-
Technology
-
Industry
-
Solutions
-
- ASSET MANAGEMENT
- CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE MANAGEMENT
- CYBER SECURITY
- DATA CENTER
- DOCUMENT MANAGEMENT
- ELECTRONIC DATA INTERCHANGE
- ENTERPRISE DATA MANAGEMENT
- ENTERPRISE RESOURCE PLANNING
- ENTERPRISE RISK MANAGEMENT
- ENTERPRISE-GRADE WEB DATA SOLUTIONS
- FACILITY MANAGEMENT
- FIELD SERVICE
- IDENTITY AND ACCESS MANAGEMENT
- INFRASTRUCTURE
- IT SERVICE MANAGEMENT
- MANAGED IT SERVICES
- PAYMENT AND CARD
- PROJECT MANAGEMENT
- SOFTWARE TESTING
- STORAGE
- VIDEO SOLUTIONS
- WORKFLOW
-
-
Platforms
-
Functions
- Leadership Perspectives
- Innovation Insights
- Research
- Magazines
- News
- CXO Awards
LeanSwift: The ERP and Cloud Matchmaker
Together, the “match made in heaven” technologies, Cloud and ERP are changing the legacy of manufacturing industry,” says Johan Axelsson, CEO, LeanSwift, with a hint of relief and excitement in his voice. Same emotions were manifested in the manufacturing community back in the 80s when ERPs were unveiled for the first time. Doing the heavy lifting for manufacturers, ERP redefined the way of doing business. But, moving forward, as e-commerce and trending enterprise technologies took the center stage, things went into an overdrive. ERP, as a single tool, couldn’t keep pace in the digital era— demands of scalability and agility were overwhelming—causing traditional manufacturing companies to lose their blaze and edge. Then came the “Cloud” to facelift ERP—the spark was hard to ignore— allowing organizations to access applications from anywhere in the world and have a real-time visibility into the supply chain processes.“We are the matchmakers of cloud and ERP,” prides Axelsson. LeanSwift, as a cloud-ERP implementer, has joined forces with Infor and Magento to not only offer cloud-ERP, but offer the expertise of ecommerce and mobility as well. LeanSwift provides a platter of integrated technologies which helps manufacturers to automate their manually driven processes, streamline the inventory management, and simplify the entire supply chain drill. As the name implies, LeanSwift enables manufacturers and distributors to be “lean and swift” in their business, which traditional ERPs were not able to render. “Today, manufacturers are moving away from the customary ritual of buying on premise hardware towards adopting the modern cloud ERP solutions,” adds Axelsson.
A Seamless Integration
LeanSwift was established five years ago with a vision to capture the essence of ERPs on a single “windowpane”. Combing through the cloud vendor’s community, the Cocoa Beach, FL based implementer joined hands with Infor, a company known for its powerhouse cloud ERP platform, M3. Built on the fabric of Amazon, M3 delivers deep industry-specific functionalities to cover a wide-range of unique business needs, providing flexibility in managing complex environments with the agility to make quick adjustments at any time. LeanSwift, the implementer wizard of M3, has empowered manufacturers, retailers, and distributors from U.S., Europe, Asia Pacific, and Australia to integrate cloud ERP and take their business to a whole new level. And it fits all sizes as well.
LeanSwift M3 architects can implement the cloud ERP in weeks, allowing end-users to focus on driving business value
Organizations—big and small—can deploy their applications with ease and flexibility; and with LeanSwift at their side, organizations no longer have to spend time in integrating M3 with their infrastructure. “LeanSwift M3 architects can implement the cloud ERP in weeks, allowing end-users to focus on driving business value,” says Axelsson.
Shedding more light on M3 and LeanSwift’s quick implementation expertise, Axelsson mentions an anecdote where one client witnessed astonishing results while going through its acquisition phase. “The client was given a non-negotiable time-frame of 11 months to deploy all their applications on a new ERP platform,” recalls Axelsson. After intense board meetings and market research, they chose M3 as the solution and LeanSwift as their implementation partner. “We did the implementation based on the agile approach across their five manufacturing sites, 31 distribution centers for 300 users,” adds Axelsson. The implementation process included M3 configuration, business analysis, gap analysis, solution design,validation and training, and application transfer— all well within the given timeframe and budget.
The broad portfolio of services offered by LeanSwift is developed on the bedrock of trending technologies in the manufacturing and distribution industry. One such vogue is Fulfillment by Amazon, one of the most advanced Fulfillment networks in the world, where organizations can store their products in Amazon’s Fulfillment centers, and Amazon provides customer service for these products. For the customers using Fulfillment by Amazon, LeanSwift has developed eFillment that works in tandem with Infor M3. eFillment blows the whistle every time a product is purchased, shipped or returned back from Amazon’s Fulfillment center. A customer then makes the necessary changes from their cloud ERP platform, M3,refilling the inventory, signing the invoices, and much more.
