Satisfying the Global Demand for Technical Components

Technology Category

Application Infrastructure & Middleware - Data Exchange & Integration
Platform as a Service (PaaS) - Application Development Platforms

Applicable Industries

Consumer Goods
Electronics

Applicable Functions

Business Operation
Sales & Marketing

Use Cases

Inventory Management
Supply Chain Visibility

Services

Software Design & Engineering Services
System Integration

The Challenge

Ten Cate Enbi, a company that specializes in manufacturing plastic and rubber components for office and domestic equipment, faced a significant challenge in managing its global operations. The company operates factories in various locations worldwide, including the US, Mexico, Hungary, the Netherlands, France, Germany, and Singapore. This global presence allows Ten Cate to take advantage of currency fluctuations and produce local variants of products at competitive prices. However, managing such a widespread operation required an accurate real-time view of all aspects of the business. The company needed a multilingual, multi-currency system to support its factories worldwide. Furthermore, the company's strategy of acquiring and developing complementary businesses to extend its product range and market penetration required a flexible ERP system that could adapt to new business models.

About The Customer

Ten Cate Enbi is a company that specializes in manufacturing plastic and rubber components, parts, and packaging for office and domestic equipment. The company's products are used in a variety of office products such as fax machines, printers, mobile phones, and vacuum cleaners. Ten Cate's customers include high-profile companies like Rank Xerox, HP, Lexmark, Mitsubishi, Siemens, Philips, and many other famous names. The company operates factories in various locations worldwide, including the US, Mexico, Hungary, the Netherlands, France, Germany, and Singapore. It also plans to expand into countries like Malaysia. The company employs over 1300 people and operates from ten locations around the world. Ten Cate's philosophy is to build factories wherever its customers operate, aiming to be a global company with a local presence.

The Solution

To address these challenges, Ten Cate implemented Glovia, an integrated ERP system. The Glovia system runs on three servers located in the US, Europe, and Asia, and uses Sun Solaris hardware, an Oracle database, and Cognos management information tools. The system provides a centralized service, allowing Ten Cate to see immediately if a product is in stock in any of its locations worldwide, determine the price, and estimate the lead time for delivery. Glovia's multi-language and multi-currency capabilities are a major asset, enabling users to have screen displays in their native language and making it easy for Ten Cate to deal with customers and suppliers inside and outside the Euro-zone. The company is also looking at Glovia's e-commerce modules for its ordering system, which will enable customers to check order status online, 24 hours a day from anywhere in the world.

Operational Impact

Glovia's multi-language and multi-currency capabilities have made it easy for Ten Cate to deal with customers and suppliers inside and outside the Euro-zone.
The company can now monitor profit margins and fine-tune its pricing structure in response to competitive pressure, changes in material costs, and overheads.
The implementation of Glovia has enabled Ten Cate to provide a centralized service, allowing the company to see immediately if a product is in stock in any of its locations worldwide, determine the price, and estimate the lead time for delivery.