“Our ambition here at the Nordic Logistics Center is to make effective purchases as well as maintain our on-time, on-demand deliveries to our customers,” says Atea's Logistics IT Manager Anders Köhler.
Located in Växjö in southern Sweden, Atea Logistics’ 12,000 square-meter warehouse manages logistics for its mother IT group company Ementor. Many of the company's 140 employees pick from more than 3,500 stored products out of 45,000 available in the company’s portfolio. The 399 million euro a year company processes one million order lines annually.
“While we process on-demand orders received from our four internal customers in the Nordic region, we ship to their end customers directly. This creates a need for an efficient yet easy-to-use logistics system,” explains Köhler.
With IBS Planner View, Atea Logistics gets just that. This solution is a PC-based, graphical planning and information management tool that provides real-time supply chain visibility. It is able to collect, manage, present and use information from multiple servers, database management systems, companies, applications and software releases, all into one common interface.
“IBS Planner View can gather and integrate information from almost any platform. The solution includes applications for information management, presentation and planning,” says Patrik Wadström, sales executive for IBS Sweden.
Atea Logistics has been using IBS supply chain software including distribution software, financial management software, systems integration and inventory management software, since the mid-1980s. But it was not until April of 2004 that IBS Planner View was implemented to optimize the company’s many logistic processes, including more than one million order lines annually.
IBS Planner View is a powerful graphical pc-client with an customizable user interface that handles server-based information, typically in ERP systems, or from the web. The information is handled by the client in different panels and procedure components that utilize script files that describes the content and behavior of each panel or procedure. The panels are used to view data and the procedures are used to modify data.
Out-bound deliveries
“We use IBS Planner View mainly as a monitoring and pick-planning tool for outbound deliveries,” says Köhler. “The purpose is to manage and optimize the different pick processes in our warehouse for delivery to our four customers: Ementor in Norway, Topnordic in Denmark, Atea Sweden and Atea Finland. However, we also deliver to their end customers, such as Ericsson, Volvo and Nokia. And we partner with more than 200 vendors who continuously supply our products. This also requires good logistics software.”
The logistics center has four main processes it uses in the picking flow of goods: small pick (many small items into small boxes) or big pick (large boxes) and then a combined pick for large and small pick. “Our fourth process is the outbound logistic process we have with our configuration department,” adds Köhler.
Environmental services
But Atea Logistics isn’t just a delivering and purchasing arm, the company also offers logistic services to its end-users. “We offer customized configuration of PCs and printers among other things,” says Köhler. “For instance, we can install company images, software, asset tags and theft tags, as well as deliver them unwrapped and ready to go to the end-user. We also have a rather large recycling business where we pick up our customers’ used equipment and then recycle it by either reselling it whole or just scrapping it.”
Köhler says he is very satisfied with the IBS solution, stating it has especially helped his company to work effectively with outbound deliveries. “We have a good relationship with IBS and our next step will be to use IBS Planner View for our inbound deliveries too. In order to keep abreast of the latest technologies, and due to the fact that both our customers and suppliers demand this, we will definitely purchase more solutions from IBS,” says Köhler.
