Unimin Selects IFS Applications to Improve Operational Efficiencies

Global fracking supplier IFS Applications, said that Unimin Corp., North America’s largest supplier of frac sand, has chosen the company to assist in optimizing its supply chain and global operations.

Unimin has 46 mining and mineral processing sites and 11 offices across the U.S., Canada and Mexico. To improve operational efficiencies, the company needed greater real-time visibility into its supply chain and to replace more than 10 outdated enterprise systems that consisted of various homegrown and off-the-shelf solutions.

“Our pressing need was to get better control of our inventory and flow of materials,” said Tim Goris, Unimin’s director of project management. “It was also recognized as an opportunity for the company to replace some of our antiquated information systems. We ultimately chose IFS over the competition because of their experience and reputation in the mining industry, and the fact that IFS got its start on the asset side opposed to the finance side. This is important to us as we are an asset-oriented company. Unimin hopes to realize improved efficiencies across the organization, starting with supply chain optimization.”

“Being a single, component-based enterprise resource planning (ERP) suite, IFS Applications will allow Unimin to immediately address its supply chain needs and then roll out the ERP system over time,” said Patrick Zirnhelt, IFS North America’s vice president of sales, asset management and enterprise service management.

“The built-in business intelligence reports, especially, will provide Unimin with real-time insight into their inventory so they can more accurately control their costs and improve product quality and profitability, based on what is on hand and what is coming in,” he said.

Unimin will implement IFS Applications to some 600 users in a multi-phase process over the next three years, beginning with its energy business. The ERP software will cover all key areas, including supply chain, manufacturing, engineering, human resources, maintenance, financials and accounting, customer resource management, business analytics, web services, as well as a collaborative portal.

 

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