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TOKYO, Japan – Aug 7, 2019 – Infor, a global leader in business cloud software specialized by industry, today announced that Kyowa Chemical Industry, a manufacturer and seller of chemical products for industry and healthcare, has implemented Infor M3 Cloud, Infor’s ERP software for large global manufacturers, distributors, and after-sales service providers, to enhance business data visibility and business efficiency in its global operations as it gears up for international expansion.

Kyowa Chemical Industry develops safe and secure products that are both people- and eco-friendly. It manufactures and sells industrial products, pharmaceuticals and food additives using the magnesium in seawater as the main raw material, and possesses the largest share in the domestic market for inorganic industrial chemicals and active pharmaceutical ingredients. In recent years, it has sold an increasing percentage of products overseas, mainly for industrial use, and with five production/sales sites overseas, including in the Netherlands and China, it is also focusing on international expansion.

To further grow its business in Japan and overseas, Kyowa Chemical Industry is working to achieve business data visibility and business efficiency improvements. Close information sharing with overseas sites, in particular, is necessary for it to achieve a stable supply of products while expanding its business globally. It was unable to reform its business practices with the previous office computer-based system it has used for sales, purchasing and inventory management.

As its office computer systems aged, Kyowa Chemical Industry decided to adopt Infor M3 Cloud because it packages together all the functionalities required for global sales, purchasing and inventory management, and enables centralized data management with a single system. Another factor for the decision was that Infor has extensive experience in production management for domestic and international process manufacturing industries, and Kyowa Chemical Industry is considering adopting a production management package in the future.

Using Infor M3 Cloud, Kyowa Chemical Industry built a new business platform for managing its sales, purchasing and inventory, which it launched across its domestic sales offices in April 2019. The platform is being rolled out in the company’s overseas sales offices to enable centralized management of global sales, purchasing and inventory information, which will accelerate information sharing and business decision-making with overseas sites. Promoting standardization of skills-dependent business processes, Infor M3 is also expected to become the cornerstone of future company-wide initiatives to improve business efficiency.

In addition to sales, purchasing and inventory management, Kyowa Chemical Industry is considering using Infor M3 as the core factor of the system to realize optimal coordination of supply and demand on a global scale.

“At Kyowa Chemical Industry, we have continually worked on enhancing our sales and production sites in Japan and overseas to directly provide our customers around the world with unique products. We adopted Infor’s ERP cloud solution to enable connection with branches overseas, which are growing in importance, and to drive business efficiencies,” said Mitsunori Kado, director and head of human resources at Kyowa Chemical Industry. “Going forward, we hope to draw from the extensive process manufacturing knowledge of Infor to continue enhancing our business platforms and expand our range of high-safety, eco-friendly products globally.”

About Kyowa Chemical Industry Co., Ltd.

Kyowa Chemical Industry was founded in 1947 in Takamatsu, Kagawa Prefecture. As a developer of safe and secure products that are both people-friendly and eco-friendly, it manufactures and sells a range of industrial products, such as non-halogen resin stabilizers and flame retardants, and pharmaceutical and food additive products, such as antacids, and functional additives, using the magnesium in seawater as the main raw material. For further details, see http://www.kyowa-chem.jp/

About Infor

Infor is a global leader in business cloud software specialized by industry. With 17,300 employees and over 68,000 customers in more than 170 countries, Infor software is designed for progress. To learn more, please visit www.infor.com.

Infor customers include:

• The top 20 aerospace companies
• 9 of the top 10 high tech companies
• 14 of the 25 largest U.S. healthcare delivery networks
• 19 of the 20 largest U.S. cities
• 18 of the top 20 automotive suppliers
• 14 of the top 20 industrial distributors
• 13 of the top 20 global retailers
• 4 of the top 5 brewers
• 17 of the top 20 global banks
• 9 of the 10 largest global hotel brands
• 7 of the top 10 global luxury brands

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Media Contact:
Phyllis Tan
Infor Asia Pacific & India
+65 97999133
phyllis.tan@infor.com

Source: Infor

Infor, a global leader in business cloud software specialised by industry, today announced that global fashion retailer LC Waikiki has selected Infor CloudSuite PLM for Fashion, built on Infor OS and deployed via software-as-a-service (SaaS), to help enhance visibility, boost forecasting, and support rapid growth.

