Established in Singapore in 1985, Kruger Ventilation is a full subsidiary company of Soler & Palau Ventilation Group, headquartered in Spain. Kruger is a leading supplier of energy-efficient ventilation solutions for residential and commercial buildings, as well as industrial applications and infrastructures.
The company prides itself on providing high quality products at competitive prices, including centrifugal fans for HVAC, industrial fans, axial fans, in-line fans, domestic fans, roof exhaust fans, mixed flow fans, tunnel fans, and jet fans. Currently, Kruger has 18 locations in the Asia Pacific Region, three of which are in Thailand.
“Infor SyteLine is the right solution for Kruger because the suite of integrated applications is flexible and allows for continuous innovation and seamless upgrades.”
– Taweesak Chieosakol, General Manager, Kruger Ventilation Industries Asia Co., Ltd.
The Problems
- Manual processes resulted in delays and inefficient product delivery
- Lack of data visibility created silos throughout the business
- Excess time and manpower were consumed without accuracy and efficiency, which hindered productivity
The Results
- Improved demand planning and process forecasting
- Significantly enhanced warehouse efficiency, increasing accurate inventory from 90% to 99.99%
- Shortened delivery time to customers from 6-8 weeks to 3-4 weeks, with a 70% success rate
Manual Operations Hurt Productivity
When Kruger Thailand was established in 2013, the company decided not to deploy software solutions, so all of its operations were being done manually. This resulted in delays, inefficient procedures, and a lack of data on raw materials and products. Managing orders was nearly impossible because there was no data available to run orders, manage inventory, plan products and production, and efficiently deliver products to customers. A lack of accurate and efficient processes led to too much time and manpower spent on jobs, which had a negative impact on productivity. Kruger urgently needed to solve these internal and external problems to keep up with the growth of its business.
Identifying Software “Must Haves”
As Kruger evaluated software solutions, it identified several “must-have” capabilities that could help the company to overcome its challenges and reach its goals. Kruger wanted to replace its current manual system with a software solution that would eliminate silos and centralize all data, work processes, and operations under one system. With this system, Kruger wanted all of its internal and external stakeholders to be able to swiftly and efficiently collaborate, while also enabling executives to receive real-time status updates from every business unit to ensure appropriate planning. Kruger also wanted to recover profitability through compact management of operating expenses, including order system, production planning, product inventory, financial, administrative, and other operating expenses that must be precise, fast, and ready for use.
Kruger was not only looking for a software vendor, but a long-term partner that would seamlessly deploy the solution with minimal disruption and provide excellent after-sales service. The solution needed to be simple to maintain and scalable to support growth. Kruger needed an industry-specific software solution that could respond to the above requirements, enabling the company to create an optimal customer experience.
“The new functions such as ‘factory tracking’ save us a lot of time and manpower, and quickly respond to our evolving needs.”
– Taweesak Chieosakol, General Manager, Kruger Ventilation Industries Asia Co., Ltd.
Implementing a New Digital Platform
After considering offers from several vendors, Kruger chose Infor SyteLine/CloudSuite Industrial (CSI) as its software solution because Infor could comprehensively manage the complexities of its business. SyteLine was implemented on time and within budget in Kruger’s three companies in Thailand—Kruger Ventilation Industries (Thailand) Co., Ltd; Kruger Asia Industries (Thailand) Co., Ltd.; and Kruger Ventilation Industries Asia Co., Ltd.
End-to-End Productivity Gains
Soon after implementing SyteLine, Kruger saw a significant impact on the efficiency of its business processes and operations. “The new functions such as ‘factory tracking’ save us a lot of time and manpower, and quickly respond to our evolving needs,” said Taweesak Chieosakol, General Manager, Kruger Ventilation Industries Asia Co., Ltd. The solution also improved Kruger’s demand planning and process forecasting, and accurately connected that planning with its production processes.
SyteLine allowed Kruger to increase customer satisfaction and better compete with competitors. The efficiency of its warehouse significantly improved, increasing inventory accuracy from 90% to 99.99% and shortening delivery time to customers from 6-8 weeks to only 3-4 (with a 70% success rate).
By reducing manual processes, employee satisfaction also increased, allowing for a more productive environment and work-life balance. “The solution is easy to use, so our employees were eager to adopt it. We started with 40 users in Thailand, and now have over 138 employees efficiently using it, and we expect that number to grow,” Chieosakol said.
Looking Forward
Kruger has big goals for increasing the productivity of its business, and SyteLine will help the company get there. One goal is to reduce current inventory from 240-day stock to 90-day stock by the year 2022, resulting in fewer stocks and more profits. The solution will enable the company to adjust the status of inventory at each location for real-time status updates. Kruger also plans to reduce production costs and increase the company’s profits by conducting data analysis, finding the difference results in each production, and improve “leaky spots.” Last, but certainly not least, Kruger hopes to increase delivery time success rate from 70% to 85%.
The integrated industry functionality and best practices of SyteLine provide Kruger with the flexibility to meet customer demands and will continue to meet its evolving needs.
“The solution is easy to us, so our employee were eager to adopt it. We started with 40 users in Thailand, and now have over 138 employees efficiently using it, and we expect that number to grow.”
– Taweesak Chieosakol, General Manager, Kruger Ventilation Industries Asia Co., Ltd.