Qimarox has better control of the production chain with Tradecloud

By introducing the Tradecloud Supply Chain Platform, Qimarox is strengthening its collaboration with its suppliers. Qimarox is using this platform to process the rapidly growing number of orders and deliveries together with its suppliers. Because Qimarox is poised for future growth, digitization of the supply chain was an important wish. Purchasing Manager Hendri de Ruiter: “We can only maintain our high level of delivery reliability if everything stays within the green zone in terms of the delivery reliability of our suppliers.

Tradecloud is a digital platform that supports buyers and their suppliers by speeding up processes, creating a higher degree of flexibility. In this way, time and raw material consumption can be optimized. The standard platform was developed specifically for the manufacturing industry, is cloud based and is compatible with any ERP system. Qimarox has been using the platform since January this year to automatically forward orders from its own ERP system to the eleven suppliers. These in turn send an order confirmation directly from their own ERP system or via the platform.

“Our suppliers see immediately when a new purchase order is available and can import it directly into their own ERP system without having to enter data manually. This makes the process much more economical, both on the part of Qimarox and the suppliers,” explains Hendri de Ruiter of Qimarox. And he mentions the advantages: a better overview of deliveries and better calculations of material requirements.

Complete integration within the production chain

Qimarox signed the contract with Tradecloud in February 2019. One month later, the corresponding project was launched and the platform was implemented within six months. In September, Qimarox used the platform to network with the first supplier. Since January 2020, the platform has been in full operation and 11 suppliers are involved. For them, networking with the platform is free of charge, although they themselves also benefit from full integration within the generation chain thanks to the standard ERP interfaces.

Because manual processes in purchasing (e.g. processing order confirmations) are now automated, Qimarox cuts order management time in half. Automation also increases speed and reduces the risk of errors. Because Qimarox purchasing staff can now concentrate on the orders that require special attention, suppliers’ delivery reliability increases. “We now have fewer rush orders and there are also fewer misunderstandings about orders. Because everyone has everything in black and white now.”

Everything centralized

All communication between Qimarox and suppliers is now centralized in one place. Not only de Ruiter, but also the other colleagues at Qimarox and at the suppliers can easily see what has been agreed. “Our goal is to capture as much knowledge as possible in systems. We go quite far in defining the specifications that the purchased parts must meet. This way we avoid mistakes and misunderstandings. It is particularly important to communicate clearly and efficiently at this time, which is characterised by a chronic shortage of technical personnel, so that companies are able to make the best possible use of their employees’ skills,” says de Ruiter.

Qimarox currently uses the Tradecloud modules Orders, Workflow, Communication and Basic Supply Chain Analytics. De Ruiter: “This year we want to integrate even more suppliers. We are also thinking about expanding the processes that we want to enable with Tradecloud. For example, the Forecasts and Item Management modules.

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