In the right light:
ERP software increases transparency and reduces costs

2f-Leuchten GesmbH & Co. KG
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For 2f-Leuchten, lamp manufacturers from Abtenau, flexibility means the basis for meeting the requirements of their customers - especially those of furniture and department store chains. The Austrian company has 52 employees and manufactures – according to traditional techniques – halogen lamps and systems, spotlights, glass lamps and modern lamps partly consisting of wood.
The product range comprises a multitude of variants: lamps made of various materials and in different colors and shapes. The products are sold all over Europe. For more than ten years now 2f-Leuchten has been using EDP systems. Over the years, however, the former system could no longer meet requirements. The linking of the previous isolated applications came along with the switch-over. According to managing director Hans Buchegger competence, flexibility, reliability and trustworthiness were especially demanded of the new partner and the new software solution. Furthermore, 2f-Leuchten were searching for a comprehensive service – a standard software that can optimally be adapted to individual requirements. Another decisive selection criterion was smooth data communication – especially with the diverse furniture department store chains. In addition to these criteria the time factor was decisive – the complete system was to be switched over within three months only. In the fall of 1998 – after they had extensively examined more than 100 solutions – 2f finally decided in favour of the ERP software abas (after a testing period). "This solution especially found our approval due to the possibility of individually adapting the programs to our requirements" stresses the managing director. "That was not possible with most other systems." Flexibility is very important for 2f. Therefore, Mr. Buchegger considers the flexibility of the abas Business Software as a further advantage: "Our requirements were either already integrated in the standard or could be realised easily. In addition to this, the software has a slim structure which considerably facilitates the handling and the customization. The acquisition costs were really acceptable, too." The implementation and installation was carried out without problems and quickly. After the master files had been recorded the production and financial accounting modules were integrated. The multi-level BOM, materials management and scheduling, purchasing and sales, additional databases and time management followed.

Time-saving using barcodes

The parts master files of the Austrian lamp manufacturer have grown due to the diversity of variants and special requests. About 30, 000 variants can be created from 2500 basic products – about 150, 000 BOM items are managed. On the one hand, the BOMs are used for construction, assembly and as a basis for the materials management. On the other hand, production batches are combined on the basis of the parts lists. Thus, the quality of the parts lists maintained in abas ERP have a decisive influence on the production costs.
All order data is imorted using barcode reading devices and thus it is automatically processed in the ERP system. The order data, set-up times, malfunction periods and repair periods, as well as the number of parts are recorded for each machine.

Safe retraceability

The product management in an additional database of abas ERP encompasses all relevant areas along the logistic chain in which information regarding safety is held and managed. A complete retraceability is possible due to the exact documentation of the relevant data. This way the materials or the safety requirements with which the item was produced can be found out – in the case of a call-back campaign this is a quick and useful help in order to avoid possible damages.

Maximum results with minimum efforts

Since, the implementation of the ERP software provided by ABAS the transparency in all of 2f’s function areas has risen. The system support required has decreased considerably. Today, accounting manager, Mrs Epp, flexibly generates evaluations which meant a high programming effort in earlier times.
Data from Excel can be processed in the abas Business Software and can be consolidated according to the requirements – without any programming background.
Hans Buchegger, managing director of 2f, concludes, "Since the abas Business Software was installed in our company, we have noticed considerable improvements in all our major business areas. The most important improvement is the increase in transparency in the company followed by the reduction of the lead times and the reduction of current costs of material and warehouse costs. The amount of time spent processing orders could be reduced noticeably, the stock levels could be reduced and more responsibility could be delegated to the employees. Rejects and reworked products were reduced as well. In addition to this, it is fact that abas ERP can be upgraded - technological advancements and innovations of the standard modules and functions can be transferred to the system via upgrades. Individual adjustments remain intact. Thus, the software investment is ensured for many years to come. These are potentials which lead to an increase in productivity and which are the basis for the competitiveness of 2f-Leuchten."