Company: Jansen Poultry Equipment

Number of Employees: 100

Web site: www.jpe.org

Country or Region: Netherlands

Industry: Manufacturer and distributor of

agricultural equipment

Software and Services:To-Increase Industrial Equipment

Manufacturing; includes To-Increase Advanced

Job Management, To-Increase Advanced

Manufacturing, and

To-Increase Resource Management

To-Increase Wholesale Distribution; includes

To-Increase Document Workflow and To-Increase

Order Management

To-Increase Connectivity Studio

Microsoft Dynamics NAV 2009

e-Con Sales and Product Configurator

Customer ProfileJansen Poultry Equipment develops, designs, and

manufactures poultry housing systems, aviary and

rearing systems, egg collection devices, emissions

reduction systems, and related equipment. The

company reaches agricultural businesses around

the globe through a network of specialized

dealers in more than 80 countries.

Jansen Poultry Equipment Customer Success Story Equipment Manufacturer Simplifi es

Operations, Strengthens Controls, and Advances Global Growth

Jansen Poultry Equipment updated its business systems by imple-menting and integrating several To-Increase solutions with Microsoft Dynamics NAV 2009. In use throughout the company, the solutions have made it possible to simplify the management of manufacturing projects, maintain consistency in running effi cient processes, and make current project and fi nancial information easily available. Today, Jansen Poultry Equipment is in a much better position to meet customer re-quirements, control costs, and manage the company’s global growth.

Since its founding in 1986, Jansen Poultry Equipment (JPE) has grown to provide poultry housing systems, breeder systems, and other equipment to agricultural businesses world-wide. Headquartered in Barneveld, Netherlands, JPE designs and manufactures all of its products, and distributes them through dealers in more than 80 countries. The company’s ongoing research and development enhances existing products and prepares new offerings for the global market.

For almost 10 years, JPE managed its business with an older version of Microsoft Dynamics NAV, the enterprise resource planning (ERP) system. JPE also used Microsoft Excel spread-sheets for reporting and fi nance management, and ran several specialized systems to sup-port order management, sales, production, and other functions. As the company grew and won many more customers, these separate tools were no longer effi cient. Kees Achterberg, Production Manager at JPE explains, “When I needed to know, for example, the production status of an item or when an order was due to ship, I had to look in more than one system or ask my colleagues. Our sales employees were often unable to answer customer inquiries regarding their orders in one call, because they had to research the answer.”

JPE also wanted to make changes in the way it handled production projects, sometimes re-ferred to as jobs. “We could not easily review all fi nancial information associated with a proj-ect,” says Martijn Haverkamp, Finance Director at JPE. “That made it diffi cult to manage costs. The technology could no longer support the many variables in our projects. Production and planning to multiple order-delivery schedules required us to set up separate projects for each delivery commitment, which again made it more challenging to assess fi nancial and operational details. When it came to time recording, it could take more than a month to get all the hours on a job entered and approved.”

CASE STUDY

Technology Providers Who Understand the BusinessHaving reviewed available options and vendors, the company decided to stay within the realm of Microsoft technology. “Microsoft Dynamics NAV had seen many powerful enhancements,” says Achterberg. “It also helped that we found technology providers who knew us and our business and industry really well: To-Increase and Add-IT.”

Working with To-Increase partner Add-IT Software Solutions, JPE updated its ERP system to Microsoft Dynamics NAV 2009. The com-pany also implemented several solutions from To-Increase, which extend and integrate with Microsoft Dynamics NAV:

• JPE implemented the Order Management and Document Workfl ow modules of the To-Increase Wholesale Distribution solution.

• From To-Increase Industrial Equipment Manufacturing, JPE brought Advanced Job Management, Advanced Manufacturing, and Resource Management into its operation.

• JPE also acquired To-Increase Connectivity Studio, one of several business integration solutions

To-Increase offers.

Today, approximately 50 JPE employees use this integrated software environment. The To-Increase and ERP systems also connect with the e-Con sales and product confi gurator (which is developed by e-Con Solutions), a Kaba time and attendance system, and several other spe-cialized software tools. Soon, JPE will add Jet Reports for more advanced, graphical report-ing. “For our people, the To-Increase solutions and Microsoft Dynamics NAV present a single, unifi ed software environment with a consis-tent user interface and easy navigation,” says Haverkamp. “Executives, fi nance managers,

sales and marketing, production, distribution, purchasing, the warehouse, and the logistics team—they all use To-Increase solutions and Microsoft Dynamics NAV to manage their part of the operation. Most users are not even aware that they rely on a variety of software products from different providers—that’s how connected and streamlined the technology is.”

Employees quickly adopted the new business management technology after they saw the differences to the previous systems. “Because we used older software tools for so many years, some people were skeptical about a change,” says Achterberg. “But all it took was for them to try the new solution, and they were sold on it. It really enables them to do much more on their own.”

