It was perhaps five years ago that Metaaltechniek realized that their current ERP package no longer met their needs. So it was time for a new package. But then again, what do you choose?

Director Fokke Bronsema knew one thing for sure: he wanted an ERP package from a larger, international provider. Innovative, at the forefront of technology with a clear drive and vision to optimally serve the wholesale business. So many possibilities in logistics, multi-channel, multi-brand and of course accessible for connections to external parties. The implementation partner must also have clout, continuity and knowledge of the market. After comparing several packages, the choice fell on SAP Business One with Logres as implementation partner.

Enthusiast

Bronsema: 'I wanted a party that comes up with solutions and gets excited about further development and automation. For me, it is not just about implementing a package once, but also about what is possible afterwards.'

Metaaltechniek is a family business, selling sanding and grinding machines and parts and consumables that go with them. The company has more than 1,500 customers at home and abroad. With seven full-time account managers in the field and the ability to also order online, there are a lot of orders to process daily.

'We have grown tremendously in the last five years. Thanks to SAP, that growth was possible while we didn't have to expand on the accounting and administration side.'

Flexible

The implementation of SAP Business One was quite a daunting task for Logres and Metaaltechniek. Bronsema: 'Sometimes you don't realize how complex your own organization is. During an implementation it is therefore so important to have and keep the big picture in focus.

According to Bronsema, there were a lot of challenges during the implementation, but Logres was flexible in this and scaled up as needed. 'For example, we had counted on three days of support during going live. In the end, that turned out to be more than two weeks, but Logres didn't make this a problem.

No secrets

Bronsema is very pleased with the contacts at Logres and especially with their permanent consultant. 'The consultant now knows our business like the back of his hand and the package holds no secrets for him either. I am pleasantly surprised by how quickly he has mastered it.

Our consultant visits here regularly and knows our employees personally. As a result, he can assess our priorities well and move quickly when necessary.'

Transsmart

Virtually all Metaaltechniek employees use SAP Business One on a daily basis. Bronsema: 'Everything is connected to everything else. That is the power of the system.

In addition to SAP Business One, Metaaltechniek also uses the add-on Transsmart. This add-on makes it possible to create and print bar-code labels that can be used to track the logistics process. These barcodes are also important for traceability of their shipments.

Waterproof

SAP Business One not only meant efficiency gains for Metaaltechniek, but also automatic control of orders, delivery times and purchasing.

'Abnormalities are recognized by the system and presented for checking: that is completely foolproof. As a result, we can react more adequately and rarely anything goes wrong anymore. That saves time and aggravation and it results in satisfied customers.

Another advantage, Bronsema believes, is that standardization and automation also make things easily transferable from one employee to another. 'You don't have to remember as much. Just today I said to a colleague that now we finally have a system that works for us, instead of us for the system...'

Heart Transplant

Bronsema "Make no mistake: implementing a new ERP system means a kind of heart transplant for your company. It is enormously radical for your organization. But once everything is over, you absolutely don't want to go back. In retrospect, all the efforts were more than worth it!'

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