IT Industry Today
Lyckeby Adds Flavour to the Cloud
Sweden’s Lyckeby Group reaps the benefits of implementing an Infor M3 Cloud solution to successfully streamline and simplify business processes across the organisation
Published 30 August 2018
Founded in 1927, Sweden’s Starch Producers’ Association is today comprised of two companies, Lyckeby Culinar and Lyckeby Starch. Owned by over 600 farmers, the SSF or Lyckeby Group has a turnover of approximately SEK 1,600m (c $180m). While Lyckeby Starch focuses on the farming, manufacture and product development of starches, potato fibre and potato protein, Lyckeby Culinar leads the way in the development of flavourings and spices. The Group has its head office in Kristianstad, with production, merchandising, customer service, administration and product development facilities also located in nearby Fjälkinge. Outside of Sweden, the Group also has sister companies and sales offices in Denmark, Norway, Latvia, Poland, the Czech Republic, Russia and China, as well as distributors across Europe, the US, Asia and Australia.
The Lyckeby Culinar business has undergone many changes over the years. From humble beginnings in a small cellar in Äppelviken, Stockholm, to the modern food company of today, Lyckeby’s history spans inventive taste developments during World War II rationing, finding solutions to seemingly impossible problems, and responding to the rapidly changing taste requirements that are seen across the food sector today. One thing that has supported the company’s evolution is a willingness to develop new and exciting products, expanding the business to best cater for the ever-changing needs of the market, a corporate ethos that saw the acquisition of Kockens in 2008, with a new plant for liquid flavours and glazes opened in 2010. As Christel Petersson, IT manager, comments: “We definitely know how to help food manufacturers make the best tasting products possible.”
When it comes to IT systems that underpin the success of the business, 1995 saw a number of companies in the group implement Movex, updating to Movex 12 5.2 in 2005 – 2006. Ten years later, in the Spring of 2016, the decision was taken to research the possibility of moving to a more up-to-date platform. As Petersson explains: “Our business was growing and developing but we felt that our systems weren’t keeping up. We were reliant on a lot of highly customised workarounds, which were stifling our ability to take full advantage of the business opportunities that were presenting themselves. What we were looking for was a centralised system that would simplify and streamline processes and procedures, not only at Group level but with regards to partners and suppliers too.”
After a thorough analysis of all processes, SSF came up with a list of 50 improvements that would need to be addressed by any IT changes. For many within the organisation, it was going to be a major bonus to do away with the myriad of modules and customised systems in favour of a fully integrated solution. However, the business was faced with two challenges. Firstly, when was the best time to implement a new solution, in light of the fact that although their half-year end is in February, the business’s ‘growing’ year is only just beginning then, so they would be facing a deadline of March 2017 to go-live? And, secondly, did they have enough confidence to take the leap into the Cloud?
After much discussion, the decision was made to upgrade to the latest version of M3 for Food and Beverage in the cloud. The upgrade project started after the Summer in 2016, with Lyckeby going live with Infor CloudSuite Food & Beverage on March 13th, 2017. Although the project involved some 200 M3 users, any problems were minimal. As Petersson explains: “We benefited from an amazing upgrade team made up of personnel from Lyckeby, Infor and Infor partner EG. This meant that we experienced far fewer disruptions than we had expected. Our combined levels of knowledge and understanding of the business helped us to achieve a very successful upgrade, although we’re very aware that we can always do more to continually develop how we make the most of the system to maximise our ROI.”
In terms of doing away with customisations and modifications, Petersson says they’re not far off their goal: “We haven’t quite reached our aim of zero modifications but we’re almost there. We had around 100 at the start and now we’re down to just seven, which is obviously a massive difference. Only the future will tell if we manage to eradicate these last few.”
“The stability of the solution is a major benefit to us. We’ve had no interruptions to business and, with the ongoing IT support, we’re finding smarter working practices for optimum levels of efficiency.”
Petersson is also very complimentary about the training provided and the system trials of each individual process before going live with Lyckeby employees. For now, the project’s momentum is maintained by utilizing the tools available to optimise vital business processes, documenting and deepening the business’s understanding of how customers and the business itself can take full advantage of the comprehensive functionality of the cloud-based solution. Infor M3.
As Petersson continues: "We’re also focussing on expanding our use of the system, including working on transport solutions and logistics information, which includes developing our forecasting and planning capabilities. We’re also using Infor M3 functionality to help us deal with other more pressing challenges, such as GDPR”
When it comes to Infor, Petersson confirms that the support has been top-notch, with no problem left unsolved: “M3 gives the management team the ability to view the entire business, with the increased levels of organisational digitalisation we’re seeing with M3 enabling us to keep pace with technological advances in the market, helping us to remain both profitable and competitive.”
