Ali Bin Ali (ABA) Group’s FORWARD project reached a new milestone on Sunday, April 1, 2018 by welcoming another division – Ali Bin Ali Technology Solutions (ABATS) to the FORWARD family. After the pilot divisions, ABATS is the first division of the FORWARD first batch roll-out to Go Live.

True to the slogan, ‘Growing together to reach new heights’, ABATS has grown and evolved in its journey with the successful implementation of the FORWARD ERP Application.

The added value that FORWARD will bring about in ABATS involves the introduction of the Project Costing & Billing module. With the help of this module, the division will be able to perform costing and billing operations more efficiently by having an overview of all its projects and activities. This will be a key milestone, and will enhance the core business of ABATS.

On Sunday, a gathering was organized to celebrate the successful launch of FORWARD at ABATS. Apart from the ABATS team, present at the event was Chief Operating Officer-ICT Mr. Mohamad A. Ebrik, ABA Group PMO Manager Mr. Youssef Farajallah Mahmoud and Intrasoft Project Manager Mr. Amer Dakhqan. Top management from the Head Office also attended the event to mark their support for the FORWARD Project.

Congratulating Team ABATS on its achievement, Mr. Ebrik said: “Whenever there is a new system implemented there are hiccups, we face troubles in business but slowly we start to realize its benefit and start utilizing it. Similarly, with FORWARD we are bringing the latest technology to ABA and investing a lot. But the biggest investment we are making is in our people who are running the application. Now, the challenge is to make sure that we can utilize the FORWARD system and take advantage of it.”

Mr. Ebrik also added: “The team has put in great efforts, spending weekends and nights to make sure that everything was up and running before the scheduled Go Live.”

Mr. Youssef and Mr. Amer also thanked the ABATS team for their dedication and cooperation throughout the transition period.

While the achievement was a result of substantial efforts of the whole ABTAS team, two heroes stood out during the transitional phase, namely Mr. Shafquat Zubair, Finance Manager, and Mr. Shaleh MD. Mridha, Management Accountant.

Certificates of appreciation were handed over to them by Mr. Ebrik. Mr. Zubair accepted the certificate on behalf of the entire ABATS team and said the actual journey has begun now with the Go Live.

To mark the journey to new heights, ABATS & FORWARD team members put a small note on the symbolic tree to mark their contribution to the ABA FORWARD project. It was also a sign of unity and cooperation, which is the basis for the success of the project.

The FORWARD planning and transition phase for ABATS was made possible by the sheer dedication and commitment of the ABATS team complimented by excellent guidance and teamwork by our PMO team.

Lined up next for the roll-out is ABA Logistics Division. FORWARD PMO and the Logistics team are putting in every effort to Go Live, as scheduled, in a few weeks’ time.