Streamlining Operations with Easy Availability of Information and Structured ProcessesAcross all departments, JPE uses technology to transform the way people and processes work. Haverkamp explains, “To-Increase and Microsoft Dynamics NAV enable a perfect combination of control and consistency with the fl exibility to accommodate changing customer requirements and adjust projects and processes.”

Greater Executive Control and More Effective Performance Management“With full control over all of our projects, we never have any failures anymore,” says Achterberg. “That is a result of the work-fl ows and the easy availability of all pertinent information. Today, we can perform reliable forecasting and budgeting in every project. The solution helps us generate the best returns from our investments.” JPE managers use the solution’s business intelligence capabilities in many areas, for example, to maintain inventory at optimal levels. Haverkamp explains, “We can analyze all current business data and see which projects we will complete this month, what their margins are, how a quarter compares to the

Equipment Manufacturer Simplifi es Operations, Strengthens Controls, and Advances Global Growth

Business SituationThe company successfully managed its

business with Microsoft Dynamics NAV,

but had not updated the technology in

almost ten years. Especially given JPE’s

growth, executives and employees required

a solution that made it easier to assess

current financial information, review

the status of orders and manufacturing

projects, and perform effective planning

and decision-making.

SolutionJPE implemented several To-Increase

solutions together with Microsoft

Dynamics NAV 2009 as a unified business

management infrastructure.

To-Increase PartnerAdd-IT Software Solutions

Copyright 2013 To-Increased BV. All rights reserved

Document published June 2013

same quarter last year, and what our growth looks like by country. That also is a great help in planning our efforts in supporting dealers and driving sales worldwide.”

JPE managers now can take action based on real-time information on all aspects of manu-facturing projects. “It used to take us up to six months to see how projects performed for us,” says Haverkamp. “Now we can see at any time the fi nancial performance of in-progress or already-completed projects. We can make the appropriate changes right then. And, we can make sure valuable insight from one project fl ows into the capacity planning and other considerations for upcoming work.”

Simpler, More Effi cient Project Management with Signifi cantTime SavingsJPE relies on advanced, fl exible management capabilities for manufacturing projects. Says Achterberg, “Within the same project or job, we can now have multiple orders and delivery times, which makes it much easier to follow customer preferences as we manufacture, deliver, and invoice.” JPE managers across the company’s business groups review all planning, fi nancial, shipping, and customer contract detail pertaining to manufacturing projects in a single resource. “From calculating costs, to planning materials, to looking up production updates and shipping status, all of us benefi t from being able to see current, complete information,” Achterberg explains. “When we performed large projects with many scheduled deliveries in the past, it could take 10 to 12 hours to locate and correlate all the information. Employees now save that time and can spend it more productively on other tasks.”

Consistent, Error-Free ProcessesToday, JPE works in a more structured manner than it used to. The solution’s built-in workfl ows

help the company run consistent processes where all steps take place without needless gaps and all contributors can easily see their tasks. Within these workfl ows, employees al-ways use the Resource Management solution’s time tracking capabilities, including barcode scanning, to account for their hours, which managers can approve immediately. As a con-sequence of these changes, JPE has brought the rate of errors and omissions in projects to almost zero. As Achterberg explains, “In a seamless, effi cient process from accurate plan-ning all the way to speedy delivery, the solution involves employees at the right moment. Managers can easily see who did what and when, and make project adjustments within the system. We no longer tour various departments with a folder in our hands if we need to work on projects in progress. Also, if somebody is out sick, a colleague can easily move processes forward in the solution, because all the infor-mation is right there.”

Greater Responsiveness to Customer NeedsWith reliable information, JPE can make more realistic commitments to customers. And, by viewing information in the To-Increase and ERP solution, JPE’s sales associates can immediately resolve customers’ inquiries regarding order status, shipping, invoicing, and other informa-tion. Says Achterberg, “We can consistently fulfi ll our delivery promises to customers and, when they call, provide reliable updates without making them wait. That is a marked difference in customer conversations.”

JPE also fi nds it easier to design and confi g-ure products as customers request them, and provide pricing that is both competitive and profi table. “The To-Increase solutions and the software tools they integrate with help us serve our customers more effectively and also give us a better position in our market,” notes Haverkamp.

Equipment Manufacturer Simplifi es Operations, Strengthens Controls, and Advances Global Growth

Benefi ts• Greater executive control in

planning, forecasting, and fi nancial management

• More effective management for higher sales and business growth

• Signifi cant time savings because of immediate information availability

• Simplifi ed management of manufacturing projects

• More consistent and effi cient processes

• Ability to resolve customer inquiries immediately

• Greater fl exibility in meeting customer needs