Elica gains advantage by integrating key customers' systems

A kitchen-equipment manufacturer says it has given itself a competitive advantage ahead of its initial public offering (IPO) by integrating with its key customers’ supply chain systems.

Italian manufacturer Elica, which has sales of €500m a year, has spent the past 18 months integrating its new enterprise-resource planning system with the supply chain systems of its largest customers.

Elica’s IT director Renato Giovannini said, “This kind of strong integration with suppliers is a competitive advantage because it’s not easy to realise.”

The company’s main customers, Bosch and Electrolux, used to submit rolling 12-weekly orders for kitchen hoods that could change with just three weeks’ notice.

By integrating with Bosch and Electrolux, Elica has been able to increase its output by 15% without increasing costs.

Giovannini said one of the key efficiency gains lay in a decrease in the firm’s stock of about 10%, made possible by closer matching of orders to production.

The company chose TXT e-solutions as its ERP system and also used the company as its systems integrator.
Elica is scheduled to float on the Borsa Italiana in October.