OrganoClick
Founded in 2006, OrganoClick is based on a research innovation enabling environmentally friendly chemical solutions to give new properties to materials such as wood, pulp and textiles.
About OrganoClick
Founded in 2006, OrganoClick is based on a research innovation enabling environmentally friendly chemical solutions to give new properties to wood, pulp and textiles. The process can replace harmful substances currently used to make wood, clothing and paper water-resistant and flame-retardant. Its headquarters, development department and production are in Täby alongside its subsidiary OrganoWood AB. Contract manufacturing in the form of wood impregnation is carried out with Bergs Timber Bitus AB in Nybro.
Why change ERP systems?
Over two months in late 2014, OrganoClick implemented Jeeves ERP for manufacturing, sales, logistics, project management and financial processes. Growing sales and expansion continually increased the need to manage and control business processes better. The company realized its existing system could not handle future volumes, international expansion, global operations and more efficient ways of working. This started the process of selecting and implementing a new functional ERP system supporting every business process – a system to grow into and with.
How did OrganoClick approach it?
They began by identifying and defining their needs in a new ERP system. Rather than a traditional specification with hundreds of questions, they focused on a few key areas important to manufacturing, logistics and finance. What was missing in those areas?
After identifying what was missing and where better support was needed, they contacted four ERP suppliers. The suppliers received OrganoClick’s requirements and perceived gaps in different areas and were invited to present their systems and businesses. OrganoClick then left it to them to demonstrate how their systems could address its needs, problems and challenges in the most important business processes.
After the initial meeting and presentations, two of the four suppliers were selected for deeper evaluation. Further meetings and presentations were supplemented by several reference visits. The suppliers were asked for references where they had recently completed similar projects.
The timetable for evaluation and implementation was tight. Suppliers therefore had to propose a project plan with implementation starting in October 2014 and go-live in January 2015.
Production management with handheld devices
OrganoClick’s production refines existing products. It owns the wood products to be treated, while impregnation is carried out as contract manufacturing at Bergs Timber Bitus in Nybro. OrganoClick wanted better production control, more efficient process flow and real-time financial monitoring.
In the new ERP system, all production management takes place directly from handheld devices at the production site. Scanning a timber package starts a production order, and each package has a unique batch number from the outset for full traceability. Many parts of the wood treatment process are automated to safeguard production. Transfers between warehouses and purchase requisitions for work happen automatically, while consumption of impregnation fluid is reported directly on the handheld device.
Experiences
OrganoClick’s old ERP system created significant extra work for every employee. Over time, isolated solutions using Excel calculations had also developed for different purposes. All users therefore had high expectations of the new system, while recognizing that everything would now be handled in Jeeves.
For OrganoClick, which implemented Jeeves ERP in a short time, the critical success factors for selecting and implementing a new system were:
– Contact and dialogue with suppliers’ reference customers, giving OrganoClick experiences, advice and information about how suppliers handled implementation and collaboration after go-live.
– Focus on OrganoClick’s most important processes and desired improvements, letting suppliers propose how their systems could manage those processes efficiently.
– Not every possible event affecting the ERP system can be tested before go-live. The supplier’s management of post-go-live collaboration is therefore important, including help explaining the system’s capabilities and functions and what they mean in different areas, even after launch.
Fredrik Eng, Production Manager, OrganoClick AB
“We can certainly manage production in Jeeves ERP on a computer, but managing the whole production process with handheld devices and extensive automation directly at the production site gives us higher quality, avoids errors and provides real-time data and information about production, purchasing needs and inventory status, for example.”