ERIKA BRINCAT

Investment, Industry and Information Technology Minister Austin Gatt yesterday presided over the presentation of the SAP Most Innovative Company award to Hetronic, at the Intercontinental Hotel in St Julian’s.

“A company has no choice but to grow and improve or disappear. That is why innovation is so important. Sometimes innovation is perceived as referring only to the product, however to allow a company to truly grow you also have to allow the process to improve, not just the product,” said the general manager of SAP Italia, Augusto Abbarchi.

“Hetronic has proved how introducing a new information system can have a positive and direct impact on the company without creating any disruption in the business.” he added.

“Since we opted to have one information system introduced by SAP, it is surely no coincidence that there has been a 40 per cent increase in demand,” said Hetronic managing director Simon Gatt. Hetronic Malta is a member of the Hetronic Group, producers of Radio Remote Controls for heavy-duty applications, whose goal is to make machine operation safer and more economical.

Enterprise SAP Ltd is Malta’s only SAP Business Partner and the authorised distributor and integrator of the acclaimed and award winning SAP Business One software package. Their mission is to build partnerships with their clients with the sole aim of achieving greater efficiency, reducing costs, maximum profitability and improving competitiveness – all through the use of the SAP Business One package, a business software designed specifically for the small to midsize business.

“Hetronic represents the new high-tech, focused, top of the range processes, so we need to be competitive,” said Dr Gatt. “This government has often preached that IT has to be the backbone of the Maltese economy, and it is clear that this is something no longer simply preached but also practiced. SAP for example, have grown from being a small company into a multinational company, investing in an academy as well as providing up to 10 student placements a year in the workplace,” he added.

Jeanette Fenech, an official at Hetronic’s supply chain support received the award on the company’s behalf. SAP business development manager Stefano Bettini, and the ministry’s head of secretariat Claudio Grech, were also present.