Plaut Consulting Helps Natural Healthcare Company Implement Full-Blown SAP R/3 System in Just Seven Months

Business Wire, Oct 14, 1998

WALTHAM, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 14, 1998--

R/3 solution replaces Murdock Madaus Schwabe's outdated business systems, provides support for strategic business decisions, and solves

Y2K problems.

Plaut Consulting Inc. announced today that it has successfully completed a seven-month SAP(TM) R/3(TM) implementation with Murdock Madaus Schwabe, a pioneer in natural health supplements. The R/3 solution, which simultaneously replaced outdated business systems and resolved Murdock Madaus Schwabe's Year 2000 issues, was completed on time and within budget.

"We leveraged the R/3 enterprisewide integration to enable Murdock Madaus Schwabe to share information across the company in real time. Now they can quickly see and process daily information, and make more informed strategic business decisions regarding product lines and costing," commented Thomas Schober, Plaut Consulting senior vice president, west region. "On the tactical side, we've been able to reduce the time required for the company to do its month-end close from ten days to less than four; ultimately, it will probably take only two days."

According to Rich Jones, CFO of Murdock Madaus Schwabe, "We went live with R/3 and didn't skip a beat. The dedication of the Plaut Consulting team was impressive, and the project management was excellent. We had real confidence that the Plaut consultants wouldn't sacrifice quality just for the sake of being able to tout a quick implementation. They made sure that everything was ready to go before we made the final go-live decision. In the end, we had the system up and running by our aggressive deadline. For us, the implementation was a very positive experience."

About Murdock Madaus Schwabe's R/3 Solution

Plaut led Murdock Madaus Schwabe in implementing five core SAP R/3 modules: Financial Accounting (FI; including general ledger, accounts payable, accounts receivable, and legal consolidation); Controlling (CO; including cost-center accounting, profit-center accounting, internal orders, profitability analysis, and product costing); Materials Management (MM); Production Planning (PP); and Sales and Distribution (SD). The 150-user system will operate on an IBM RS6000 running AIX with an Oracle database. Plaut used standard tools and methodologies to facilitate the implementation, including AcceleratedSAP(TM), the SAP road map for rapid implementations.

A noteworthy aspect of the project was that Plaut had to build a complex interface between the Warehouse Management Systems from Catalyst International, Inc. (NASDAQ:CLYS), and SAP R/3. Plaut used ABAP and Oberon Prospero(TM) Building Blocks to create the interface, which was heavily tied into the MM, PP, and SD core modules. The result, according to Rich Jones, is a "seamless interface" that enables critical data to flow to and from SAP R/3.

About the Companies

Murdock Madaus Schwabe, headquartered in Springville, Utah, is recognized worldwide as a pioneer in the development of natural products. It is committed to manufacturing excellent products, most notably the Nature's Way(R) and NaturaLife(R) brands, based on scientific study, good nutrition, and respect for nature's healing power. Murdock Madaus Schwabe maintains an extensive scientific information resource center focusing on the natural healthcare industry. The company is also active in supporting research on how native cultures use plants. By interviewing and observing traditional healers, and collecting and analyzing plant samples, the strengths of folk wisdom and scientific research can be combined to develop effective health products.

Plaut Consulting Inc. is the U.S. branch of the Plaut Group, an international management and technology consulting firm based in Germany that has helped companies combine intelligent business management with information technology for more than 50 years. Plaut delivers business solutions using SAP R/3 to companies of various sizes in a wide range of industries and offers R/3 outsourcing services. Plaut enjoys strong working ties with SAP (NYSE:SAP) based on a 16-year relationship. Headquartered just outside Boston in Waltham, Massachusetts, Plaut Consulting also maintains offices in Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, and San Francisco. More information about Plaut Consulting is available at http://www.plaut.com.

SAP, R/3, and AcceleratedSAP are trademarks or registered trademarks of SAP AG. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners, and Plaut disavows any interest in them.