Ecommerce for Manufacturing
LeanSwift has also tailored a solution for the rising B2B commerce market. The research and analyst giant Forrester has weighed B2B commerce double the size of U.S. online retailing industry, and is expected to reach $780 billion this year. LeanSwift, with Magento, is offering a self-service portal to manufacturers and distributors focused on three primary areas: personalizing shopping experiences, providing convenient self-service features, and improving customer service.
“When we say e-commerce, a lot of people think Amazon or e-bay from a consumer’s perspective,” says Axelsson.“We are taking e-commerce concept from the consumer’s side to the B2B community.” Consumers can login to the portal and shop for the inventory in real-time from their tabs or mobile devices. They can place the order, view, and download the invoice and e-sign the shipments once their package is delivered.
A Georgia based clothing company, who is also a long-term LeanSwift customer, completely overhauled their business with LeanSwift’s integration of Magento’s solution with M3. The integration has allowed the Fashion company to provide full supply chain transparency with its B2B customers. Today, a major part of their revenue stream is generated from this module— selling clothes to distributors and retailers in a completely automated environment.
"It’s a B2B solution, with a user experience similar to B2C, giving customers a simple interface to do business with the vendors"
Customers can also build a two-way communication between Magento Web Shop and Infor M3 through LeanSwift’s eConnect solution. eConnect allows a seamless flow of information associated with inventory, pricing, ordering, and delivery history between Magento and the ERP cloud. Each customer will have on-demand access to their orders, Proof-of-Delivery, and invoice history. “It’s a B2B solution, with a user experience similar to B2C, giving customers a simple interface to do business with the vendors,” adds Axelsson.
Inside LeanSwift and the Road Ahead
LeanSwift isa young and an agile organization with a passionate, fun and collaborative environment. “We conduct offshore meetings with our global workforce to discuss operations and forge new strategies,” says Axelsson. Last year, all the U.S., European, Indian, and Australian team met in Athens, Greece for the team building sessions. Such initiatives have empowered LeanSwift to stay innovative and build a healthy environment within the company. “Building a strong team within has enabled us as a company to create long term relationships with our clients,” says Axelsson.
The competition has become global and the need for a digital makeover is creating big waves in the manufacturing landscape. As per the report by Symantec [NASDAQ:SYMC]—a global IT company—70 percent of Fortune 1000 companies have vanished in the last decade, and firms established only a few years ago are now the industry leaders. Today, with the fast rate of technology adoption, firms are bringing together people, processes, and technology to navigate the business world effectively. In the midst of the digital era, LeanSwift aims to partner with industry leaders and harness technologies to meet the demands of tomorrow.
A Georgia based clothing company, who is also a long-term LeanSwift customer, completely overhauled their business with LeanSwift’s integration of Magento’s solution with M3. The integration has allowed the Fashion company to provide full supply chain transparency with its B2B customers. Today, a major part of their revenue stream is generated from this module— selling clothes to distributors and retailers in a completely automated environment.
"It’s a B2B solution, with a user experience similar to B2C, giving customers a simple interface to do business with the vendors"
Customers can also build a two-way communication between Magento Web Shop and Infor M3 through LeanSwift’s eConnect solution. eConnect allows a seamless flow of information associated with inventory, pricing, ordering, and delivery history between Magento and the ERP cloud. Each customer will have on-demand access to their orders, Proof-of-Delivery, and invoice history. “It’s a B2B solution, with a user experience similar to B2C, giving customers a simple interface to do business with the vendors,” adds Axelsson.
Inside LeanSwift and the Road Ahead
LeanSwift isa young and an agile organization with a passionate, fun and collaborative environment. “We conduct offshore meetings with our global workforce to discuss operations and forge new strategies,” says Axelsson. Last year, all the U.S., European, Indian, and Australian team met in Athens, Greece for the team building sessions. Such initiatives have empowered LeanSwift to stay innovative and build a healthy environment within the company. “Building a strong team within has enabled us as a company to create long term relationships with our clients,” says Axelsson.
The competition has become global and the need for a digital makeover is creating big waves in the manufacturing landscape. As per the report by Symantec [NASDAQ:SYMC]—a global IT company—70 percent of Fortune 1000 companies have vanished in the last decade, and firms established only a few years ago are now the industry leaders. Today, with the fast rate of technology adoption, firms are bringing together people, processes, and technology to navigate the business world effectively. In the midst of the digital era, LeanSwift aims to partner with industry leaders and harness technologies to meet the demands of tomorrow.
