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Viplast AD optimizes its production with Soft1 ERP cloud software [case study]
Are your company’s business processes efficient, how can you improve productivity, and how sustainable, adaptable, and flexible are your employees? A software solution can paint a picture of what’s happening in your company so you can easily answer all these questions.
Since the spring of 2023, the foil manufacturing company Viplast AD has been working effectively with Soft1 ERP. How this business management software has changed the way the company works and what needs have dictated the need for this change will be told in the following lines.
Viplast AD is a young, fast-growing company engaged in the production of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) foils and the recycling of PET packaging and foils. The folias produced by the company are widely used in both food and non-food industries such as cosmetics, electronics, toys, trays, folding boxes, catering packaging, etc. The company offers both standard and customized solutions tailored to the customer’s requirements and the product to be packaged, as well as to the specifications of the respective packaging, thermoforming, or die-cutting machine.
Viplast has the ambition to become the leading manufacturer of PET foil in the country and the region.
To achieve this goal, the company relies on Soft1 ERP, a comprehensive business management software solution that supports organizations in their day-to-day operations.
The ERP platform provides the ability to service all key business processes, incorporating know-how and standardized processes from tens of thousands of customers in the Balkan region.
The need to replace the tables
Before implementing the system at Viplast, we relied primarily on Excel spreadsheets. Once the company started up new facilities and grew, the volume of work increased, and so did sales and the overall business.
Before the implementation of the new ERP system, the company had been working with other business management software, but it didn’t meet the needs of Viplast’s business – the company only really used it for invoicing.
“The ERP system gives very accurate and detailed information in comparison tables. And once done right – it works great,” says Viplast CEO Viktor Todorov.
He adds that thanks to his experience and that of his colleagues so far, Viplast’s management was sure that the new ERP software needed to work for them, not for it.
Before the implementation of the new cloud ERP system, the accounting department of Viplast, which is located in Sofia, used a different system than the one used by the Plovdiv branch of the company.
Like most Balkan Services and Viplast, customers decided to trust our consulting company after a recommendation.
After a short hesitation about which product is the right one for us between the two high-end ERP software – Soft1 ERP and NetSuite, the Balkan Services team assured us that for a manufacturing company like ours, Soft1 ERP is the better solution. At the moment I am happy with my choice,” says Victor Todorov
Read more: Everything you need to know about ERP systems
ERP project scope
During the implementation the main modules were implemented: sales; purchasing; accounting. Due to the specificity of the company’s activity, the module “production” was also implemented.
This module is something like the “cherry on the cake” in their implementation”, notes Vladislav Yotov from Balkan Services.
He explains that Viplast’s production line is very similar to a recycling factory. This means that from any phase of production, products or materials can be returned to the first phase of production, whereas in the traditional production model, things only go one way and materials are not recyclable. Because of this specificity, the company’s production is not at all easy to calculate.
For this purpose, the customer proposal process has been covered and an elaboration has been made in the sales module based on the know-how of Viplast, which covers the customer service process.
Thanks to this, while servicing a customer, the company’s employees can observe on their screen various parameters and values related to the customer’s old orders, how they were delivered, what the specifics of these orders and the respective product, as well as many other and different indicators important for Soft1 ERP users.
A specific transport request functionality has also been created, through which logistics companies can give quotes for the cost of transport.
The bonus for the company is that all the information is in one place. And it’s all organized and traceable,” explains Vladislav Yotov of Balkan Services.
For example, if an order needs to be changed at the moment an authorized user edits that order, a special Dashboard on the main screen of the user responsible for the production processes displays information about what has been changed and what should be.
Soft1 Screenshot
This is extremely important because Viplast does not work on a stock basis, but fulfils orders according to specific customer requirements. As soon as the order is produced, it is shipped to its order.
Thanks to this functionality, Viplast can react instantly to a customer’s request to change the order, giving great flexibility.
Read more: 4 business software implementation challenges – what do the experts advise
The power of Soft1 ERP
is that it manages to navigate in similar situations.
The cloud ERP system benefits the entire company’s employees and there is virtually no department that does not have access to it.
For the convenience of some of the users, an “S360” module has been set up, in which, in addition to being able to view reports via the mobile app, orders can also be approved or entered, for example.
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The five most important indicators
In the mobile app we have put the most important reports so that the management does not have to open a computer every time to get data on the most important indicators,” explains Vladislav Yotov from our team.
In this case, the most important thing is how the company has worked during the previous day and each manager monitors: what quantity has been produced, what are the obligations, how many and what orders are to be executed, what are the receipts.
All this information is in the hands of the users and based on it they can make timely and quick decisions.
Cloud ERP system
The Soft1 ERP solution is available in cloud (SaaS – software as a service) and On-Premises (with on-site installation at the customer’s premises) versions.
