Fritz & Macziol has reached another important milestone in the rollout of the logistics system VAS with the final acceptance at the Lafarge Emirates cement plant, UAE. The launch was realised in a short time using a template, which has been specially modified to Lafarge's processes.

The cooperation between Lafarge and the Fritz & Macziol project team made a critical contribution to this fast implementation. "We were able to start the further optimisation process with the demonstrably tested and process-oriented software," the project manager at Lafarge Emirates reported. For Lafarge, therefore, the investments in the development of the VAS Lafarge template, with which it was possible to rollout the solution globally in 22 plants, was worth it, states Fitz and Macziol. All solutions work integrated into Lafarge's central ERP system from J.D.Edwards/Oracle. Care of the VAS system is ensured by Fritz & Macziol via a corresponding service agreement.

Seven cement plants belonging to various companies across Saudi Arabia, the Emirates and Syria, have implemented the Fritz & Macziol logistics solution. For installations in the Arab world, the VAS user interface has been designed such that the terminals for the drivers and dispatch staff, who speak in Arabic, can also be used from right to left. The hardware also had to be modified to suit the climatic conditions in the Arab world, where temperatures can reach more than 40°C in summer.