Monitor improves Darekon's supply chain management
Darekon is a contract manufacturer of medical devices and industrial electronics. Since 1985, the family-owned business has grown and expanded its operations. Today, three of its manufacturing sites operate in Finland, and one site is based in Poland.
We decided to go on a grand tour to visit all their sites, so we could get a glimpse of their daily operations and learn more about how the Monitor ERP system has made life easier for the Darekon team.
Darekon's CEO, Kai Orpo, points out that its former ERP system could no longer serve the company’s strategic ambitions. For Darekon, it was time to look forward and begin the quest to find the right ERP vendor. As a result, it was important for Darekon to find a robust ally with whom to take the journey together, so its strategic vision could be realized.
We asked Kai to explain how the company's quest for a new ERP system came into being.
“We defined our digitalization strategy in 2018, and noticed that our current ERP system couldn't fulfill those needs. That's why we decided to invest in a new ERP system. At the beginning of the project we sent our RFQ to 10 ERP system suppliers, and after the evaluation we had three ERP systems on our shortlist. One of those was Monitor."
Darekon’s business requirements when choosing an ERP system:
- Greater efficiency and transparency in the company’s processes compared to the previous system.
- The possibility to improve internal processes in order to meet customers’ and suppliers’ expectations.
- The ability to cut costs through better stock management and throughout the production chain.
We managed to reduce our working capital through better management of our internal processes. We’re really happy with the decision to choose Monitor as our ERP system.
Antti Järviluoma is Site Manager at Darekon’s facility in Haapavesi. He says Monitor has been a major boost for their day-to-day operations.
"Monitor has helped our daily operations management by providing tools that help us follow up and monitor the situation on the shop floor. Working with Monitor has been very fruitful. The daily operational follow-up is very straightforward with Monitor. The system is also very flexible, and it enables us to develop our daily operations."
Darekon has invested significantly in the development of its daily operations in order to meet its customers' and suppliers' rigorous demands. We continued our grand tour by visiting Darekon’s plant in Poland.
Slawomir Wawryk is leading the plant’s operations in Poland, Gdańsk. He let us know how important it is to lead with determination, and gain the commitment of Darekonians in order to sustain a culture of continuous development and focus on quality thinking.
"To meet our high expectations and build customer trust, we need involved and dedicated staff. Our team is very skilled and experienced. We are focused on high quality and continuous improvement.
Slawomir goes on to say that it’s especially important for them that Monitor, as an ERP system vendor, continuously develops its system and provides new functions that help Darekonians in their daily work.
"We are glad to see that Monitor is still developing its system, which is consistent with Darekon's approach to continuous improvement."
Although only half a year has passed since the introduction of the Monitor ERP system, we decided to ask what Darekon's CEO Kai Orpo thinks about the system, and whether they have already seen bigger returns on investment following implementation.
"We managed to reduce our working capital through better management of our internal processes. We’re really happy with the decision to choose Monitor as our ERP system."
Below are the main reasons Darekon eventually decided to choose Monitor ERP:
- Monitor’s extensive expertise in the manufacturing industry.
- Monitor’s vision of Industry 4.0 was aligned with Darekon’s.
- Monitor satisfied Darekon’s project specifications in the best possible way, for example, management of manufacturing on multiple sites.