Company’s resources are controlled twice more effectively with the newest version of enterprise resource planning system
“Having installed Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012, work processes started to run more smoothly due to the optimized planning and actions analysis, whereas large number of orders with timely completion which the company already had before has increased by another 10 percent.”
– Marius Urbietis, UAB Salda Head of technology group
Salda group of companies, with a turnover exceedingEUR 29 millionper year, is a European leader in the production of air ventilation and heating systems. The company produces a wide range of modern ventilation equipment for industrial companies, offices, cafes, hotels as well as individual homes. With 23 years’ experience,the company is also a leader in the production of ventilation equipment in Lithuania. Currently, Salda group of companies has more than 400 employees.
Salda sells its products in Lithuania and exports to over 30 countries, including Austria, Belarus, Belgium, Denmark, Estonia, Italy, Latvia, Poland, the Netherlands, Norway, Russia, Sweden, Switzerland, Ukraine, Germany,among others.
The activities of the company from its very foundation have been focused on high-quality customer service and themeeting of their expectations. “The most important goal of our company is to ensure that our products meet the needs of our customers and provide them the desired comfort. It is namely why we are constantly looking for the best solutions to ensure not only an efficient working process, but also the quality of the final result,”states Marius Urbietis, UAB Salda Head of technology group.
Didn’t need to look far for a new solution
Since 2003, the company has been using Microsoft Dynamics AX 3.0 to control the working processes; however, with the rapid growth of the company's needs and ambitions, it has been searching for advanced technological possibilities that could be easily adapted for the development of the company's business and future plans andthat could help in the effective serving of the existing and alsopotential customers. New needs have arisenin the production and administration processes as well – starting with the laboratory and workshops and ending with the marketing department. In order to speed up and organize the database of materials orders, the archiving of stock and new orders, to optimize the production process and schedule the dispatch operations in a timely manner along with managing expenses and revenues, it was decided to upgrade the ERP system that was in use.
In 2012, Salda began cooperating with the Columbus Lietuva consultation company, which belongs to theColumbus worldwidenetwork. Columbus Lietuvaexpertsrecommended installing the latest version of the ERP systemwhich was already in use, i.e. Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012,as it met company’s requirements the best. Having agreed on the goals and the expected results, the two parties signed a cooperation agreement in February 2013 and by July of the same year 63 users hadstarted operating the new system. This Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 start was one of the first in the Baltic States.
“In the beginning, Microsoft Dynamics AX 3.0 satisfied the basic needs of the company, but with the growth of the company those needs had changed, as had the requirements for the enterprise resourcemanagement system. Microsoft Dynamics AX had also changed – the new version had been augmented with additional functionalities. Having considered the rapidly growing needs of our customer, we recommended taking advantage of the new Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 potentials. First,the key functionalities were installed: cost sheet, output orders, packaging and dispatch of consignments. The realized possibility to promptly obtain information on stock operations, orders and left-over stockhas essentially improved the general planning process,” commentedLaura Jakučionė, Columbus Lietuva Project manager.
According to Laura Jakučionė, the changes put in place by the system not only facilitate the work planning, but also help in coordinating the entire process from the beginning to the end of products production ensuring the best results. The installation of the solution took 3 months, including presentation of the system’s prototypesfollowing the analysis and application realization stages and employee training.
First results – immediately after installing the system
Having installed the new version of the ERP system, the users were trained to use it straight away. Although the installation and the learning process took several months, the activities of the company continued allowing a smooth switch to the new technology, so the company immediately had a return on their investment. Owing to thesimilarities between the new and old system’s functional environment, it was much easier for the employees to adapt than in the case of installing a new, yet unused and unfamiliar system.
According to Laura Jakučionė, the installed key functionalities help in a more effective management of current finances, tracking purchase, sale and stock data, fixed assets, production and supply chain processes.
“Although we have been using Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 system only for six months, we have already noticed positive changes. Following the installation of the new system, the time index of execution of ordershas improved even more. Even though this index had been quite high in our company before, now it increased by another 10 percent, which means that we have even more satisfied customers,” Marius Urbietis, UAB Salda Head of technology group, speaking about the results.
Another benefit of Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 is thatimportant business information is received much faster. For example, in the old ERP system, data delays could be up to 5 days, which meant the planning results didnot reflect the true situation of the stock. Currently, with the terminals installedin workshops and warehouses, there are no delays in data sharing as data transfer is up to 5 times faster. In the meantime, manual work has decreased by 20%, while the amount of information and history volumes have increased.
It is also important that thenew ERP system is more integrated, because a part of the previously used third-party functionalities have been moved to a new platform, which simplifies system maintenance. In addition, the stock managementhas improved and stock search in the system has simplified as 40% of stock were removed as unused when re-coding. At the same time, the multilanguage feature facilitates communication with foreign partners who use non-Latin characters.
When the use of the new Dynamics AX 2012 warehouse management functions began ensuring reception of timely information on stock operations, orders and left-over stock, the company started to use the generalplanning. “Taking advantage of the new technical solutions of the system (webservices) creates new opportunities of business organization: use of mobile barcode scanners in the warehouse, registration of the fact of production tasks completion at place, etc. However, these are future plans,”addsMarius Urbietis.
According to Marius Urbietis, the main objective is to have satisfied customers. Therefore,the future plans includethe use of advanced web and mobile technologies and the further improvement of internal processes for customer convenience. Flexibility and timely customer service enhances the competitive advantage, thus the efficiency and accuracy of the information in the company are still very important. Salda will continue to pursue the goalofstoring as much information in the new system as possible and information entering exactly where it originated.
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