LC Waikiki selected Infor due to the need for agility to react and respond to market trends more effectively. The decision was based on the application’s rich user experience, its ability to scale, dedicated capabilities for private brand fashion retailers, as well as the professionalism and knowledge of the team.

Because the application is deployed via Infor’s SaaS, LC Waikiki can focus on growing its business and helping users drive greater speed and business value from the solution, rather than spending time supporting and maintaining it.

“The $1.3 trillion fashion industry is enormously competitive and going through significant change. To support growth and efficiency, it is crucial for fashion brands to have systems that enable them to react to the latest catwalk trends and quickly translate them into new collections and styles and to online clicks and store sales,” comments Jason Berry, VP Retail & Fashion, EMEA, Infor. “LC Waikiki is capitalising on Infor’s CloudSuite PLM for Fashion capabilities to enhance visibility, collaboration and drive rapid growth — to steal a march on its competitors.”

“Having a dedicated end-to-end platform designed to support the specific dynamics of fashion product lifecycle management is crucial to win market share in a highly competitive industry,” comments Serafettin Ozer, chief digital officer, LC Waikiki. “LC Waikiki is the market leader in 15 of the 46 countries where it operates. The extensive capabilities and intuitive interface of Infor CloudSuite PLM for Fashion mean that we can continue our growth journey with the very best tools and absolute confidence in our performance. Product lifecycle management is a critical process for our business, and therefore our project with Infor is highly strategic.”

About LC Waikiki

LC Waikiki’s journey started in France in 1988, continuing after 1997 as a Turkish brand under the umbrella of LC Waikiki Mağazacılık Hizmetleri Ticaret A.Ş.

As being one of the leading brands of the ready-to-wear industry, LC Waikiki operates with more than 958 stores located in 46 countries, including Turkey and 43,200 employees. The company’s philosophy is “Everyone deserves to dress well” enabling people to enjoy accessible fashion through quality products at affordable prices.

LC Waikiki, with its overseas investments that started in Romania in 2009, aims to be “one of Europe’s three most successful apparel retailers by 2023”.

About Infor

Infor is a global leader in business cloud software specialized by industry. With 17,300 employees and over 68,000 customers in more than 170 countries, Infor software is designed for progress. To learn more, please visit www.infor.com.

Infor customers include:

• 19 of the top 20 aerospace companies
• 9 of the top 10 high tech companies
• 18 of the 25 largest U.S. healthcare delivery networks
• 18 of the 20 largest U.S. cities
• 19 of the top 20 automotive suppliers
• 17 of the top 20 industrial distributors
• 15 of the top 20 global retailers
• 4 of the top 5 brewers
• 17 of the top 20 global banks
• 9 of the 10 largest global hotel brands
• 8 of the top 10 global luxury brands

For more information: 
Richard Moore
Infor
+447976111243
richard.moore@infor.com

 

Source: Infor

Infor, a global leader in business cloud software specialized by industry, today announced that leading producer of equestrian and pet products, Horseware Ireland, has successfully completed a global deployment of Infor M3. The enterprise resource planning (ERP) platform will help ensure the right tools and capabilities are in the hands of Horseware Ireland’s employees, allowing them to deliver an enhanced partner and customer experience. In parallel, greater efficiency and visibility facilitated by the platform — which is live across Ireland, US, Cambodia and currently implementing for China — are expected to open opportunities to pursue product innovation in line with the specialist manufacturer’s ethos.

