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When the recession hit late last fall, the construction and oil and gas industries were among the first to suffer.

Luckily for Colin Osborne, he had started planning a technology project that may help his company ride out the downturn.  

Bringing more efficiency into the business

The CEO of Oakville, Ont.-based Vicwest Income Fund is preparing to launch the first phase of an enterprise resource planning (ERP) rollout based on SAP Canada's Business All-in-One product, with a view to streamlining its entire supply chain.

Vicwest Income Fund is an open-ended, limited-purpose investment trust that fabricates, sells and distributes building construction, agricultural storage and liquid storage products.

SAP Business All-in-One is business managment software for mid-size firms with "best practices" built in -- helping these companies manage everything from financials, human resources, procurement, inventory and corporate services, to customer service, sales and marketing.

“We started the process of ERP assessment almost nine months ago. It was a little bit before the world fell apart,” Osborne said. “It was really driven by the fact that we're going a lot of great things in our business, and the more efficiency we bring in, the better and stronger and forward-looking our management can be.”

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Vicwest operates from two divisions, Vicwest Building Products and Westeel Storage Solutions, and sells under seven different brand names to international markets.

While the Vicwest side supplies metal roofing, siding, insulated metal panels and composite panels, Westeel specializes in bins, hopper cones and other containment products for grain and fertilizer.

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