Wever & Ducré lights up with IBS software

Customer Story

Wever & Ducré specialises in architectural lighting design and distribution. The Belgian firm needed software that would automate and integrate processes throughout its supply chain. IBS shed light on the problem with its integrated ERP solution.

Company background

Wever & Ducré was established in 1985 and immediately became a trailblazer in architectural lighting. The company designs and distributes lighting fixtures and offers solutions to architects, lighting contractors and consultants. Innovative design features added to the fixtures provide value to these already attractive lighting products.

Wever & Ducré is an innovator and throughout Belgium its name stands for all that is best in lighting. The company offers a balance of light, colour and motion supported by a team steeped in technical expertise. Wever & Ducré is currently forming partnership offices in France, Spain and several other countries throughout the world.

Business issues

From its new building in Roeselare, Belgium, Wever & Ducré produces 1200 products ranging from interior and exterior lighting to profile lighting, products for linear ceiling systems and, more recently, colour changing lighting products.´

Wever & Ducré used to operate with a combination of manual controls and an IT system, which was quite simply not up to the job. The company was forced to create programs in order to solve deficiencies as they arose. Stock control was unreliable, bottlenecks occurred too often in the warehouse and purchases were not phased into production. The results could often create cash flow problems. In addition, customers complained of slow deliveries and inaccurate invoices. The only possible answer was to install a fully integrated supply chain software solution.

The new solution had to offer competence in demand-driven manufacturing, product configuration, complex distribution, procurement, financial accounting and business intelligence. As Wever & Ducré exports 70 percent of its products, the new system would need to support full multi-currency and the ability to handle multi-distribution centres.

One other crucial requirement from any new solution would be its ability to support Wever & Ducré’s profiles. A profile is a special procedure where many differing forms of lighting bases can be customized using standard stock items. The trick is to be able to use a standard stock item without creating a new identity for that stock item simply because it is going to be used in a profile.

Successful electrical distribution depends on timing, pricing and quality. Distributors such as Wever & Ducré must make sure that everything is spot on: product, quality, price, time and place. Wever & Ducré is expected to deliver more than just lighting fixtures. The company must also provide accurate product knowledge and recommendations to its customers.

Solution and capabilities

The IBS integrated software suite, IBS Enterprise, fits Wever & Ducré’s needs perfectly and has the capacity to support the best practices to be found in the electrical distribution industry. Wever & Ducré benefits from a number of new functions, such as the IBS multiple distribution concept (MDC). MDC gives Wever & Ducré the ability to ship orders to any customer from any of the firm’s distribution centres in Europe, with automatic inter-company transactions and accounting. The introduction of back-to-back sales and purchase orders with outside suppliers alleviates paperwork and human error.

Designed to enhance efficiency, IBS manufacturing software provides operational tools for controlled capital and lean production. It allows for production planning on several levels and with different time frames, but can also be streamlined for less advanced manufacturing processes. This enables Wever & Ducré to make the right planning and operational decisions at every stage.

Wever & Ducré has also implemented the Product Configurator module of IBS software, which links sales orders to manufacturing orders and is the ideal solution for the company’s profile requirements.

The IBS solution is adept at handling the dynamic needs of electrical distribution. The system has given Wever & Ducré predictable and efficient results – improved time-to-market, reduced inventory days, rapid cash-to-cash cycles, and lower SCM costs – without shocking the customers.

Benefits and value

Wever & Ducré is extremely happy with its choice of IBS software. Since implementing the new system, administration has improved, manual systems discarded and all functions are now integrated.

IBS software has helped Wever & Ducré to create a relationship between its partnership offices in other countries and the distributors, giving added value when opening new markets. These partners will be able to look at production and stock online, meaning less work for Wever & Ducré’s back-office staff, which in turn will mean more time to support customers.

The way in which the system manages profiles has meant that Wever & Ducré has avoided the need to create thousands of additional product codes to cater for every possible combination, resulting in a less complex and automated process.

The company has also gained a much better view of what is needed for purchasing. IBS software has provided the optimum stock situation, which has dramatically reduced the cost of inventory while increasing profits.

Key employees who were against the purchase of a new system are now operating under a different light, with enthusiasm and trust. Now they wonder why they did not subscribe to the idea of a new system long before.

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