Steelcoat, Galvacoat and Metalix

To properly manage the rapid growth of Metalix, Galvacoat and Steelcoat, Groep Kempeneers sought a software package that would provide the companies with more structured support. Offimac implemented a solution based on Microsoft Dynamics. The IT partner of Groep Kempeneers later bundled the specific procedures into OffiCOAT, an ERP package for paint and coating companies for which the implementation at Metalix, Galvacoat and Steelcoat served as a model.

Metalix, Galvacoat and Steelcoat are three of the companies within Groep Kempeneers. Together they form one of the larger surface treatment companies in the Benelux. Galvacoat is located in Overpelt and handles powder coating of galvanized steel. The location in Limburg is not coincidental, as there are many steel processing companies in the border region between Belgium and the Netherlands. The production of Steelcoat and Metalix takes place in Lummen. Steelcoat specializes in powder coating of untreated and galvanized steel. Metalix handles metallizing and wet painting of steel. For this purpose, Metalix has over ten thousand square meters of spray halls. The three companies together process approximately one thousand tons of steel per day. Customers are companies that use steel for industrial, residential and machine construction, fencing, containers, railway rails, bridge railings, light poles, and so forth.

Galvacoat, Steelcoat and Metalix employ approximately 120 staff members. The commercial and administrative support for the companies is provided by ten office workers from the headquarters in Lummen. Metalix is the oldest of the three companies. In 2005, Galvacoat started operations in Lummen. In the spring of 2010, Steelcoat was added. Metalix and Galvacoat used the same accounting package. Additionally, there was some custom software for order tracking and invoicing. “We grew quite rapidly,” says Luc Segers, financial manager for Groep Kempeneers. “The solution we had previously was too limited.” The group wanted more functionality, coupled with a set of well-structured and documented procedures. For the existing custom software, the companies had become too dependent on the knowledge of a single person. Moreover, the custom software was barely documented.

Need for integration

“We wanted to switch to a package solution that would provide a solid foundation, with extensive functionality and the ability to monitor the three companies more closely.” Integration was at the top of the wish list. “Previously, we had systems for order tracking and accounting that operated completely separately. With the new solution, we wanted to cover the entire range of business processes, from order to invoicing and accounting.” Groep Kempeneers examined proposals from suppliers and chose the combination of Microsoft Dynamics and IT partner Offimac from Hasselt. The company carried out the implementation at the headquarters of Groep Kempeneers in Lummen, with the other locations using the system via a VPN network.

Initially, Metalix, Steelcoat and Galvacoat mapped their internal processes. Luc Segers: “We conducted a thorough analysis, carefully and detailed documentation of all processes. Subsequently, we decided how we would deploy Dynamics and how we would align processes and software.” Among other things, the functional support for accurate pricing was very important for the group. “When we offer a customer a quote, there is a very complex internal process that precedes it. It was crucial for us that the ERP package would support that perfectly.” Luc Segers gives an example. “Many parameters are involved. How is the assignment expressed: in surface area, length, weight or per piece? What volume discount can we offer the customer – again based on that surface area, weight, length or number of pieces? Does the customer request a coating in a standard color or not?” Offimac programmed all those parameters into Microsoft Dynamics. Luc Segers: “In that regard, the system offers as many possibilities as we want. There are no limitations.”

Commercial follow-up

The price calculation leads to a quote. A link is provided to export the quote from the system to Microsoft Word. All information from Dynamics automatically appears on the quote. Luc Segers: “Our commercial staff can add free text in Word, which they then automatically save in the ERP system.” In a next step, Groep Kempeneers also wants to organize quote follow-up in Dynamics. Offimac has developed a piece of custom software for this. “We found a full CRM module somewhat too heavy for this purpose. We really only wanted to track quotes, so that we have better reporting information: which quotes led to concrete orders, what conditions we applied, and so forth.”

It was also important that Metalix, Galvacoat and Steelcoat could track orders in the ERP system. Luc Segers: “That’s where the strength of an integrated system lies. Previously, order tracking was done on paper. When we needed to look something up, we did so in the folders with order forms. That wasn’t practical. Today everything is in Dynamics: from order form via production order to invoice.” That integrated process supports order to invoice.” That integrated process supports the group in its continued growth. Previously, much manual work took place, including retyping data from the order tracking system into the accounting package. “In Dynamics, that is eliminated. The existing team can perfectly handle our growth, precisely because we now work much more efficiently. The multiple data input has been eliminated, allowing us to achieve significant time savings. At the same time, the error rate has decreased. Everyone works with one and the same central dataset.”

Concrete management information

Thanks to the implementation of Dynamics, accounting also runs much more smoothly today. Previously, the accounting department had quite a job re-entering data from the invoicing module of the custom software into the accounting package. Here too, the integrated nature of the ERP package provides a significant advantage. “Dynamics has also allowed us to work identically within the three companies,” explains Luc Segers. “There is one chart of accounts, one customer database, and so forth.” It is a way of working that offers Metalix, Galvacoat and Steelcoat a more efficient way to report directly on business activities. There is no financial consolidation at group level. However, the other companies within Groep Kempeneers – including a real estate agency and a holding company – now also rely on Dynamics to support their processes.

The solution that Offimac implemented for Metalix, Steelcoat and Galvacoat formed the blueprint for OffiCOAT, an ERP solution based on Microsoft Dynamics with which Offimac specifically targets the surface treatment market. “That includes very specific functionality,” says Luc Segers, “particularly in the area of margin tracking.” Using various parameters, Metalix, Steelcoat and Galvacoat can monitor the margin of their activities in detail. “In the system, we see per material type what margin we achieve on plates, tubes, beams, and so forth. That is information that drives our business operations in a very concrete way.” The companies within Groep Kempeneers thus know in detail which activities generate the most value. “In this way, Dynamics allows us to convert that central source of data into usable management information.”