MSIG Mingtai Insurance Co., Ltd has successfully replaced its legacy IT system with integrated Oracle E-Business Suite (EBS) to fulfill the company’s business needs. MSIG Mingtai is one of the leading insurance companies in Taiwan and has been expanding its business rapidly. The increased business needs led Mingtai to decide to embark on a new era with a new integrated ERP system. Mingtai chose ABeam Taiwan as its partner for both Business Process Reengineering and system replacement. With the enhanced capabilities, MSIG Mingtai is now confident that it will be recognized as the No.1 non-life insurance company in Taiwan.

Challenges・Standardization of business processes and reinforcement of internal control.・Full-scale Business Process Reengineering and replacement of the legacy system with an integrated ERP system.・Migration of a complicated dataset to designated units of the Oracle EBS system.・Improvement in the quality of business processes, information transparency, corporate governance, and adoption of the IFRS.

Solutions・Choice of Oracle E-Business Suite (EBS) as a flexible, open system.・Best practice adoption from MSI in Japan.・Holistic support of Business Process Reengineering.

Success Factors・Strong cooperative framework and confidence-building among the executives of MSI in Japan, Mingtai, and ABeam. ・Effective communication among the members of the Steering Committee, which is comprised of the chief officers of MSI, Mingtai, and ABeam. Bi-weekly project meetings were held to ensure schedule management, resource assignment, and information sharing.・Professional, high-quality support delivered by ABeam Taiwan.

Case Study Oracle EBS Solution MSIG Mingtai Insurance Co., Ltd.

of the business processes and the transparency of information, strengthen corporate governance, and endorse the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) that will be enforced by the government in 2013.

In the launch of the BPR project, Oracle Taiwan and ABeam proposed a solution to the executives of Mingtai. Mingtai took time to examine the proposal thoroughly. The executives of Mingtai found it attractive. They also contacted the MSI in Ja-pan, which later responded that ABeam could be a good option for supporting Mingtai because of the long-term partnership between MSI and ABeam Japan. When Mingtai launched its BPR project, ABeam Taiwan was invited to join the project as a consultant.

A steering committee was formed to oversee the project, comprising executives from Mingtai, MSI in Japan, and ABeam.

While several ERP packages were nominated to standardize the company’s complicated business processes, a flexible plat-form was a key requirement for its insurance business. In addi-tion, other offices of the MSI group, such as Singapore and Ja-pan, had already introduced Oracle. After thorough evaluation, Mingtai decided to introduce Oracle EBS as its new ERP sys-tem. The MSI members in Japan also willingly supported the Mingtai project. They provided their best-practice cases as a ref-erence. This information greatly helped Mingtai during the sys-tem design phase.

The insurance industry has its own way of doing business

When I look back, my heart aches,” recalls Ms. Grace Weng, Vice President of MSIG (Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance Group) Mingtai. “We needed to overcome the differences between the legacy system and the new EBS system. For our IT staff, the new system was an unknown world.”

Founded in 1961, Mingtai has a more than 50 years history. Years of steady business has seen it gain in popularity to become one of the five major non-life insurers in Taiwan.

Mingtai not only holds a major portion of the domestic mar-ket, but it has also ventured onto the global market. With the strategic support of its parent company, the Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance (MSI) in Japan, Mingtai has been expanding its inter-nationalized services to Chinese customers around the world.

In 2009, Mingtai launched a Business Process Reengineering (BPR) project. The company had encountered structural trans-formation in the industry, including increased competition and new types of products. In addition, government regulations had been changing every year, and sometimes every quarter. To overcome these difficult circumstances, Mingtai decided to re-view the structure of its operations.

The legacy system at Mingtai, the Advanced Comprehensive Operating System (ACOS), was developed by its IT staff twen-ty years ago. The system was closed, unuser-friendly, and mainly manually operated. For instance, when someone needed to check the payment amounts for their agents or partners, they had to ask their IT staff members to extract the required data.

The objectives of the BPR project were to improve the quality

The Challenge of Full-Scale BPR

Design Phase Prior to Implementation

MSIG Mingtai Insurance Co., Ltd.

Case Study Oracle EBS Solution

Full-scale BPR and Oracle EBS implementation

corresponding to the IFRS,

fulfilling the requirements of the insurance industry in Taiwan.

Project Scope

Oracle based System Architecture and Oracle Modules

External Operation System(Banks, etc.)

