Fogmaker streamlines operations using SAP Business One  

The year is 1995, and the city is Växjö. Rally enthusiast Kenneth devotes a large part of his free time to motorsport and saw a need to protect his car against fire and overheating. At the time, he was working with high-pressure products and realised that the same type of technology could be used here as well, and the foundation was laid for Fogmaker and it’s range of products.

The solution consists of a cylinder that is installed in the vehicle and, in the event of a fire, the system releases a water mist under high pressure. The water mist suffocates and cools down the fire and creates a ‘blanket’ which avoids re-ignition. The company was mostly a hobby business at first, but as demand grew and the brand became increasingly well-known, growth really took off. The product is today described as a fire suppression system adapted for enclosed spaces in the automotive industry – particularly for trucks, buses and forestry machines.

Since its inception, Fogmaker has its head office in Växjö. There are 85 employees and, around the world, Fogmaker has partners and resellers who can help with installation and support.

In recent years, the industry has changed in many ways, not least because there have been several legal requirements that now mean that fire protection devices are no longer classified as an additional product, but are something that should be within every bus. As volumes have increased, competition has also intensified. But Fogmaker continues to be the market leader and has a positive outlook on the future and expects to double its turnover within five years. One reason why this goal could be set is that the processes have now been streamlined with SAP Business One.

One of the driving forces behind the streamlining of warehouse work is logistics manager Mattias Gunnarsson. He started his journey at Fogmaker in 2016 as an employee in the warehouse and shortly thereafter became a team leader. This gave him a broad, but at the same time deep, understanding of what processes in the warehouse look like and what needed to be changed and streamlined in order to support future growth.

Challenges

Some of the challenges that Mattias saw were that the production teams had to pick items and materials up at the same warehouse, which became crowded and messy. A decision was made to start working with local warehouses so that the production staff could focus on manufacturing, rather than searching for materials.

At the same time, storage locations were introduced, so that each production group could have its own stock and stock balance, something that was seen as a requirement for processes and production to be managed in an effective way. However, there was no solution within the former IT software that could effectively handle this. A new department was also established, Inhouse Logistics, whose task is to move materials internally. Here, a need to be able to move materials in a systemic way was quickly identified, as it is not sustainable to run to a computer and make hundreds of rearrangements that need to take place every day. Overall, there were several challenges and elements in the warehouse work that made it difficult for the business to scale up.

Mattias says that with his experience from the grocery trade, where handheld computers have been used for a long time to inventory and order goods, he contacted his SAP partner SEIDOR and told him about his ideas for streamlining warehouse work. The proposal he put forward was based on handheld devices to manage the warehouse processes in a much smoother way. The market was researched to find a suitable solution, but SEIDOR developed an application that would meet all of Fogmaker’s requirements. The result was ScanOne, a mobile scanner solution that integrates with SAP Business One.

Features of ScanOne

The first process that Fogmaker started to handle with ScanOne was the restocking, which mainly affected the Inhouse Logistics department. With the help of this solution, several layers could be introduced, which allowed the production staff to start working in a much more efficient way, as a desktop computer or laptop is no longer needed to complete restocking.

The second feature that Fogmaker uses in ScanOne is the pick lists. Previously, paper picking lists were used, but there was a risk that something could go wrong, not least because about 1500 serial numbers are handled every week. With the help of ScanOne, a more secure process is created as the app requires that it is confirmed that the correct item has been picked by scanning the barcode. This has made it possible to reduce errors and the increased quality of deliveries has in many ways had a positive effect on customer satisfaction, thanks to the fact that it is now possible to ensure that the right goods are delivered in a more reliable way.

The response from the staff has been very positive. Although there is still room for development in some areas, there is a common understanding that the solution as a whole contributes to making daily tasks more efficient and streamlined. ScanOne is easy to work with, which means that extensive training is not necessary.

Benefits

ScanOne has made it possible for Fogmaker to introduce new ways of working. Thanks to the app, they were able to start up the Inhouse Logistics department, and were thus able to free up the production capacity to focus on manufacturing, without also including warehousing, relocation or searching for materials. Thanks to this benefits, Fogmaker was able to increase capacity by almost 20%, with a total saving of about 10%. If the multi-layer solution had been implemented without ScanOne, efficiency would have been lost. Now, deliveries can be made more frequently and with higher quality.