Client Name

Indus Motor Company Limited

Faculty Advisor

Dr. Usman Nazir

SBS Thought Leadership Areas

Entrepreneurship and Innovation

SBS Thought Leadership Area Justification

The project is firmly located in the Entrepreneurship and Innovation thought leadership area as it revolves around the development of a new tech-based solution to a real, deeply entrenched operational bottleneck in a leading corporate environment. This proposed framework brings digital innovation directly into IMCL’s financial ecosystem, moving away from the traditional administrative workarounds. It replaces the manual, cumbersome and disjointed paper and Excel activities with a clean native SAP configuration which includes sophisticated user experience components via SAP Fiori. This is a new way of process optimization whereby we can realize more complex internal governance entirely within the existing ERP infrastructure of the company, without the need for additional expensive software licensing.

Aligned SDGs

GOAL 9: Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure

Aligned SDGs Justification

The project is supporting SDG 9: Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure, in particular Target 9.4 on upgrading infrastructure and retrofitting industries to make them sustainable, resource-efficient and technologically advanced. The framework retrofits IMCL’s existing technological architecture, integrating the fragmented import Letter of Credit lifecycle directly into the core ERP system without the need for new, resource-intensive software modules or platforms. Furthermore, moving from physical bank advices, manual communication logs and paper-heavy workflows to a fully centralized, digital data layer, reduces the consumption of physical material resources. This transition will further tighten internal controls, modernize industrial trade finance processes and develop a digital blueprint for sustainable infrastructure management that can be replicated by other manufacturing entities in emerging markets.

NDA

No

Abstract

This report presents the final results of an Experiential Learning Project (ELP) conducted at Indus Motor Company Limited (IMCL) in partnership with the Institute of Business Administration (IBA), Karachi. The project is aimed at automating the management of Import Letters of Credit (LC) by using SAP Fiori integration supported by existing SAP Materials Management (MM) and Financial Accounting (FI) modules. IMCL is a major automobile manufacturer in Pakistan that assembles Toyota cars via Completely Knocked Down (CKD) kits imported through Toyota Motor Corporation, Japan, making international trade finance a critical, mission-driven operation. Although IMCL currently utilizes SAP MM and SAP FI for its core procurement and financial accounting, it manages the entire lifecycle of its Import Letters of Credit manually on Excel-based registers and fragmented communication channels. This manual methodology brings about considerable operational inefficiencies, reconciliation challenges, governance constraints, and compliance risks that deviate from best-practice trade finance management standards.

The project was executed through five methodical steps: process analysis and requirement gathering, benchmarking industry-best LC management practices, current state evaluation and gap identification, proposed framework design, and system blueprint mapping with SAP Fiori integration. Primary data was gathered through stakeholder interviews and direct process observations in the Finance and IT departments at IMCL. Secondary data was collected by reviewing SAP S/4HANA documentation, UCP 600 guidelines, State Bank of Pakistan foreign exchange regulations, and comparing local LC practices against leading automotive assemblers in Pakistan, including Honda Atlas, Pak Suzuki, Hyundai Nishat, and Kia Lucky Motors. The comparative analysis reveals that IMCL is the only major Pakistani automotive assembler that continues to run its import LCs fully outside of its SAP environment, whereas its top three competitors utilize SAP-based systems equipped with real-time dashboards, automated system-generated audit trails, and three-way match controls. This manual gap poses a competitive risk, a governance risk, and represents a missed opportunity for operational efficiency at IMCL.

The proposed solution is a holistic, SAP Fiori-based automation framework that integrates SAP MM, SAP FI, and a custom-designed Z-table system to deliver end-to end LC lifecycle management natively within the SAP ecosystem. This framework introduces user-friendly SAP Fiori UI/UX dashboards for real-time LC visibility, centralized Z-table data storage to replace manual Excel registers, automated alert messages tracking LC expiry and document compliance milestones, and structured FI posting protocols for bank charges and margin deposits. The report also details implementation risks, change management requirements, personnel training needs, and a phased deployment roadmap. Ultimately, the suggested framework is positioned to bring meaningful gains in operational effectiveness, financial transparency, audit readiness, and strategic decision-making capacity to the trade finance operations of IMCL.

Document Type

Restricted Access

Document Name for Citation

Experiential Learning Project

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