With a diverse product mix, which includes accessories for horses and dogs, clothing and accessories for ladies, men and children, and a therapies range designed for horses, Horseware Ireland required a system that is flexible and can scale to incorporate new products as market opportunities dictate. The company’s previous systems had become heavily modified, were disparate across locations and required a great deal of manual intervention, which impeded productivity and agility.

Horseware Ireland selected Infor based on its ability to scale, a close fit for the apparel industry and modern interfaces. Because the company was already using a previous Infor product, training and data migration demands were even easier to manage, allowing the team to hit the ground running, faster.

“Since its inception in 1985, Horseware Ireland has continuously innovated and invested in the latest technology to support its growth and become the successful equine brand it is today,” comments Alan O’Neill, IT Manager, Horseware Ireland. “Delivering quality products in combination with an exceptional partner experience are intrinsic to our vision. Supported by partners, MRC UK, BEC S.I., Millersoft, Glantus, Vince and Cashbooks, Infor’s platform personalises the user experience, allowing us to automate more processes for greater productivity, exercise better control over the allocation of goods to partners and customers, and ultimately enhance partner and customer engagement.”

“Fashion businesses live or die by the brand experience they deliver, particularly those in niche sectors,” comments Simon Niesler, SVP and general manager, Infor Western Europe. “In an ever-demanding, ever-fickle world, customer-centric strategies must be underpinned by integrated, industry-specific technology to manage product mixes, ensure productivity and meet customer expectations to secure all-important competitive advantage.”

About Infor

Infor is a global leader in business cloud software specialized by industry. With 17,300 employees and over 68,000 customers in more than 170 countries, Infor software is designed for progress. To learn more, please visit www.infor.com.

Infor customers include:

• 19 of the top 20 aerospace companies
• 9 of the top 10 high tech companies
• 18 of the 25 largest U.S. healthcare delivery networks
• 18 of the 20 largest U.S. cities
• 19 of the top 20 automotive suppliers
• 17 of the top 20 industrial distributors
• 15 of the top 20 global retailers
• 4 of the top 5 brewers
• 17 of the top 20 global banks
• 9 of the 10 largest global hotel brands
• 8 of the top 10 global luxury brands

For more information: 
Richard Moore
Infor
+447976111243
richard.moore@infor.com

 

Source: Infor

Infor, a global leader in business cloud software specialized by industry, today announced that Groupe Gascogne, a French industrial company in the wood-paper-packaging sector chosen Infor M3 as part of a project to restructure its various units around a single solution.

With 1,700 employees, 13 production units in Germany, Greece, France, and Tunisia, Groupe Gascogne is the only fully integrated French player in the entire wood-to-paper transformation chain. The group has four complementary and integrated activities (wood, paper, bags, and flexible), and is the leading multi-specialist wood operator in France, the world’s leading producer of natural rubbed kraft paper, one of the European leaders in industrial and consumer bags, as well as one of the world’s leading producers of packaging and protection complexes. It is listed at Euronext Growth.

Christophe Lagardère, CIO of Groupe Gascogne, says: “This project’s main objective, which started early 2017, is to harmonize all our existing business processes to increase our efficiency. Infor M3 will replace several solutions developed in-house, improving the traceability of different products and material flows, the quality of our products and, ultimately, our customer service.”

Infor has been selected following a bid process that included a dozen vendor and integrator teams, to cover the demands of the entire functional scope from purchases through finance, production, planning, sales, maintenance, shipping. The solution will serve 900 users spread across the entire group’s activities and located on 15 sites (including 13 production sites).

Infor M3 solution is particularly well-suited to the needs of process manufacturing industries, which rely in particular on the following aspects: cost reduction, ease of integration, operational efficiency, speed, and business specificity.

“The combined professionalism of Infor’s teams and the systems integrator Hetic3 enabled us to benefit from the potential of the Infor M3 solution, which reassured us and reinforced our choice. Moreover, its functional richness and its flexibility in terms of configuration, as well as its modern and extremely intuitive user interface, convinced us further,” adds Lagardère.

