Eramet is a French mining and metallurgical group with operations in about 15 countries. To support the energy transition, the group is expanding into critical metals, including lithium for electric vehicle batteries.
As part of this effort, Eramet is building a lithium extraction plant in Centenario-Ratones, in northwestern Argentina, operated by its subsidiary Eramine. For this new site, the group is launching a comprehensive SAP project covering finance, procurement, maintenance, logistics, production, and planning.
Eramet has entrusted HRC with the warehouse component, using a Minimum Viable Product (MVP) approach: getting a quick start on essential processes, then enhancing the solution in successive phases.
The Challenges
- A site under construction: the scoping and design phases took place right in the middle of the construction site, at an altitude of 3,800 meters, with processes still being defined.
- A multi-product warehouse unprecedented within the group: Eramine is the first Eramet site to manage raw materials, spare parts, and finished goods within a single warehouse, each with its own storage and handling constraints (chemical reagents, fuels, membranes, packaging, etc.).
- A tight schedule: The warehouse had to be operational by the time the plant began operations, in line with the other phases of the SAP program.
- A multi-stakeholder project: The warehouse module had to integrate seamlessly with the sales, production, maintenance, and procurement domains, managed by other teams.
HRC Consulting’s Approach
HRC Consulting assembled a team of SAP WM and MM experts, including a native Spanish-speaking consultant to facilitate communication with local teams. The approach: to adhere as closely as possible to the SAP standard and include only the processes essential for the initial launch.
- Scoping (15 days): review of the overall design, definition of the MVP scope, and integration points with MM, PP, SD, and PM.
- Design and Configuration (2 months): MM/WM organizational structures, putaway and picking strategies, iterative demonstrations with the key user and then with the entire project team.
- Acceptance Testingand On-Site Training (15 days each): integration testing and user acceptance testing conducted in Argentina; training for the key warehouse user; training guides and go-live plan.
- Go-Live and Hypercare: support for the go-live and Level 3 support.
Processes covered: receiving (supplier orders, customer returns), putaway, cycle counts, transfers, scrap, material release for production and maintenance (by reservation, work order, or cost center), replenishment, management of quality and blocked inventory, and labeling of raw materials and finished goods.
Close monitoring (weekly flash reports, regular steering committee meetings) enabled us to quickly resolve integration issues with other phases of the program.
Mobility with HRC Software
Eramine was chosen by Eramet as a showcase site for HRC Software applications. The reasoning is simple: who better to configure SAP WM/MM and PM than the team that develops the mobile applications integrated with these modules?
This decision is part of the group’s digital transformation strategy. After several years of developing applications in-house, Eramet sought to reduce its development and maintenance costs, accelerate deployments, and rely on a single partner for industrial mobility.
On Eramine, HRC Software’s applications were deployed as standard:
- Warehouse for 10 logistics operators: receiving, putaway, picking, transfers, and inventory counts directly on the shop floor;
- Maintenance for 40 technicians: notifications, work orders, inspection rounds, and confirmations, including offline functionality.
HRC Consulting managed the entire mobility project, from implementation to training, including the selection of devices.
Results
- Launch on schedule, in line with the site’s commissioning.
- A 100% standard SAP WM and PM solution, tailored to the company’s needs and ready to scale.
- Immediate adoption: maintenance and logistics managers supported the project as soon as the applications were demonstrated, and new users quickly requested access.
- A foundation for the future: the WM/PM core model serves as the basis for subsequent phases and the rollout of mobility at the group’s other industrial sites (France, Norway, United States).
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