation, the SAP solution also allows Zagu to scale whenever needed, according to del Rosario. “[SAP Business One] quickly adapts to the changing business requirements. If Zagu plans on expanding, then the system doesn’t end on one point, and allows them to scale,” he added.

By having quality data on hand whenever needed, Zagu will be able to lay out a practical and achievable roadmap for the future. “If you don’t have the proper data, it’s hard to make proper decisions,” Lim noted. “Hopefully, with Business One, it will speed up the process, be more competent with the data we’re gathering, and make a lot of better decisions.”

Zagu Foods Corporation has been in the business since 1999, serving more than 40 million pearl shakes since its inception. The company has won numerous awards such as the National Consumer Quality Awards, and the Parangal ng Bayan People’s Choice Awards in the Philippines. It has also gained international recognition through its partner in Sydney, Australia.

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