Magistor on SAP Business One on Azure and its partnership with Logres

For twenty years, Magistor worked the same way. As a wholesaler, the company had its processes in place, using Multivers as a base. That worked, until it started to pinch ...

Magistor B.V. is a specialized technical wholesaler and knowledge partner in machining tools and blasting technology. VDL and Defense are important customers.

Jan Voortman, Operations Manager at Magistor: "As a wholesaler, we have chosen quality: European suppliers where longevity and reliability are more important than price. With our knowledge, we help customers make the most of our products so that they last a long time and really help our customers move forward.

Challenges

"For a long time, we were fine with Multivers," Voortman says. "But at some point we noticed that it no longer suited the growth ambitions of our company. Information was in different places and processes did not always connect well.

Voortman gives an example: "When placing an order, it was not always clear whether the requested items were also in stock, because they were only booked off when they left the warehouse. As a result, our order pickers often missed out: the ordered items had already gone to another customer. Then you have to call the customer again and change the delivery time ... not nice!"

Purchasing could also be more efficient. "We often found out fairly late that an item was out of stock. To avoid missing out, you then tend to buy a lot and keep it in stock, but that is actually a waste of space and the costs involved."

Finally, Magistor was also not happy with the insights that could be extracted from Multivers. 'It's pretty black and white: not a system that thinks with you. To get good information out of it you have to build all kinds of queries. It was difficult to follow a product from quotation to delivery."

Thorough preparation

To make a good, well-considered choice, Magistor called in the help of an external ERP consultant to map internal processes and collect wishes and requirements from the organization. Internally, a working group steered the transition.

Voortman: "In 20 years you build up a lot of ballast. We didn't want to take that over into the new system. We really wanted to start with a clean slate."

After the inventory, a shortlist of ERP packages was compiled. SAP Business One was on it - with Logres as the ERP vendor."

Magistor had been in contact with Logres before. "In our area there is also another SAP Business One supplier, but with Logres we immediately had a good feeling. "Logres is honest, straightforward. They don't promise golden mountains, but do what they say."

Guidance

During the implementation, the added value of Logres became even clearer. "Not only technology was considered, but also our processes," says Voortman.

In it, consultant Dennis van der Lely sometimes asked pointed questions. "Why do you guys actually do this the way you do it? Things like that. Then you start looking differently at what you are used to." At some points, after consultation, processes were set up differently. "That made the end result stronger in the end."

Logres also helped bring employees along with the change. "They paid a lot of attention to that. Step by step, without forcing it." As a result, confidence in the new ERP package grew: "People noticed that it helps them in their work."

Cloud

Magistor chose SAP Business One on Microsoft Azure, in a private cloud. "We wanted to get rid of our own servers, but keep control of our data," says Voortman. The private cloud offered that balance. "It works stably and we have control over it. That gives peace of mind."

After the switch, the day-to-day work in particular changed. "It just runs the way it's supposed to now," says Voortman. "Processes fit together better and information is readily available. That saves time and prevents errors."

According to Voortman, the customer notices this as well: "We react faster and things add up better. We can predict very precisely when an order will be delivered. We see the number of phone calls decreasing. That gives confidence."

Soon, the new Solvisoft web shop will also go live: "Customers will then be able to find and order their products much more easily because we will no longer use our own article numbers, but those of the supplier. In the future, this will save both them and us a lot of time."

Thinking along

Looking back, the difference in daily work prevails above all. Voortman: "We can also advise customers much better and think along with them. For example to minimize transport costs, because of high fuel prices or in the context of sustainable business. We have become a lot more proactive in this."

Voortman is extremely pleased with the cooperation with Logres. "They communicate clearly and clearly and half a word is enough for them. I notice that they now know and understand our business very well. There are no hidden costs and they regularly come up with new ideas. No, I can't think of anything negative!"

Forward

Voortman likes to look ahead: "I expect a lot from the possibilities of AI in SAP Business One. The more data we build, the better we can predict what is needed for the direction of our business.

At Magistor we are exploring new markets and want to be ready for expected growth, for example through more orders from Defense. We are thinking of purchasing dispensing cabinets, such as Kardex or Modulalift. You hear: there is still plenty to do!"