A first deployment including a functional scope common to all activities of the group, namely finance and maintenance management, is planned on the pilot site of Dax, France. The production phase of all other domains should follow from January 2020 and spread out over two years.

In addition, the ability to develop APIs to allow Infor M3 to interface with third-party manufacturing execution or production supervision systems was a decisive point in the final choice of Groupe Gascogne.

Finally, the company is planning to deploy, in a successive phase, the preconfigured Infor Birst cloud analytics platform, acquired by Infor in 2017, to insure the coherence of all the data gathered by Groupe Gascogne and to integrate their analysis.

About Infor

Infor is a global leader in business cloud software specialized by industry. With 17,300 employees and over 68,000 customers in more than 170 countries, Infor software is designed for progress. To learn more, please visit www.infor.com.

Infor customers include:

• 19 of the top 20 aerospace companies
• 9 of the top 10 high tech companies
• 18 of the 25 largest U.S. healthcare delivery networks
• 18 of the 20 largest U.S. cities
• 19 of the top 20 automotive suppliers
• 17 of the top 20 industrial distributors
• 15 of the top 20 global retailers
• 4 of the top 5 brewers
• 17 of the top 20 global banks
• 9 of the 10 largest global hotel brands
• 8 of the top 10 global luxury brands

For more information: 
Richard Moore
Infor
+447976111243
richard.moore@infor.com

 

Source: Infor

After having set the Infor solution in France and Switzerland last year, Morel continues its implementation to ensure all its subsidiaries can rely on a centralized, modern, reliable and scalable information system.

Paris, France – May 7, 2019 – Infor, a leading provider of industry-specific cloud applications, today announced that Morel, a French family-owned company specializing in the design and manufacturing of eyeglass frames, is extending its deployment of the Infor M3 Fashion solution to nine subsidiaries abroad.

Morel, founded in 1880 and based in France (Jura), is a fashion company with a strong identity, completely independent, and whose growth in France and internationally is illustrated by the acquisition of its distributors abroad (Netherlands, Belgium, Italy, Spain and Portugal). The goal is to ensure a presence and optimal representation in each territory, taking into account that 75% of the company’s turnover is generated internationally.

The Infor M3 Fashion ERP implementation project started in 2016 and found its first peak in April 2018 with the effective implementation of the solution on the French site of Morel, which employs nearly 130 people. Infor’s partner Hetic 3 (formerly HELANT), a true Infor M3 specialist, took charge of the project from the commercialization phase, to replace a home-made solution whose flexibility and functionalities no longer suited Morel’s ambitions.

“The M3 Fashion project is a strategic initiative coming straight from our top management,” says Laurent Chevalier, IT director at Morel. “The competition from suppliers of low-cost eyeglass frames has been such that many French players active in our sector have disappeared. Thanks to our strong identity, our ability to constantly offer new products – nearly 1,500 new catalog items per year – and a coherent, robust and sustainable IT project, we have been able to cope with the strong competition and increase our activities considerably.”

Morel’s international ambitions also prompted the company to select a tool that could be deployed in each of its regions, to adhere to local laws and obligations – particularly in tax matters – and to communicate with headquarters efficiently and quickly. This is to ensure administration, workflow planning and business relationships (including via Infor’s e-sales module) are perfectly aligned with the company’s requirements for excellence.

“We are a very dynamic, high-tech company (3D injection, screwless frames, etc.), with varied business processes, always at the forefront of design trends, as well as in terms of planning and product development. The fact that we are still in business today in this particularly competitive sector, we owe to our brand identity but also, I am sure, to the vision of our management in terms of information systems. We need a solution that is perfectly adapted to our activities in the fashion industry,” continues Laurent Chevalier. “From a generic, single-company, single-language, single-site, in-house solution that met the needs of the market as we knew it 30 years ago, we went to a modern, flexible, scalable solution. The Infor M3 Fashion solution offers a friendly user interface and rich and precise features, especially in terms of style management. This implementation definitely marked an essential step in the development of our company.”

