What did the Partner Power Working Model do for FagorBrandt?

Doing international business under several brands requires accurate and up-to-date business data in order to make the necessary decisions and to drive the business forward.

FagorBrandt is the number one in the French domestic appliances market and one of the leading players in the European market. It sells its products in over 100 countries throughout the world. Every day, the FagorBrandt teams strive to improve their consumers’ quality of life by bringing them ever higher-performance services and products which are both user and environment friendly.

FagorBrandt’s challenges
In 2007, FagorBrandt realized that it had to revise its ERP strategy in order to meet the requirements of dealing with the international and dynamic markets of domestic appliances. At that time FagorBrandt used different local and out-of-date ERP systems; Sage 500 (CS/3) and Concorde XAL (in Denmark). As a consequence FagorBrandt experienced several critical challenges that needed to be solved in order to drive the international business forward:

• It was impossible to have a uniform Group Reporting. Therefore the information was blurred and the visibility poor.
• It was not possible to control the access to data.
• The efficiency was not optimal, and the local support and maintenance contracts were expensive.

It soon became clear for FagorBrandt that Microsoft Dynamics NAV was the right solution for solving its challenges and to meet the current and future needs. The remaining question was, which partner to choose? Jean-Philippe Moulineuf, Sales & Distribution IT Director at FagorBrandt says: “We got in contact with Microsoft France, and they suggested that we should contact Partner Power in France (Absys Cyborg) for our international implementations and roll-outs”.

The choice of Partner Power
After getting in contact with Partner Power in France, Partner Power HQ was immediately involved. FagorBrandt was convinced by the well-founded and experienced advice from Partner Power. Jean-Philippe Moulineuf recalls: “We met with Partner Power and the Senior International Project Manager who was leading our project from day one. He was clear, experienced and provided the answers we needed in order to deal with the situation”. Jean-Philippe Moulineuf further recalls: “The Partner Power budget was both detailed and transparent – and really didn’t give us much of a choice – Partner Power was the right match.”

“We have identified the key factor for the success of the project. It was without a doubt the perfect team work between the Senior International Project Manager and the International Application Manager from Partner Power in France,” says Jean-Philippe Moulineuf.

The success factors
Within a few days a detailed, phased plan was laid out by Partner Power and presented for FagorBrandt. Former Senior International Project Manager at Partner Power, Stig Seiling says: “We had to address the sense of urgency without jeopardizing the quality of the deliverable. By mobilizing qualified consultants from Partner Power in Denmark (Norriq), we managed to analyze and scope the requirements by molding the CORE over existing business processes identified in FagorBrandt’s Danish subsidiary”.

FagorBrandt harvested the benefits of engaging with an organization that is tailor-made to suit the requirements and needs of an international organization wanting to implement a new ERP solution. With a central point of contact and a single point of contract valid worldwide, the internal project management at FagorBrandt did not have to worry about having contact to local partners in each and every country in scope for the implementation. This was handled by the Senior International Project Manager at Partner Power. Sales & Distribution IT Director at FagorBrandt, Jean-Philippe Moulineuf explains: “The benefits of having a single point of contact and contract gave us the freedom to focus on other value-adding issues; we simply did not have to worry about having contact to the local partners. The Senior International Project Manager controlled the project from day one based on well-developed communication skills, an understanding for local and cultural differences and kept the project on track even in difficult and crucial times.” However, the success of the project was not only based on good and experienced project management. Another crucial factor was the remarkable performance by the International Application Manager at Partner Power in France (Absys Cyborg). Former Senior International Project Manager, Stig Seiling says: “The success of the project would not have been possible without the experienced, competent and committed International Application Manager from Partner Power in France (Absys Cyborg). He assured the consistency of the many localizations of the CORE.”

In any international project it can be challenging to assess the local requirements, but the International Application Manger did in the most convincing way: “Country specific requests for changes were assessed in terms of importance and CORE relevance, thus ensuring that no unexpected budget excess took place. He truly understood the Partner Power Working Model by keeping his focus on the FagorBrandt’s interests, budgetary limitations and corporate needs.” This view is backed up by the Sales & Distribution IT Director at FagorBrandt, Jean-Philippe Moulineuf: “We have identified the key factor for the success of the project. It was without a doubt the perfect team work between the Senior International Project Manager and the International Application Manager from Partner Power in France (Absys Cyborg)”.

The benefits for FagorBrandt
FagorBrandt’s international project has met their high expectations, and has resulted in several benefits for the group. The group has now gained the benefits of having a homogenous ERP platform that easily allow them to make optimal business decisions based on up-to-date, easy accessible, accurate and safely controlled data of all their international operations. “It is now possible for us to control the processes within each and every subsidiary, and the Group Reporting provide us with an easy monthly report giving us the necessary overview to make intelligent and well-informed business decisions,” says Jean-Philippe Moulineuf.

Besides gaining visibility due to harmonized business processes and easy access to up-to-date data, FagorBrandt has also experienced an extremely decreased TCO both on Group and on a local level. “Partner Power has met our needs and solved our pains in a highly professional and committed manner. That’s why I have suggested my managers to keep on working with Partner Power for future projects,” concludes Jean-Philippe Moulineuf.