Industriehof sows an IT future with supply chain software

Each of the 12,000 items in Industriehof Scherenbostel’s assortment can be crucial for agricultural soil cultivation. After all, it is the smooth interaction of all parts that is the key to success. The same is true for a company’s IT system.

on 10 December 2007

With 30 years of experience, Industriehof Scherenbostel Heinrich Rodenbostel GmbH is among Europe’s leading suppliers of agricultural technology. The German company, which is located in Wedemark near Hannover, provides the industry, OEMs and specialized traders with spare and wear parts and with components for their manufacture.

Industriehof looked for a software provider with an industry-specific, cross-border solution that would precisely meet all of the company’s special requirements and help it maintain a significant annual growth rate. Furthermore, Industriehof wanted to integrate its existing Web shop with all its processes, in order to do away with the laborious double maintenance of item and customer master data.

Growth partner

The decision went to IBS as a “future proof provider with a global reach, who will be able to accompany us in the long term on our path of growth throughout Europe,” to use the words of Industriehof CFO Françoise Rodenbostel. Her company already generates 40 percent of its revenues outside of Germany. Since mid-2005 IBS Enterprise, with modules for supply chain management and financials, has been in use at the company’s headquarters.

IBS Integrator, in its function as a multi-system integration link, takes care of the smooth, automated data flow between the central system and the Web shop.

“Whoever wants to benefit to the fullest from e-commerce must make sure that all underlying internal processes are completely cross-linked and real-time,” says Rodenbostel about the vast potential for increased efficiency that integrated concepts entail.

Streamlined processes

As a result of implementing the IBS supply chain software at some 30 workplaces, Industriehof’s processes have been considerably streamlined. And mistakes along the supply chain have become the exception. Industriehof used to have an employee who took care of data administration and updating the e-shop every day. These processes are now carried out automatically by the system, with manual intervention necessary only in exceptional cases. This has reduced the error rate by about 95 percent, according to Rodenbostel.

“We have also been able to even out our stock level, while at the same time moderately increasing our revenue,” she adds.

The complete integration of Industriehof’s streamlined processes starts at the early stage of quotation submission. Thanks to simultaneous availability of prices and discounts, both in the e-shop and the ERP system, manual corrections are no longer necessary. So with nothing more than a quotation request, customers know exactly what they will have to pay.

Product flow

For Industriehof, optimizing its stock levels means finding a profitable balance between the warehouse, which is as small as possible, and quick order fulfillment. Considering the total storage space of 13,500 square meters and some 12,000 items in stock, this is a success factor not to be underestimated.

The IBS software’s order proposal system – which identifies items and the optimum quantities to be replenished, on the basis of a defined safety stock level and actual sales – provides helpful support. The 26,000 or so packages delivered to customers each year can be traced throughout the chain thanks to a track and trace functionality. With IBS Integrator, all the delivery data from various shipping programs is linked to the corresponding orders in IBS Enterprise.

Customer relations

IBS returns management software, which was also implemented, offers highly automated support in the quick handling of returns and complaints. The system first checks if the customer really received the item ordered and if the complaint is warranted. If it is, the system automatically suggests possible solutions, such as exchanges or replacement items.

Rodenbostel describes the cooperation with IBS as “pleasantly casual and down-to-earth.” With regard to ROI she adds, “In less than a year, the software investment had paid off. We are currently working with EDI to further optimize communication along the supply chain.”