From an Infor perspective, the project is part of a strategy of constant development in vertical industry sectors, demonstrating Infor’s capacity to meet specific needs and to adapt to the requirements of the sector and the customer, be it an on-site or cloud deployment.

“A customer like Morel perfectly illustrates our ability to respond to very specific requests with a dedicated solution – in this case dedicated to the fashion sector, and highly scalable,” says Laurent Jacquemain, senior vice president and general manager, Southern Europe, Infor. “With our partner Hetic 3, we have been able to set up a progressive deployment project, first in the home market of Morel, then internationally, with deployment in nine territories abroad between now and 2021 that will help Morel to manage its activities with efficiency and agility.”

Learn more about Infor’s dedicated solution to Fashion industries: https://www.infor.com/fr-fr/products/cloudsuite-fashion.

More information about Morel: https://morel-france.com/fr/.

About Hetic 3

Part of HELIOS Group, Hetic 3 is a major partner of Infor for the distribution and implementation of Infor M3. Its functional business knowledge, combined with Infor M3 ERP expertise, brings real added value and a guarantee to clients. With around 70 consultants working across nearly 130 customers, its main activities revolve around three main areas: distribution, integration and third-party application maintenance.

 

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About Infor

Infor is a global leader in business cloud software specialized by industry. With 17,300 employees and over 68,000 customers in more than 170 countries, Infor software is designed for progress. To learn more, please visit www.infor.com.

Infor customers include:

• 19 of the top 20 aerospace companies
• 9 of the top 10 high tech companies
• 18 of the 25 largest U.S. healthcare delivery networks
• 18 of the 20 largest U.S. cities
• 19 of the top 20 automotive suppliers
• 17 of the top 20 industrial distributors
• 15 of the top 20 global retailers
• 4 of the top 5 brewers
• 17 of the top 20 global banks
• 9 of the 10 largest global hotel brands
• 8 of the top 10 global luxury brands

 

Source: Infor.com

Infor, a global leader in business cloud software specialized by industry, has announced that dairy manufacturer Emmi is rolling out the enterprise resource planning (ERP) solution Infor M3 to some of its subsidiaries in order to streamline its internationally expanding business operations. The first go-live took place at Emmi’s UK site at the end of 2018. Emmi Canada and one of its US subsidiaries will follow this year, and the subsidiary in the Benelux in 2020.

Emmi originates from Switzerland, where it is the country’s largest dairy processor, and has a global reputation as a producer of premium dairy products and cheese. In Switzerland, the company produces and markets a comprehensive range of dairy products primarily for the retail trade and the food industry. Elsewhere, it focuses on brand concepts and specialities, such as the Emmi ready-to-eat cheese fondue, cave-aged cheese specialities, and the various CAFFÈ LATTE cold coffee products. The company employs around 6,100 people worldwide.

Some of Emmi’s international subsidiaries lacked up-to-date business software, and needed a professional, standardised ERP solution to support their rapid growth. Emmi chose not to invest in multiple solutions that would have been difficult to integrate, going instead for a single solution for these international locations.. Emmi took a year to survey the needs of the various locations. Out of four possible solutions, Infor M3 met all requirements most closely, and Infor was also able to make a successful business case for the international rollout. Infor M3 was also considered to be easier to use than the SAP system that is used in the head office in Switzerland.

‘As well as extensive food & beverage industry functionalities, Infor M3 has a strong record in the dairy industry,’ says Kees van den Houten, Benelux country manager at Infor. ‘Emmi is a well-known player on the consumer and business dairy market, with international offices and production locations. These subsidiaries grow through acquisitions, and each has its own way of working, which makes it particularly challenging to facilitate further growth and streamline business operations. I’m proud that Emmi has chosen Infor to help achieve this.’

Infor M3 is easy to use, with all the advantages of a mature ERP system. This very comprehensive system – with specific features for the food industry – can be fully integrated, so that it can also work with financial and purchasing systems. This gives Emmi complete control over its business operations, making it easier to produce sales forecasts and reports. In addition, special attention is paid to quality control in the production and logistics processes, and to tracking and tracing – essential aspects in the dairy industry.

