PIAB

PIAB chooses Jeeves ERP to support growth

PIAB is a power user of Jeeves ERP,  making use of all the system’s application areas. As the company has grown internationally with resellers in various countries, the Jeeves ERP solution has been the key to successful integrations. 

PIAB is a global leader in industrial vacuum technology that develops and sells solutions for improving productivity and working environments in the graphical, medical and automobile industry, among others. Being a global leader entails designing, constructing and installing vacuum solutions in all corners of the world. PIAB’s organization is therefore widely distributed, with subsidiaries and distributors in more than 50 countries. The company’s headquarters is located in Täby, outside Stockholm, Sweden.
 

HIGH DEMANDS ON ADAPTABILITY

PIAB was founded in the 1950’s and enjoyed continuous expansion and development. As the business grew over time, so did the demands on the company’s former ERP system. Growing pains were felt at the headquarters in Sweden, as well as within the operations of each of the company’s subsidiaries. 
 
”There were several other competent ERP systems that fulfilled our needs; however, Jeeves ERP offered us a system capable to face our company’s future challenges,” said Stig Andersson, who was responsible for the Jeeves project at PIAB. ”At the same time, Jeeves and its [implementation] partner understood our business and our needs.”
 

HIGH FUNCTIONALITY, BUT STILL SIMPLE

PIAB implemented Jeeves ERP across its entire Swedish operation. Today, PIAB users in Sweden have a high system competence level and run a complex business with a large number of transactions. PIAB has high expectations for its Jeeves ERP system and needs to quickly be able to search for information to provide relevant reports for decision making. The company also looks forward to increased functionality that will streamline daily tasks, as well as open up new possibilities for integrated control and business development. 
 

EFFICIENT SUPPORT FOR GLOBAL BUSINESS

When PIAB was acquired by the risk capital firm Altor, the company introduced a new growth strategy, followed by the acquisition of a large number of international resellers meant to strengthen the company’s distribution channel. Together with the support of a Jeeves implementation partner, PIAB adapted and implemented a comprehensive solution including Inter Company Transaction (ICT) management between subsidiaries, central inventory, and the parent company. ICT’s central feature reduced the number of manual registrations in the system. When an order is registered, the information is stored in a central database. Order acknowledgement, purchase orders, and invoices are then created automatically.
 
”The logistics flow is the key to success in our growing and increasingly internationalized business,” said Anderson. “The solution for transaction management between our companies, Jeeves ICT, is the most important feature in our ERP system. Today it controls and manages our entire European operation. We have a central inventory in Belgium, and our resellers can easily check inventory balances and order pumps and components.”
 
Centrally, the ICT gives an integrated picture of the inventory status, which improves PIAB’s production planning. In Germany alone, there has been a 60 percent improvement in delivery times, reduced capital tie-up, and less administration. PIAB plans to introduce similar solutions to its American business.
 

Today, the solution for transaction management, Jeeves ICT, controls our entire European operation.

— Stig Andersson

 

BUYING INTO THE TECHNOLOGY

“Buying Jeeves was also buying in to the idea behind the Jeeves technology,” Anderson pointed out. “[The Jeeves architecture] allows for easy integrations and fast upgrades to new versions of Jeeves ERP.”
 
Jeeves differs from most other systems since the logic is not based on source code. Instead Jeeves ERP’s logic is stored in a database, which makes Jeeves very simple to integrate with other systems. Furthermore, the architecture stores all customer-specific adaptations in a separate database. This approach leaves PIAB’s adaptations intact when upgrading the standard system. A new version can easily be installed while existing adaptations are automatically carried forward.
 

CUSTOMER-DRIVEN DEVELOPMENT 

PIAB has been a user of Jeeves ERP for years and remains satisfied. “Jeeves has developed close relationships with its partners and customers,” said Anderson, “which ensures that product development is intact through the chain. I feel that Jeeves listens to us as customers and considers our needs when developing their product concepts. That makes it possible to grow safely with Jeeves!”