Patni Automates Temples

India's second largest pilgrimage destination in the western area—the Sant Gajanan Maharaj Sansthan in Shegaon—has successfully completed India's first-ever enterprise resource planning (ERP) implementation for a Temple Trust.

Pune, India-based information technology (IT) service provider Patni Computers announced on June 10 that it has successfully finished installation of an ERP application from SAP AG, the Walldorf, Germany software giant, and described the event as “the first of its kind in a place of worship in India.” The company said the primary aim behind the move was to streamline the various functions of the temple trust through automation of donation and collection records.

“With daily footfall touching 3,000, coupled with a network of nine branches and over 20,000 daily transactions, the trust needed a drastic overhaul and expansion in its existing operational structure. This was achieved through computerization,” Patni said in a release.

Nagaraj Bhargava, vice president, marketing, SAP Indian Subcontinent, said, “SAP is happy to be part of this pioneering initiative undertaken by Shri Sant Gajanan Maharaj Sansthan, Shegaon (SSGMS)—the first Temple Trust in India to leverage SAP ERP to technology-enable its operations and provide access to critical information to key stakeholders like devotees, staff and temple trustees.”

Patni’s Senior Manager, Vivekanand Sangle, said, “We are pleased to partner with the Trust for such a prestigious project and are confident that this implementation will show the way to other social institutions in terms of leveraging ERP for improving operational efficiency, ensuring accuracy and transparency in financial reporting and driving social change.”