Infor’s subsidiary Infor Alfa-Beta specialises in the food & beverage industry, and was the right implementation partner for Emmi. After an inventory of the capabilities, it was decided that the first implementation should take place in the UK. Infor Alfa-Beta proceeded in its characteristic way: The implementation was planned and conducted in partnership, in view of the express desire that as much knowledge should be transferred as possible so that subsequent implementations could be carried out more and more independently. Infor Alfa-Beta’s own implementation team and an Emmi deployment team from Switzerland tackled this in a ‘pressure cooker’ project. Go-live of the pilot rollout was achieved in a record time of four months, to complete satisfaction. At the beginning of 2019, implementation started at Emmi in Montreal, Canada, and will then continue in California, where Emmi has its own production line and currently does not use an integrated ERP system. Emmi Benelux is next, in 2020. This location has a greater volume than the other sites.

Simon Berweger, senior project manager Corporate Development at Emmi, on the collaboration: ‘We’re enthusiastic about Infor M3. The software does what we expected of it, and is already a valuable addition. It’s also very user friendly, even for people who lack strong computer skills. From the go-live in the UK, we can already see that certain activities are taking a lot less time than before. Together with Infor Alfa-Beta, we decided to take a lean approach to the project to achieve the first go-live quickly. We really wanted to meet this first deadline to set a precedent for the further rollout.’

‘We have high expectations of what M3 can offer us in the future. Right now, we’re focusing on managing the implementation. When the last go-live is over and everyone has mastered the system, we’ll look at how we can further optimise it for our business, improve processes, gain new insights, and achieve more cost savings.’

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About Infor

Infor is a global leader in business cloud software specialized by industry. With 17,300 employees and over 68,000 customers in more than 170 countries, Infor software is designed for progress. To learn more, please visit www.infor.com.

Infor customers include:

• 19 of the top 20 aerospace companies
• 9 of the top 10 high tech companies
• 18 of the 25 largest U.S. healthcare delivery networks
• 18 of the 20 largest U.S. cities
• 19 of the top 20 automotive suppliers
• 17 of the top 20 industrial distributors
• 15 of the top 20 global retailers
• 4 of the top 5 brewers
• 17 of the top 20 global banks
• 9 of the 10 largest global hotel brands
• 8 of the top 10 global luxury brands

 

Source: Infor.com

Infor, a global leader in business cloud software specialized by industry, today announced that health food and personal care specialist Midsona has gone live with the first phase of its roll out of Infor CloudSuite Food and Beverage. As part of an aggressive, acquisition-based drive for growth, this phase will see Midsona standardise on Infor technology in the cloud replacing five ERP systems throughout the group. This will not only deliver savings in terms of software licence costs and a reliance on external consultants, but also accelerate operations and reporting throughout the Group.

Infor M3, which is the foundation for Infor CloudSuite Food & Beverage, is already in use throughout Midsona in Denmark, with Sweden set to go live, followed by Finland and Norway. These deployments are the culmination of an extensive business process re-engineering project that has led to the creation of a common, standardised platform throughout the Midsona Group.

Following a thorough review of the market, Infor was chosen on the basis of a competitive total cost of ownership, and an existing base of Infor expertise within the Danish Midsona companies. The comprehensive nature of the Infor offering, tailored to the needs of Midsona and including Infor BI, Infor d/EPM, and Infor Factory Track, delivered as a service in the cloud, was also a key factor in Midsona’s decision.

“With five ERPs in place across the group, we faced a great deal of unnecessary complexity, explains Christoffer Filippini, IS / IT Manager, Midsona. “This was expressed by the same product appearing under different SKU references throughout the group, resulting in long transaction times. Instances such as these made the decision to standardise an obvious one, especially as we continue to acquire new companies. Powered by Infor CloudSuite Food and Beverage, our common business platform will make it easier, faster and more cost-effective to bring new acquisitions on board as we continue our drive to double in size over the next three years.”