(Interface development)

Analysiscategorization

MSIG MingtaiMain System

System Integration,

MSIG MingtaiPeripheral Systems

(Interface development)

DataConversion,

■ Oracle Receivables; AR ■ Oracle Payables; AP ■ Oracle Assets; FA■ Oracle Cash Management; CE ■ Oracle General Ledger; GL ■ Oracle Business Tax; EB Tax

AR

AP

EB Tax

Planning

ReportingCE

GL

FA

Oracle Modules implemented are as follows;

Oracle Financials System

and its own requirements. Even though ABeam Taiwan is rec-ognized as the No.1 consulting firm in Taiwan in terms of im-plementing Oracle software, the team found the insurance poli-cy system very complicated, and its money flow systems are totally different from those of other industries. Jessica Jiang, Principal of ABeam Taiwan, commented, “We needed to learn the insurance industry first.”

For the purpose of completing this huge task, the Steering Committee held meetings every other week with the Project Management Office (PMO) to examine the proceedings and provide advice on a case-by-case basis. To fulfill the require-ments, a design phase was configured before the implementa-tion phase to ensure that further work would proceed smoothly.

Ms. Jessie Chiu, Mingtai’s Vice President Financial Division, recalls, “There are many sub-systems under ACOS, all of which are closed systems. It was difficult for us to oversee the required data in a consistent manner. It was clear that there were limita-tions for upgrading. We needed to set a new course for our sys-tem.”

Ms. Grace Weng recalls, “A huge amount of data required conversion. In addition, no mistakes are allowed with finance and accounting data. Given the pressure, vast amounts of Min-gtai resources were put into the project, as we recognized that this conversion could be the key to the project’s success.”

With the acknowledgement that the outcome of the design phase could pave the way for the next step, 15 Mingtai team members and eight consultants from ABeam worked together for six months during the design phase. Subsequently, the im-plementation phase commenced. During this phase, 10 IT staff

members, 20 developers, more than 20 key users from Mingtai, and 10 consultants worked together for another nine months.

During this phase, the IT staff was frequently confused in the unknown Oracle world. When they faced difficulties, ABeam consultants were always there to assist them. Mingtai had focused on putting the maximum number of human re-sources into this system migration work.

It is relatively difficult to change habits. Mingtai staff mem-bers had been using the ACOS system for over 20 years, so they wondered whether or not they would be able to work with the new system. This placed a certain amount of pressure on them. To alleviate their anxiety, ABeam provided them with compre-hensive training courses.

Through these training courses, the users mastered the use of the system and gradually understood what Oracle EBS is. The training courses not only eliminated their worries, but also helped them to recognize the importance of changing their long-held way of working.

One of the main purposes of the system migration work was automation. Users had previously needed to input a large amount of customer data manually, as only 30% was automat-ed in the previous system. The new system satisfied the require-ments. 100% of data is now processed automatically. As for outputting ledger sheets, Mingtai staff members no longer need to request their IT staff members to extract the required data from the system. As a result, the amount of time and labor has been significantly reduced. “Now everything is within EBS,”

Case Study Oracle EBS Solution

The Change was Hard Work

Hunglin TangManaging Director,ABeam China & Taiwan

Ms. Jessie ChiuVice President,Financial DivisionMSIG Mingtai Insurance Co., Ltd.

Mr. James YehPresident,MSIG Mingtai Insurance Co., Ltd.

Ms. Grace WengVice President,System - Business ProcessRe-engineering, Promotion DivisionMSIG Mingtai Insurance Co., Ltd.

Jessica JiangPrincipal,ABeam Taiwan

Joseph HsiehDirector,ABeam Taiwan

Core Members of MSIG Mingtai Core Members of ABeam Taiwan

Go-Live

Design Phase Implementation Phase

1.0 Plan & Analysis

2.0Design

3.0Build

4.0Deliver

5.0Operate

● Customization List Review● BR Issue Log (199 Issues) URGENT (~Dec. 2010)…1 MED (~Apr. 2011)…40 (LOW (Before Go-Live)…26) CLOSED…132● Mingtai- ABeam agreement● Mingtai Approval Process

2.5 months

Aug. ‘10 Apr. ‘11 Mingtai Target：Jan. 2012Jan. ‘11

3.5 months

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H

L

Typical psychological status of key users through Oracle implementation project

　

Full of Curiosity

Biz Flow Discussion Learn New Systems & Biz Models

Get Picture for Future

Go-Live

Time

Sense of Ownership

Degree of A

daptation

Uncertainty AcceptSuspicion

Work Load Increase Big Pressure for Future

End User Training & User Acceptance

Test

Training,Requirements

Taking

Project Schedule and Change in Attitude towards the BPR

says Joseph Hsieh, Director of ABeam Taiwan. “The financial staff members are always able to access the required data from the system themselves.” It constantly provides detailed informa-tion such as payable work, receivable work, business processes, and communication with their partners.

