Armatec heats up with new ERP systemCustomer Story With its new integrated ERP system, Armatec can operate more effectively, while focusing on supplying its customers with tailor-made solutions.
Armatec’s vast warehouse holds 6,000 different types of items – just about every product needed for heating, cooling and processing systems, such as district heating substations, backflow preventers and pressure-reducing units. The company supplies systems, solutions and products to contractors and installers, the energy sector and the process industry. Marketing director Berndt Öjerborn says Armatec’s direct contact with end users distinguishes the company from the average wholesaler. “We listen to customers and find out how their demands are changing, and if they have a problem we try to find a new solution for them.”
One example of this is Armatec’s pre-mounted equipment, which saves manpower – something especially helpful in the Nordic building industry, which currently faces a labor shortage. “Take a district heating substation, for example,” Öjerborn says. “In the past, installers mounted equipment piece by piece, on location. Today we can offer everything pre-mounted, so it is just a matter of ‘plug and play,’ and installers can install more equipment in the same amount of time.”
Special solutions
Armatec is based in Sweden and has sales operations in Norway, Denmark and Finland. It has a team dedicated to developing and modifying products to suit the specific needs of customers. Armatec has developed solutions and products for a wide range of customers, from heating systems for the Swedish royal residence and Scandinavia’s tallest building, the Turning Torso, to supplying vents for Jönköping Energy’s new power and heating plant.
With its growing business, Armatec can’t afford supply chain complications. That is why the company has been relying on IBS since 1999, when Armatec was still a part of parent company Armaturjonsson AB. At that time, Armaturjonsson installed IBS enterprise software ASW.
In 2003, Armatec broke away from its parent company, and IT needs changed. “We had one system for order booking and another system for the warehouses and too many of our own solutions, which meant we couldn’t do updates,” Öjerborn explains.
Integrated system
IBS Enterprise 6.0 was installed in Sweden in November 2006, and upgrades are currently under way at Armatec sites in the other countries. The standard solution includes modules for distribution, financials, warehouse management, inventory control and business analysis. “We now have an integrated ERP system and are able to do updates,” Öjerborn says, adding that the system is working even better than expected. “Problems have been minimal and everything is running smoothly.”
A new, more sophisticated system gives Armatec the features it lacked, such as being able to send purchase orders and invoices by e-mail, directly from the system. With IBS Multi Distribution Center, the different warehouses are able to share information, identify where stock is located and move items between countries.
IBS Integrator for EDI integration ensures that everyone in the company is working in the same system, regardless of country. Prior to the upgrade, the company worked with two systems, and communication was a problem, Öjerborn says. “Now we can save time and money and also work more effectively by having management, warehouses, ordering and sales all working in the same system.”
Enhanced replenishment
Armatec knows that a good forecasting system is the key to staying on top of customers’ changing needs. That’s why IBS Inventory Control is so important and why Armatec is particularly impressed with the system, which enhances the company’s replenishment functions. IBS Inventory Control suits any type of company and operation, from day-to-day replenishment to advanced analysis of service performance and slow-moving products.
Replenishment suggestions help to optimize both external and internal replenishment routines, leaving Armatec in full control of its total inventory situation. This means they profit from an extensive range of options and features that match the company’s operational needs and processes. IBS Inventory Control helps Armatec make reliable decisions on which products, when and how much to replenish. Making the correct decisions about stock replenishment quickly improves efficiency and profitability.
A new GUI
Öjerborn also welcomes the benefits gained with the new IBS Enterprise Graphical User Interface (GUI). “This interface is much better than the old one because it is easier to use and more flexible. You can have a number of windows open at the same time, and changing between different menus is smoother. It makes life easier for our salespeople and others working in the office.”
Öjerborn says he looks forward to discovering other features and advantages of IBS Enterprise and the GUI, and he plans to continue working with IBS in the future. “During the project, we have been able to stick to the time plan and work within a fixed price frame,” he says. “That is unusual in system projects. The IBS consultants have been easy to work with, and they are highly skilled.”
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