“Large scale cloud deployments such as this one at Midsona demonstrate the many benefits of cloud at enterprise scale,” said Johan Made, General Manager for the Nordics, Infor. “Firstly, there is the financial saving of rationalising five ERP systems to one consistent base. But beyond that, the ability of cloud-based systems to handle localisation differences, deliver easier and faster technology upgrades to support growth and to remove the need for customisations and expensive external consultants, creates a compelling business case for businesses looking to develop a platform that can support digital initiatives that help create a dominant position in their markets.”

About Infor

Infor is a global leader in business cloud software specialized by industry. With 17,300 employees and over 68,000 customers in more than 170 countries, Infor software is designed for progress. To learn more, please visit www.infor.com.

Infor, a global leader in business cloud software specialized by industry, today announced South Australian-based Drakes Supermarkets (Drakes) has selected and commenced implementing Infor CloudSuite Food & Beverage (CS-F&B) and Integrated Business Planning (IBP) suite. Infor CS-F&B and IBP will provide Drakes with a SaaS-based enterprise system delivering end to end visibility, scalability and optimisation throughout Drakes’ Wholesale and Retail business, allowing Drakes to improve serviceability to both retail and wholesale customers, as well as take greater control of their future through tighter control of their supply chain.

The Infor solution will provide Business Users with consistent, accurate and readily-accessible data across the enterprise, with workflow standardisation and increasing levels of automation. Drakes’ investment into their expansion includes the construction of a brand new, state-of-the-art warehouse facility in Edinburgh North that will serve both their retail operations and wholesale customers and will be capable of warehousing ambient, fresh, chilled and frozen goods.

“After a robust selection process, Drakes chose Infor for our ERP as Infor demonstrated a strong knowledge of our business, both for our existing retail operations, as well as our wholesale needs, which resonated strongly with our management team. With our program having already launched with the Infor Consulting Services team, we are now on our way to meeting our commitment of launching our Wholesale warehouse in the middle of 2019 and supporting the ongoing expansion of our company” said Scott Lintern, CFO, Drakes.

“Drakes are embarking on one of the most exciting and significant ventures in Australian retail – taking control of their own destiny, building a wholesale business and becoming one of the most technologically advanced retailers in the country,” said Brett Egglestone, Vice President of Infor Retail, ANZ. “Drakes are known for their customer centricity and support for the local community – Infor certainly welcomes the opportunity to partner with Drakes through the deployment of Infor’s finely-tuned industry-specific solutions delivered in the cloud, and to assist Drakes with their customer focus and maintain them at the forefront of technology.”

About Drakes Supermarkets

Drakes Supermarkets is the largest independent grocery retailer in Australia and specialises in supermarket retailing and soon to add Wholesale operations. Operating in over 60 stores across South Australia and Queensland, the company has an annual turnover in excess of $1 billion and employs over 5,500 staff nationally. The company’s strength lies in operating on the principles of a family business and supporting local manufacturers and suppliers. Drakes Supermarkets has kept its focus on the important aspects of the business. THE CUSTOMER. This is the company’s competitive edge, along with its family values and Australian heritage.

About Infor

Infor is a global leader in business cloud software specialized by industry. With 17,300 employees and over 68,000 customers in more than 170 countries, Infor software is designed for progress. To learn more, please visit www.infor.com.

Infor, a global leader in business cloud software specialized by industry, today announced that Stokke, the Norwegian manufacturer of children’s furniture and prams, has invested in Infor CloudSuite M3. Deployed throughout operations in Europe, the US and Asia, the application will help enable Stokke to reduce complexity and ensure IT strategy is dedicated to business development rather than technical maintenance.

Deployed by local Infor implementation partner Merit, Infor CloudSuite M3 is the latest iteration of the relationship between Stokke and Infor. 2007 saw the manufacturer move from M3 Movex RPG to a java-based version of the application.

