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Argentina's free-market policies in recent years are sparking tremendous
economic growth across the country. This growth is due in part to business
expansion by large corporations. One such corporation, McDonald's, sees this
opportunity as "Golden."
McDonald's opened its first store in Argentina eight years ago, when quick - service
restaurants were a novelty. Today, McDonald's dominates the
Argentinean market, growing from 15 stores in 1993
to an anticipated 60 stores by 1996.
Under the Golden Arches
The Latin American company managing McDonald's business operations in
Argentina is Arcos Dorados (Spanish for "Golden Arches"). It is responsible
for tracking payroll for an estimated 6,000 employees, maintaining an employee
database with historical information that goes back two years, tracking assets
in two currencies (the Argentine peso and the U.S. dollar), and tracking a
variety of sales and supplier taxes.
To handle McDonald's business operations, Arcos Dorados needed an integrated
set of financial applications that could accommodate particular accounting
requirements, organize internal administration, and accommodate rapid growth
effectively. In addition, the company required a relational database that
could efficiently process local data as well as information originating from
remote sites. For Arcos Dorados, the right match is with Oracle Financials and
Oracle7.
Improved Business Operations
Before introducing the Oracle system, a small local-area network (LAN) served
the processing needs of a handful of stores, and employees updated payroll
records and produced reports manually. According to Eduardo Chiacchiarini,
manager of information systems for Arcos Dorados, there was no way to automate
these processes using the old system. "It just couldn't handle the volume of
records we were accumulating," he says.
Arcos Dorados' new computing environment consists of several large servers
connected to 100 workstations on an Ethernet network at the corporate offices
in Buenos Aires. Two Oracle databases run on a Hewlett-Packard 9000-series
UNIX server with 128 megabytes of RAM, 4 gigabytes of hard-disk storage, a
CD-ROM drive, and a 4-gigabyte DAT device. "We expect a 60 percent increase in
the size of our database over the next two years," Chiacchiarini says. "In
Oracle7, we have a database that can handle this growth, while ensuring the
quick and reliable processing
of thousands of updates each day."
Today, the Oracle-based payroll system automates payroll processes,
significantly improving productivity. Developed
with the Oracle FormsTM component of
Developer/2000 and embedded C with the Oracle database, the payroll system
consolidates information sent via Lotus cc:Mail each night from every
McDonald's outlet.
Each McDonald's store also uploads cash, tax, and product-mix information to
the Compaq SystemPro XL cc:Mail server nightly. This data is then uploaded
into
the Oracle database. Previously, the same store's data might have been updated
only once a month.
Human Resources Director Bruce Campbell says the new Oracle-based system
improves productivity for his group as well. "Each Human Resources coordinator
can now handle more stores. The number of stores each coordinator handles
should increase by 50 percent," he says.
Support from Oracle Consultants
Through simple enhancements to Oracle Financials completed by Oracle
consultants in Argentina, Arcos Dorados is able to
comply with a value-added tax collected on supply purchases and a rent tax
levied on professional services such as those offered by architects,
engineers, and independent contractors. "The ability of Oracle Financials to
recognize and process these complex taxes is a tremendous asset,"
Chiacchiarini says.
In addition to addressing the issues relating to tax compliance and providing
training and customer support, the Oracle consulting group in Argentina helped
Arcos Dorados in the baseline implementation of the Oracle7 database and the
development, testing, and implementation of a prototype of Oracle Financials.
More Golden Opportunities
Future projects include a system that assesses the potential profitability of
locating stores in new areas, and integrating the distribution center with the
purchasing module of Oracle Financials so that supply orders from every
McDonald's outlet will
be matched to purchase order numbers and automatically sent to the
headquarters office in Buenos Aires for entry into the accounts payable module
of Oracle Financials.
While the process of moving from a proprietary system to an open-systems
environment is never simple, the effort has created a computing infrastructure
for Arcos Dorados that offers advantages today and in the future. One thing is
certain: Oracle technology presents processing options for Arcos Dorados to
extend its competitive advantage in Argentina.
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Business Profile
Arcos Dorados (Spanish for "Golden Arches") is the Latin American company that
oversees food operations
for all McDonald's restaurants in Argentina.
Solution Snapshot
Primary use:
Tracking sales and supplier taxes, payroll information, and assets
Hardware:
Hewlett-Packard 9000-series UNIX server, Compaq SystemPro XL,
4-gigabyte DAT device
Oracle products:
Oracle7,TM
Oracle Financials, ®
Developer/2000TM
Services:
Oracle Services consulting
Benefits
- Efficiently accommodates growth
- Enables the assessment of daily operations through cost-benefit analyses
- Improves productivity with automated processes
- Effectively processes large volumes of local and remote data
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