In addition, hardly anyone in the insurance industry had shifted the previous financial and accounting system to the In-ternational Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS), so it was not easy. Following the adoption of the IFRS in EU nations, Korea and Thailand adopted it in 2011. Malaysia and Indonesia fol-lowed in 2012, and Taiwan is planning to adopt it in 2013.

For Mingtai, it was a good time to introduce the new IFRS-based ERP system. The MSI in Japan also welcomed the imple-mentation. The MSI group has been expanding its global net-work, particularly in the Asia region. For the insurance business, global risk management is crucial. The MSI had already sent spe-cial envoys to the MSI offices in Malaysia, Vietnam and China to support Mingtai through this global risk management system.

In the first quarter of 2012, Mingtai financial staff was able to submit thick financial and accounting reports standardized in accordance with the IFRS to the Financial Supervisory Com-mission of the Taiwan government. After 2013, only IFRS pa-pers will be made up from the integrated Oracle EBS.

In February 2012, the full-scale operation of the new EBS system commenced. Despite the fact that Mingtai had no expe-rience in a major ERP project of such scale, the transition went smoothly. The project team members were able to achieve the most difficult tasks through the close ties among Mingtai, MSI in Japan, and ABeam under the pressure of the tight schedule.

However, there was another issue. But Mr. James Yeh, the president of Mingtai, is calmly expecting good results from this new operation. “One of the greatest challenges of this project

was changing our attitude and way of thinking. This was achieved from the top to every field worker.” Needless to say, the conscientious training and direct communication for taking the pressure off the users helped to facilitate the process.

It took Mr. Yeh several years to lead his staff members to this pinnacle. He constantly supported the unknown anticipatory investment. Without this absolute visionary of the time, the project would not have got off the ground.

Throughout all the phases, one of the most important factors was communication. The project team members from Mingtai and ABeam overcame the hurdles of an unknown world, and were able to establish reliable communication lines. This com-munication was indeed the key factor for the remarkable achievements of this project.

As a project manager, Ms. Grace Weng is grateful to her team members. “I really appreciate our project team members. Even with the pressure and time limit, we were able to achieve it, while dealing with our daily work at the same time.”

She is also grateful to the ABeam team members, saying, “The ABeam team members always gave us exactly the right infor-mation for our needs based on their experience. They collabo-rated with us and gave us a sense of reassurance and confi-dence.”

After the full operation commences, the project team plans to complete additional EBS enhancement work until October. In addition, Mingtai is also going to introduce the core system for insurance. With ABeam as a “Real Partner,” the design of this core system has already been completed.

Mr. Yeh says, “We are grateful to the ABeam team members. They were very professional and offered numerous potential possibilities. They supported our reform work constantly. As a result, we can anticipate a future as the No.1 insurer selected by our customers.”

● Client DataCompany overviewCompany name: MSIG Mingtai Insurance Co., Ltd.Location: 1 Jen Ai Road Sec. 4 Taipei Taiwan 10685 Business: non-life insuranceTotal sales: 7.3 billion TWD (as of Jan. 2012)Employees: 1,268

Project overviewSummary: BPR and Oracle implementation (Created a transparent information platform to quickly respond and thrive in the fast-changing and competitive insurance industry in local market.)Timeframe: April 2009 to February 2012Team member count: More than 50 (at the peak) Phase I:Key Users: 15-20, Consultants:8 Phase II:Key Users: 20-25, Consultants:10, Developers: 20Software: Oracle E-Business Suite (EBS)

Case Study Oracle EBS Solution

2013.1 Copyright©2013 by ABeam Consulting Ltd. All rights reserved.

ABeam Consulting (Taiwan) Ltd.Tel: +886.2.2545.9977 Fax: +886.2.8545.1113ABeam Consulting Ltd. (HQ Japan) Marketing

Tel: +81-3-3501-8355www.abeam.com

“The greatest challenge was changing our attitudeand way of thinking. ”

A Real Partner for Mingtai

● Voice – Customer Evaluation

“For our first ever major transformation, the ABeam team members were dedicated to providing us with a high level of support. They were very professional and offered numerous potential possibilities, and furthermore, supported our reform work constantly. As a result, we can have confidence that we will be the No.1 insurance company selected by our customers.”

Mr. James YehPresident, MSIG Mingtai Insurance Co., Ltd.

“The ABeam team remained with us from the commencement of the project. They knew what we needed, and provided us with step-by-step advice. Their commitment was strong and their advice was shrewd. This gave us a sense of reassurance and confidence.”

Ms. Grace WengVice President, MSIG Mingtai Insurance Co., Ltd.

“They have a high level of professionalism and very good communication and coordination capabilities. I rate the abilities of the ABeam team members highly.”

Ms. Jessie ChiuVice President, Financial Division, MSIG Mingtai Insurance Co., Ltd.

Corporate data and titles are those in use at the time of writing.