Infor has revealed Dubai-headquartered Mattex Group has selected Infor CloudSuite Fashion, Infor CloudSuite HCM and the Birst business intelligence solution as part of Mattex’s digital transformation journey. When complete, its cloud-based platform will help Mattex expand its operations for future growth.
“We were looking for a cloud solution that would facilitate business growth, support our digital transformation, and streamline production planning and utilization, as well as help enhance reporting. The decision to work with Infor was made due to the solution fit – its industry-specific, purpose-built software as a service in the cloud meets our requirements perfectly,” said Luc Blommaert, Mattex Group’s Chief Executive Officer.
“We are looking forward to benefiting from adopting integrated and standardized business processes and ultimately reducing the total cost of IT ownership by moving our infrastructure to a cloud environment.”
Mattex’s decision
Mattex develops and produces primary and secondary carpet backings, artificial grass yarns and Geotextiles. The business is headquartered in Dubai. It has six state-of-the-art production facilities across the UAE, KSA and USA. Over two decades the business has grown, fueled by a combination of core focus on product development, innovation and a customer-centric approach to business.
The global implementation of Infor CloudSuite HCM includes both Middle East and North America sites. Mattex intends to:
- improve operational efficiency
- optimize its talent management process from recruitment to retirement
- ensure local regulation compliance.
In addition, with the introduction of the Infor CloudSuite, Mattex hopes to simplify complex processes, workflows, and systems with modern technology. Mattex chose to adopt Birst in order to:
- improve the quality of reporting
- take advantage of an intelligence suite in the cloud.
Mattex replaces Microsoft
Mattex chose Infor over Microsoft and SAP for its SaaS project. Infor’s software displaces the Mattex’s current Microsoft solution. The implementation expects to go live in the UAE and Belgium. Later the same solution will roll out to its operating units in Saudi Arabia and the United States.
The Infor solutions will run on Infor OS technology. This includes:
- ION, which facilitates loosely coupled integration of third-party software
- the Infor Ming.le user experience which incorporates analytics, alerts, business documents and supports user collaboration to boost efficiency and drive user productivity.
“In today’s economic climate, we operate with unprecedented levels of change. In order to remain at the forefront of our industry, we need to adapt and move with the times to improve our product offering and become more competitive in the market place. The integrated Infor suite of products will ensure that we have fully visibility of our sales pipeline, planning, production, logistics and financial information globally and on demand.
“The Infor suite of products will also represent a central plank in our broader business transformation objectives of establishing a best-in-class Finance and IT infrastructure that delivers operational efficiency, business support effectiveness and the ability to add real value to all our stakeholders,” said Suhail Rafiq, Mattex Group’s Chief Financial Officer.
What does this mean
Mattex’s aligns with ‘Smart Dubai’, the UAE’s digital transformation strategy. Dubai established this to deliver an “efficient, seamless, safe and impactful city experience for residents and visitors, one which involves close collaboration between the public and private sectors”. Mattex sees Infor’s industry-specific cloud-based solutions as a complement, because these are based on applications used globally to gain and maintain industry leadership. Similar businesses include brand owners, retailers, and manufacturers of apparel, textiles, and footwear.
Non-oil manufacturing businesses with a global presence are uncommon in the Middle East. Mattex is one. The move from to Infor should give the latter an even greater standing in the Middle East.