XL-Byg is Scandinavia's largest timber merchant with over 250 shops in Denmark, Sweden and Norway. The Timber Company in Nakskov is the largest building center in the Lolland-Falster area of Denmark with 22 employees and a vast variety of items. It is also one of the largest members of the nationwide chain of independent DIY stores and timber merchants.
The company uses a special version of the ERP C5 system called TimberSoft, which was developed and delivered by the IT Company EG for use in DIY stores and for timber merchants. The TimberSoft platform was completed in February 2011 with a new module for advanced inventory management. This new platform led to the need of a mobile computing solution with a specially developed software and mobile computers.
The mobile computer chosen for the job would be used constantly by employees in the shop for a wide range purchasing and warehouse functions. Speed and efficiency were a must, but constant use also meant that the mobile device needed to be light and comfortable in the hand. XL-Byg chose Datalogic's Memor™ because it was the only mobile computer that combined extremely high performance, light weight and small size in a single package. It was the perfect product for the company's needs.
"Our efficiency has increased significantly with use of the new system," mentioned Casper Madsen, Area Manager, XL Bygg in Naskov. Daily product ordering was previously done by employees who would walk around the shop and write the article number and amount down on a piece of paper manually. Then, the employee would sit down at a display terminal and type all the information into the system.
With the new system, the employee can simply walk around the shop with the hand-held mobile computer, scan the part number of the merchandise and enter the amount that needs to be ordered. When this job is complete, the Memor™ is placed in the docking station and all the information is transferred directly to TimberSoft in real time. A special program developed by Delfi allows the Memor™ to send the data in formats that are compatible with the Timbersoft software.
"This technology shift has saved us a lot of time," commented Madsen. "Before it took about 1 ½ hours to order goods from NKT, which is one of XL-Byg's largest suppliers. Now, it only takes 15 minutes."
Madsen went on to say, "after seeing how well the new system worked, we decided to replace several manual processes in the store. We now use Datalogic's Memor™ for a variety of daily tasks, such as for new product ordering and registering, inventory counts of existing products and purchase order handling, just to name a few. "
