System 3R automates business processes using IBS softwareCustomer Story System 3R needed its business software to work globally and be on par with the excellence of the company’s own products. By upgrading its IT software from IBS, System 3R achieved that and more. To compete in the global manufacturing industry, every business process and tool used and produced by Swedish company System 3R has to be as efficient as possible.
The company is the leading supplier of productivity-enhancing tools, methods and know-how for the global manufacturing industry. Specifically, System 3R makes tool systems for die and mould, automation systems, and tool systems for precision production – and, of course, software to run everything.
Headquartered in Vällingby outside of Stockholm, System 3R has 15 sales offices around the world, distributors in major industrial countries, and two major manufacturing sites in Sweden and Switzerland.
Global solution
Since 1995, the company had been using IBS enterprise software ASW to handle such tasks as asset management, distribution, financials, inventory control, industrial manufacturing and time management. The software runs on the iSeries AS/400 hardware from IBM – but delivered by IBS.
In 2006, System 3R upgraded its system to include the Multi Distribution Center (MDC) module, to meet the company’s growing software needs.
“We needed to implement a platform that used the same solution in our sales system globally,” says Peter Berntsson, chief information officer at System 3R.
Multi-company automation
MDC automatically generates a customer order at the sales company, thereby generating a purchase order at the plant, which is subsequently confirmed by the head office and sent back to the sales company.
The MDC setup has allowed subsidiaries in France, Italy, and Germany, which were three separate companies, to be grouped into one new company – System 3R Europe – with one common reporting function.
“Because of IBS software we have a consolidated company with one CFO for all three countries. It has radically simplified the business. We are progressively building automation into our business processes,” says Berntsson.
Another advantage of MDC is that it allows sales companies to check on stock and when direct deliveries to customers are possible. Specifically, MDC allows a direct connection between a sales company’s database and the production site’s database to access delivery addresses, among other information.
Centralized database
System 3R also upgraded to the IBS Corporate Data Maintenance module. This will enable the company to create a centralized customer database that can be used by all distributor and sales companies. This centralized approach will considerably simplify the way the company communicates between headquarters, sales companies and distributors by ensuring that everyone is speaking the same language and using the same processes.
According to Berntsson, the benefits of the IBS system go way beyond reaching efficiencies on par with System 3R’s own machines and tools.
“This offers us new possibilities in the market, as well as the enormous cost savings we will achieve by not using all kinds of disparate systems that were not integrated. Now, everything sits on one server in Sweden,” he says.
It is a well-known fact that competition in the industry is constantly growing. The trend toward shorter runs and more variations means that the total time from order to delivery is the crucial factor in the choice of a supplier. And for companies such as System 3R that retain manufacturing in high-cost countries such as Sweden and Switzerland, the biggest competitive edge comes from offering the clients world-class automation on metal working products.
“The company that can offer the quickest delivery of small batches of customer-specific products will win out in future competition scenarios,” says Berntsson
More to come
The upgrade of the IBS system was first installed in France, then in Italy, followed by Germany. In early 2007, the U.S. subsidiary went online, to be followed by Singapore, Switzerland and Japan later in the year.
Because of the success of the current implementation, Berntsson says that System 3R has made the decision to install the IBS Net Store e-business module. No time frame has yet been set.
“But it would fit perfectly with the current solution we have,” says Berntsson. “The new IBS implementation went very smoothly and all the consultants were highly skilled. I am very pleased with the project.”
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