This is the modern way of working,” notes Vladislav Yotov.
The traditional model, popular until a few years ago, and still applicable in certain situations, has its base, with its server, but in these installations, several issues arise to be resolved, for example: how the solution will be protected when accessed remotely; who and how will maintain the servers and the entire IT infrastructure; is the 24-hour support and others.
The stages of an ERP project
Together with Viplast, we defined the objectives and desired outcomes of this implementation. After the initial meetings, the key units in the project were defined as well as the problems that needed to be solved.
From this framework, we derived the main parameters of the system and delved into the specifics of each one,” says the Balkan Services consultant.
This was followed by a period of developing and setting up the modules of the system and handing them over to the client.
For an ERP system of this caliber, you can never say that the project is complete because there is always more to do, more to modernize and optimize, new practices to implement,” Vladislav Yotov is adamant.
Currently, our team has focused its efforts on integration with banking systems, which has recently become a very attractive and useful service.
The standard Soft1 ERP toolkit allows for a basic concept of a Business Intelligence system that could provide basic reporting.
For the operational reporting, which is daily, standard reports of the system are used – production documents, sales, purchases, inventory, etc.
For management, specific types of reports have been built that provide both summary and more detailed information, using “drill-down” technology to get down to the most detailed level. All specific needs of the company are covered.
The system works and does the things it is supposed to do,” summarizes Victor Todorov.
He adds that in the next few months, the smallest details that are left to be worked out will be “smoothed out”.
Currently, work is also underway on the implementation of Soft1 ERP in another company related to Viplast.
Things are happening in a new way
It is proving challenging for Viplast’s employees to disengage from the way they have been working and accept the fact that wanting things to look the way they did before the Soft1 ERP implementation doesn’t make sense.
It was a challenge to get used to Soft1 ERP and its way of working without trying to change it and make the new system look like the old one,” explains the Viplast CEO.
The other more challenging point for the company concerned defining their production exactly so that our team of consultants could fit the system to their company and production.
For a project to be successful, it’s important that people don’t resist change. We also need a little credit of trust while the project is being implemented so we can show them that things will happen,” Vladislav Yotov is adamant.
In our consultant’s experience, those clients who manage to strike a balance and get their people focused on implementing business software have a very solid foundation and things happen for them. He adds that if there are people in a company who are working in the direction of the project not happening – the chance of it not happening is high.
Implementing an ERP system affects every aspect of the business, providing the lifeblood, blood supply to every corner and the core (management) with information. A project like this, in its implementation process, tests not only the efficiency of business processes, the sense of certain business decisions, but also the system itself – the people, their resilience, adaptability, and flexibility,” said Naеri Masihi – Project Management Team Leader at Balkan Services.
Benefits of Soft1 ERP cloud software
The system allows the Viplast team to get the information they need and be sure it is correct with just a few clicks.
Now all our business is on the screen, one click away. I can “spin” a report as I see fit, pull up any number I want, and be sure it’s correct. The software gives us the smallest details that otherwise elude us,” lists the benefits of the new software Victor Todorov.
Access to this information allows Viplast to optimize its production.
We can consider what we need to change to get better,” says the Viplast CEO.
He points out that the fact that he is sitting at his desk in Sofia and can see absolutely everything that is happening in the Plovdiv base in real time on his computer is extremely convenient for him and allows him to create better plans.
The successful completion of the project
is the result of a combination of factors. Leading among them is the professionalism of the Balkan Services team, which led to the implementation of the cloud ERP system and the will of the management of Viplast to realize the project.
They are professionals in their field, we are also in ours,” summarizes Naеri Masihi.
He adds that Balkan Services’ project management team worked on an important part of the project’s organization and arrangement.
During our work together, conditions were created to establish a very strong relationship with the users of the system themselves, because they received training on the go.
This intensive process of working has benefits because the clients “grab” the system in their hands. Thus, subsequently, refinements were only in the direction of improving the ERP system, not fixing problems.
According to the CEO of Viplast, the success factors of the project include very good initial preparation and a plan drawn up on how the ERP software implementation project will be implemented.
Your team knows the product very well and thinks it through,” says Viktor Todorov of Viplast.
He is positive that working together has been great.
Delivering a workable solution is a collaborative effort and requires constant communication and clock checking – whether we are moving at the same rhythm, understanding that you are not ready until everyone else is ready is an important factor in the success of the project and bringing it to the desired end,” summarizes Naеri Masihi of Balkan Services.
At Balkan Services we have expert knowledge of business, technology, and legislation, and we speak all three languages. We will listen carefully and advise you on choosing the right business system for your needs.
Balkan Services has been implementing business software solutions since 2006 and has completed more than 690 projects for over 360 clients. We follow a proven implementation methodology with clear steps and best practice know-how.
