NXPO Vice President Ms. Ratima Urthamapimuk participated in a seminar on “Open-source ERP for Government Agencies” on 28 March 2024. Organized by the National Science and Technology Development Agency (NSTDA), the seminar was part of the 2024 NSTDA Annual Conference (NAC2024) held under the theme “Co-Creating R&D Values to Foster Thai Economic and Social Transformation with BCG Implementation”.
During her presentation, Ms. Ratima revealed that NXPO has been using an open-source ERP system since the establishment of the office in 2009. Initially focusing on finance and accounting, the system later expanded to encompass all office functions. She emphasized that people are the key to the adoption of this new system. Therefore, NXPO placed great emphasis on human resource development, including team and leadership building, to facilitate the digital transformation and e-governance. The management team also acted as change agents for this e-government transition. Currently, all non-IT staff at NXPO have competencies in system development, and all executive officers operate through the digital system.
“The current open-source ERP system used at NXPO is called ‘Alldo,’ which has been implemented since 1 October 2023,” explained Ms. Ratima. “It covers budget management, procurement, finance, and accounting. The system supports collaborative project management, linking data from various departments and enabling effective data utilization. Prior to the ERP implementation, records on finance and accounting were maintained in a hundred 3-inch folders annually. With the ERP solution, the annual records now fit in one 1-inch folder. The finance and accounting staff was reduced by 25%, while the total number of NXPO personnel doubled. These data demonstrate the success of ERP implementation.”
Ms. Ratima also discussed the involvement of NXPO staff in the ERP system development. They not only provided requirements to the system developer but also participated in process improvement. Representatives from various departments were invited to provide feedback to ensure that the developed solution meets their requirement and functions effectively. Apart from Alldo, NXPO also used open-source solutions in other management systems, including fringe benefits, performance evaluation, and document management.
In addition to the seminar, NXPO organized an exhibition presenting information on Alldo for NAC 2024 visitors.