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The Nolato Group, with operations in Sweden, Eastern Europe, and the US, supplies plastic and rubber products to customers in mobile phones and other telecommunications, the automotive industry, medical technology, and other industrial sectors. Thanks to a multi-site implementation of IFS Applications, group employees have greater freedom to act, information is more readily available, and the group can act as one entity, regardless of the location of the various subsidiaries.
The problem
During the 90s, Nolato split up its organization into object-oriented groups, giving each group more responsibility for production and customer contacts. As the system in operation at the time had become outmoded, the group needed
more modern IT support for its operations. The solution of choice would have to be both open and Year 2000 compliant. Agility, the ability to change and adapt easily as conditions change, was a key requirement. Nolato, with annual revenue of over US$ 200
million, was planning for further growth and development, and whatever ERP system was chosen would have to support and enable this.
The solution
Based on an evaluation of the system and the system supplier, and experiences of the initial implementations at two subsidiaries, Nolato decided to install IFS Applications at more of its sites to enable an enterprise-wide ERP
solution. The various modules of IFS Applications were installed at the different Nolato sites at an average of 6 months per site over a period of 17 months. Strong, dedicated teams on both sides contributed to making the implementation relatively
pain-free.
The benefits
Users greatly appreciate the ease with which the system can be used, with reports and other information readily available to all who require them. The use of EDI has become widespread in Nolato, which has also experienced enhanced
traceability throughout all its processes. With IFS Applications, Nolato will benefit from increased coordination and simplified administration. The flexibility of IFS Applications also enables Nolato to handle revisions to customer orders with greater
ease across the entire enterprise. Planning can be done daily now, as opposed to the weekly planning enabled by the old system. And thanks to IFS Applications, MRP can be run several times daily at any time of the day. Finally, as Nolato is intent on
international expansion, the global presence of IFS gives an added sense of security. As Ove Hansson, IT director for the Nolato group, states: “After three years with IFS, we are certain we have made the right choice.
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