As Stokke has grown, complexity across its IT infrastructure has also increased. This has led to a critical need to ensure that Stokke is on up-to-date technology systems, in order to avoid lengthy and piecemeal upgrade projects frustrating the development of the business. Deployed via the cloud, Infor CloudSuite M3 will not only help ensure Stokke is using current technology but will also aid substantial savings compared to managing the complexities of on-premise software, in house.

“Our decision to go to the cloud was both compelling and simple,” explained Rolf Waage, ICT director, Stokke. “We have a global IT department of just nine people, so we don’t want to deal with data centre issues or matters such as back up, storage or application management. That is what our technology partner should handle. Whilst we have seen some additional improvements in functionality such as role-based homepages, this decision has been much more about improving the availability and alignment of IT resources as Stokke continues to innovate in the market.”

“Manufacturers such as Stokke face very real issues of scale, where the management of a range of applications and points of infrastructure can distract the IT department from supporting the innovation within a business,” said Johan Made, managing director, EMEA north region, Infor. “Cloud technology offers a compelling alternative to the inflated costs and lack of agility that can arise from managing it all in house. This leaves the IT department free to drive innovation and help to transform the processes within a business, creating a keen competitive advantage.”

About Infor

Infor is a global leader in business cloud software specialized by industry. With 17,300 employees and over 68,000 customers in more than 170 countries, Infor software is designed for progress. To learn more, please visit www.infor.com.

Infor, a global leader in business cloud software specialised by industry, today announced that Finest Shoes, an Italian footwear manufacturer and owner of the Atlantic Stars brand, has selected Infor M3 Fashion with Infor Accelerator for Fashion. As part of a strategy to expand internationally, the application will be deployed by Infor partner and digital fashion specialist Venistar, and is expected to support strategic decision making, enhance visibility and boost production at the fashion footwear brand.

Following the acquisition of a majority stake in the business by private equity firm Alcedo, Finest Shoes needed to modernise its systems and establish a foundation for future business growth. Specifically it required integrated ERP capabilities which could support the specific requirements of the fashion industry, and could scale as the company pursues expansion into new markets.

Infor M3 Fashion, supported by Venistar, was selected based on its deep industry-specific functionality and ability to scale. Infor Accelerator for Fashion speeds up the implementation process and establishes a clear set of best practice guidelines from the outset.

“As the fashion industry globally is seeing substantial growth right now, expanding market share means addressing an increasing number of challenges and complexities,” comments Sonia Lorenzet, Chairman, Finest Shoes/Atlantic Stars. “Through our deployment of Infor we will be provided with full integration and visibility of everything from finance and administration through to stock management, production and distribution, together with business intelligence to allow us to make more informed decisions about the business. This is invaluable as we pursue our expansion plans and consolidate our brand.”

“For fashion businesses, the question as to whether to modernise systems is not so much as, but when,” comments Franco Dama, Channel Sales Director, Infor. “Clearly those who recognise both the opportunity and the challenges ahead, and establish the right systems to address both, will be in the best position to react to customer demand and deliver new styles which will boost revenue and brand awareness. Our applications have been designed in recognition of the specific complexities inherent in the fashion industry and therefore allows fashion companies to capitalise on growth opportunities to win market share.”

“Italian fashion & luxury businesses are seeing increasing pressure to bring new collections and styles to market faster than ever,” comments Roberto Da Re, CEO, Venistar. “To keep pace with this demand, innovate and build brands in a competitive sector, fashion businesses must continually modernize and for many, this means digitalisation. Through its deployment of Infor M3 Fashion, Finest Shoes is set to build upon past success to thrive as a market leader as it embarks upon its international expansion in the coming years.”

About Infor

Infor is a global leader in business cloud software specialized by industry. With 17,300 employees and over 68,000 customers in more than 170 countries, Infor software is designed for progress. To learn more, please visit www.infor.com