LAHORE, Dec 17: The government has invested Rs70 million in the automation of local industry and automated 63 industrial units in various sectors by using the licensed Enterprise Resource Planning software, Federal Information Technology Minister Dr Abdullah Riaz said on Monday.

Speaking at a ceremony to sign two memoranda of understanding on the implementation of Auto Plus software in 30 member units of the Pakistan Association of Autoparts and Accessories Manufacturers here, Riaz said more than 300 members of the association would benefit from the open source software.

He said nearly 45 Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) units in four industrial sectors and 10 farms from the agriculture sector were being automated, using open source and Microsoft technologies in the second phase. SME units in five industrial sectors and the agriculture sector were being automated under the Pakistan Software Export Board Industry Automation project.

He said the ERP software was being introduced in more than 70 industrial units at present. The sectors being automated are readymade garments, hosiery, textile processing, automotive parts and accessories, surgical instruments and agriculture.

Punjab Software Export Board Managing Director Yusuf Hussain said the software had been implemented in Kortech Auto Industries as a pilot project. The initial improvements include 60 per cent reduction in customer response time, 65 per cent reduction in purchase cycle time, 60 per cent reduction in accounting and 75 per cent reduction in production time.

PAPAAM Chairman Aslam Malik said the programme would enable auto part manufacturers to compete in the global market.

Microsoft Country Manager Kamal Ahmed said the company had always taken it as a mission to harness the gap between technology and the industry.