SAP AG announced that an increasing number of companies in the global resources sector are using the innovative business solutions and industry-tailored functionality in the SAP? for Mining solution portfolio to drive success. SAP is helping leading resources companies such as Comalco Ltd., Sasol Synfuels International (Pty) Ltd. and Sasol Mining (Pty) Ltd. to effectively manage their enterprises and assets; enhance business intelligence for informed decision-making; and streamline supply chain and customer-facing processes to improve profitability. The announcement was made at the African SAP User Group conference SAPHILA, being held in Sun City, South Africa, Sept. 28–Oct. 1.

“As shareholders demand profitability and growth, mining companies must derive the highest value from their diversified asset portfolios and ensure the agility of their global IT networks,” said Kristian Steenstrup, Research VP, Gartner. “At the same time, they must execute a strategy for sustainable development along the “triple bottom line,” aligning corporate performance with economic, social and environmental parameters. IT solutions that enable effective, cross-enterprise knowledge management and collaborative planning of production, materials and costs thus translate into greater efficiency, higher profitability and long-term competitive advantage.”

SAP for Mining covers all commodities with solutions and customized functionality to effectively support operations across the full value chain—from exploration, extraction and processing, to conversion to salable product, sales and marketing, transportation, customer service as well as management of safety and regulatory compliance.

Sasol - A Strategic Transformation
South Africa-based Sasol Synfuels International (Pty) Ltd. and Sasol Mining (Pty) Ltd.-subsidiaries of leading global petrochemicals group Sasol Limited (NYSE: SSL)-is using the SAP NetWeaver? technology platform to leverage its investment in existing SAP applications and drive new levels of process efficiency and system integration. SAP customers for more than eight years, the companies went live with SAP? Enterprise Portal, a key component of SAP NetWeaver, for 6,000 users in May 2003, and plans to roll out SAP NetWeaver for more than 27,000 portal users worldwide next year.

Running at 99.5 percent availability, the portal is the companies’ comprehensive business enabler and knowledge management center, providing enterprise-wide access to SAP applications for financial, production, environmental, health and safety processes and shift planning. With the knowledge management capabilities in SAP Enterprise Portal and document management from the mySAP? ERP solution, Sasol efficiently manages the companies’ more than 2 million drawings and around 200 million documents. The portal directly interfaces with the companies’ third-party systems—such as the companies’ Manufacturing Execution System (MES) to monitor and control plant operations—providing role-based, real-time access to timely, structured and relevant financial and operational data, and enabling completely paperless processes such as reporting and balanced scorecards. Operational managers can now make faster, more informed decisions, driving productivity gains such as better demand planning, more effective load balancing and avoidance of disruptions in shifts.

The SAP-powered portal empowers the organization to more effectively translate its advanced technological know-how into greater business growth and higher profits; As the companies’ open or acquire sites in new markets, the strategic IT infrastructure, best practices and comprehensive knowledge base necessary to drive the new operations are already in place.

Comalco - Integrating Its Global Organization
Comalco Ltd., a wholly owned subsidiary of Rio Tinto (NYSE: RTP) and major Australian-based supplier of bauxite, alumina and primary aluminium to world markets, is using SAP solutions to harmonize physical and financial processes across its diverse operations in a single, enterprise-wide system. Beginning with its smelting operations, Comalco went live with solutions from the SAP for Mining portfolio for 3,000 employees in November 2002, taking just six months from project definition to deployment. The company's three smelting sites in two countries now operate as a single business along the full span of financial, production and supply chain processes, including sales and distribution, commodity pricing and transportation. The go-live for a further 1,000 users at its mining and refining operations is planned for October 2003.

“We had stretched our old systems as far as we could, but needed new solutions to achieve our business improvement initiatives and objectives for future growth,” said Phillip Strachan, chief financial officer, Comalco. “With only six months from project definition to go-live, the mySAP Business Suite implementation has been a success with users across the company as well as with Comalco customers, who are receiving better service and faster delivery-to-promise. By helping us standardize and streamline business processes across distributed sites, SAP is effectively supporting our drive to become the preferred aluminum business in the global marketplace.”

SAP's Ongoing Commitment to the Mining Industry
"SAP is proud to be associated with the world's leading mining companies, and we are totally committed to tailoring business solutions that enable sustainable advantages for our customers in the global resources industries," said Nils Herzberg, senior vice president, Manufacturing Industries, SAP AG. "Leveraging the power of SAP NetWeaver and the comprehensive functionality in the SAP for Mining portfolio, we will use our long-standing experience and deep insight from innovative development partnerships and successful implementations to continue delivering the business solutions that meet the demands of this unique industry."