Progen is a diversified player with fine-tuned processesCustomer Story Progen is a one-of-a-kind Colombian industrial player that has made diversity its specialty. To stay ahead of the competitive curve, the company must constantly re-invent itself. Finding the common denominator among all of Progen’s different businesses is not easy, but the Colombian industrial business has been successful at all of them. With offices and a factory in Cundinamarca, near the capital of Bogotá, the company is a flourishing manufacturer and seller of products as diverse as backpack sprayers, measurement instruments, plastic products and road signaling solutions. Its customers can be found in pharmaceuticals, agriculture, the food and beverage sector and among building companies. New markets and products lie ahead.
“We have to be able to replace mature and low-growth markets with new business opportunities,” says managing director Andrés Camacho Baptiste. “We also need to identify markets and products for filling up our expanding production capacity, for optimal utilization and quick returns.” He has been leading the company since 2006 and is taking good care of Progen’s 40 years of steady growth, now with 250 employees and sales approaching 15 million US dollars.
Shifting market
The company started in 1968 as a supplier of small metal parts for agricultural machinery and soon entered the pressure measuring market as the local distributor of a foreign brand. Today the company imports and distributes light agricultural equipment, manufactures industrial plastic containers and flexible tubing for watering applications, and has a fast-growing division for road signaling and traffic control.
But success does not come without a price. The company’s performance depends greatly on its staff’s ability to identify requirements and opportunities in every market, as well as on their capacity to adapt quickly to changes and keep customer intimacy in each branch.
“We might face manufacturing challenges in one market and distribution challenges in another,” says Camacho Baptiste. “Our success is possible as long as our employees can quickly discern the most important element for each market. Every employee must be conscious of the fact that one size does not fit all.”
Necessary for survival
In the pursuit of diversity, IBS ERP software has been a valuable tool. By helping to streamline, monitor and control flows and processes, IBS ERP systems have allowed process owners at Progen to make informed and accurate decisions that keep the overall business operation flowing smoothly.
Camacho Baptiste doesn’t want to evaluate the role of these systems in terms of ROI. He admits that the company has achieved cost reductions through improved manufacturing control or by allowing the staff to focus on core tasks. “But IBS software was perceived of more as a survival tool than a financial investment,” he says.
IT manager Miguel Ángel Ordoñez has a hands-on relationship with the system. “IBS ERP software is behind all the company’s processes,” he says. “It is an everyday tool in sales, manufacturing and purchasing. It is used in practically every position in the company and it helps us to fine-tune planning, production, sales, stock and supplies.”
A couple of large monitors placed in a common staff area of the Progen offices show the level of integration. The Critical Success Factors screen of IBS Analyzer provides passers-by with up-to-the-minute information on the company’s performance. “And since not all the staff can see the monitors, we always make some printouts for everyone to see how the company is doing,” Ordoñez says.
Continuous learning
Camacho Baptiste highlights the advantages of counting on IBS ERP solutions for timely strategic decisions based in “near-to-live” accounting and sales reporting.
“Today we can look at different reports, whether by sales, cost centers, customer groups, clients or items, with any required level of detail without data manipulation and integrity issues,” he says.
“Training” is his best advice to future users of IBS software. “The training process does not stop once you go live,” he says. “On the contrary, it continues every day as you try to acquire efficiencies through new functionalities. Training and coaching enables replication of knowledge within the organization. At the end of the day, you have a comprehensive training tree that reduces your vulnerability.”
As testimony to its belief in the value of training, Progen will reach its goal of 100 percent qualified users early this year.
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