The Business System Officer that Craves Challenges
Meet Raden Riski Hermansyah. A go-getter who always challenges himself and finds the silver lining to any given situation.
Being a part of this family was started when I joined BMJ back in 2010, a fresh graduate with an IT programming background starting his journey in the professional world. Even with my educational background in the IT world, my professional journey did not start in the IT department. I was joined BMJ with a role in Business Operation Excellence (BOE), where I was focusing myself on finding the possible improvement for the company while maintaining the current performance. Being in BOE might not be aligned with my background, however, I do feel that those times were valuable due to my learning curve in understanding BMJ as a whole company.
“I do believe that technology is created not to replace humans, but to make their life easier.”
Enterprise Resources Planning (ERP) Implementation
One of the most interesting experiences working in BMJ was when they changed the Enterprise Resources Planning (ERP) platform. After months of working in (BOE), in 2012, because of the needs of a programmer in the development team, I was chosen to be one of the team members. It was a huge challenge for me, getting back to my educational background after 3 years doing completely different things. I can say, that that time was exciting for me, as BMJ trying to improve its ERP technology with the better one, with the main objective, to improve the effectiveness and efficiency in the business process, both the production process and service process.
I enjoyed every little process that happened at those times, the ups and downs, laughs, and tears; I cherish every moment that I could remember. The new ERP system will provide the new interface, which will provide a more user-friendly and more convenient system for the user. Even though the process was exhausting at that time, all those efforts were paid when the system had successfully implemented in BMJ. I remember that I was frustrated because of the pressure, but what does not kill you makes you stronger, right?
The process itself was not a simple and easy process. Migrating all data from the old ERP platform and importing it into the new platform brings a lot of pressure and challenges. At that time, I was tasked to focus on programming for the production process, and to do that, I have to understand all the manufacturing processes of all factories in BMJ, and there are four of them! I remember clearly that each factory has its own unique point, with different Factory Manager, they have their own leadership style, even their own production process. The main task for me is to solve the problems that occurred, and creating a comprehensive report regarding the development process of each factory. Even though it was exhausting, it was a valuable experience for me, and I really grateful for that opportunity.
Day to Day in Business System Services
It took us a year to implement the new ERP platform into BMJ, with the complex process of migrating all data for all factories and offices, the process is done and the business continues to grow even stronger. I was allotted to the new department, Business System Services (BSS) who is in general is responsible to manage and maintain the run ability of our new ERP system. This department is also responsible for improving our ERP system to accommodate the needs of our users.
In general, BSS responsible for solving the problems that our users faced, in terms of technology, especially with the ERP system. This system is crucial, as we are using this as an integrated system into the business. From the sales order, material management, production process, quality control process, plant maintenance, finishing process, even reaching the financial and accounting, and human resources management. Without adequate support and capability, the program can be disruptive and affecting the productivity of the company. The main challenge is to provide continuous improvement, as I have to provide a solution for each problem that occurred.
Many people asking, “what is the difference between BSS and IT department?”. It is indeed a completely different department with a different role, even though we are collaborating on a daily basis. The IT department providing us with the way, with the hardware and infrastructure, secure internet connection, while we are supporting our users with the business process, report, and the ERP system itself. Collaboration is one of the many things that make my day exciting. In BSS, I involved in a lot of collaboration, providing other departments with a suitable system to support their activities. One of those collaborations was with Human Resource Department when we tried to implement a new system to record the employee’s absence and presence; and the other collaboration was with our compliance department, supporting their audit process with advance and user-friendly system to make their process easier.
Being a family in BMJ put a positive energy every time I stepped into the office. With a friendly environment, good teamwork, it feels like home, not an office. When one person got a problem and has to stay in the office for a while longer, we are all stay behind, supporting each other and laugh together. BMJ also understand my passion for IT, as my superior, and the company, open to the idea for improvement. When someone has an idea or concept to improve the current system, we discuss it thoroughly and if it’s feasible, it is not impossible to make it happened.