“We’re also involved in the M3 User Association (MAF) and recently took part in a seminar at the User Conference where we discussed our successful journey to the cloud. In short, we feel the Infor M3 Cloud solution is flexible yet stable and reliable, with the added bonus of solid support from Infor making it the right investment at the right time for our business.”
The Lyckeby Culinar business has undergone many changes over the years. From humble beginnings in a small cellar in Äppelviken, Stockholm, to the modern food company of today, Lyckeby’s history spans inventive taste developments during World War II rationing, finding solutions to seemingly impossible problems, and responding to the rapidly changing taste requirements that are seen across the food sector today. One thing that has supported the company’s evolution is a willingness to develop new and exciting products, expanding the business to best cater for the ever-changing needs of the market, a corporate ethos that saw the acquisition of Kockens in 2008, with a new plant for liquid flavours and glazes opened in 2010. As Christel Petersson, IT manager, comments: “We definitely know how to help food manufacturers make the best tasting products possible.”
When it comes to IT systems that underpin the success of the business, 1995 saw a number of companies in the group implement Movex, updating to Movex 12 5.2 in 2005 – 2006. Ten years later, in the Spring of 2016, the decision was taken to research the possibility of moving to a more up-to-date platform. As Petersson explains: “Our business was growing and developing but we felt that our systems weren’t keeping up. We were reliant on a lot of highly customised workarounds, which were stifling our ability to take full advantage of the business opportunities that were presenting themselves. What we were looking for was a centralised system that would simplify and streamline processes and procedures, not only at Group level but with regards to partners and suppliers too.”
After a thorough analysis of all processes, SSF came up with a list of 50 improvements that would need to be addressed by any IT changes. For many within the organisation, it was going to be a major bonus to do away with the myriad of modules and customised systems in favour of a fully integrated solution. However, the business was faced with two challenges. Firstly, when was the best time to implement a new solution, in light of the fact that although their half-year end is in February, the business’s ‘growing’ year is only just beginning then, so they would be facing a deadline of March 2017 to go-live? And, secondly, did they have enough confidence to take the leap into the Cloud?
After much discussion, the decision was made to upgrade to the latest version of M3 for Food and Beverage in the cloud. The upgrade project started after the Summer in 2016, with Lyckeby going live with Infor CloudSuite Food & Beverage on March 13th, 2017. Although the project involved some 200 M3 users, any problems were minimal. As Petersson explains: “We benefited from an amazing upgrade team made up of personnel from Lyckeby, Infor and Infor partner EG. This meant that we experienced far fewer disruptions than we had expected. Our combined levels of knowledge and understanding of the business helped us to achieve a very successful upgrade, although we’re very aware that we can always do more to continually develop how we make the most of the system to maximise our ROI.”
In terms of doing away with customisations and modifications, Petersson says they’re not far off their goal: “We haven’t quite reached our aim of zero modifications but we’re almost there. We had around 100 at the start and now we’re down to just seven, which is obviously a massive difference. Only the future will tell if we manage to eradicate these last few.”
“The stability of the solution is a major benefit to us. We’ve had no interruptions to business and, with the ongoing IT support, we’re finding smarter working practices for optimum levels of efficiency.”
Petersson is also very complimentary about the training provided and the system trials of each individual process before going live with Lyckeby employees. For now, the project’s momentum is maintained by utilizing the tools available to optimise vital business processes, documenting and deepening the business’s understanding of how customers and the business itself can take full advantage of the comprehensive functionality of the cloud-based solution. Infor M3.
As Petersson continues: "We’re also focussing on expanding our use of the system, including working on transport solutions and logistics information, which includes developing our forecasting and planning capabilities. We’re also using Infor M3 functionality to help us deal with other more pressing challenges, such as GDPR”
When it comes to Infor, Petersson confirms that the support has been top-notch, with no problem left unsolved: “M3 gives the management team the ability to view the entire business, with the increased levels of organisational digitalisation we’re seeing with M3 enabling us to keep pace with technological advances in the market, helping us to remain both profitable and competitive.”
“We’re also involved in the M3 User Association (MAF) and recently took part in a seminar at the User Conference where we discussed our successful journey to the cloud. In short, we feel the Infor M3 Cloud solution is flexible yet stable and reliable, with the added bonus of solid support from Infor making it the right investment at the right time for our business.”
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