A French automotive parts distribution specialist relies on Infor CloudSuite Distribution Enterprise and Authentic Distribution Solution to meet the challenges of transforming its business model, supporting its growth and aligning with its CSR objectives
Infor, the industry cloud company, has announced that Exadis, a specialist in the upstream logistics of multi-brand automotive aftermarket spare parts, has decided to migrate its enterprise resource planning (ERP) to the Infor Cloud.
Exadis, which was already relying on the Infor M3 on-premises ERP solution, has renewed its partnership with Infor as part of its migration to the Amazon Web Services (AWS) cloud using Infor CloudSuite Distribution Enterprise, Infor Factory Track production automation and the ADS solution from Infor’s partner Authentic Group.
Founded in 2006, Exadis underwent a capital reconstruction in 2019 with the entry of Mobivia Group (44.25%) alongside Renault Group (44.25%) and Groupement des Concessionnaires Renault, GCR (11.5%) present since 2016. The company, which is headquartered in Saint-Priest (Lyon), is a specialist in the logistics of automotive spare parts. It has 85,000 product lines for which it coordinates distribution from its eight sites in France.
At the heart of Exadis’ IT transformation project are a series of business, operational, strategic, environmental, and corporate social responsibility (CSR) challenges that Infor’s solution will address to support the company’s growth, which has increased by 30% per year over the past two years to reach €92 million in 2022. The project started in February 2022, and the cloud solution is expected to go into production — in a complete rollout to all eight Exadis sites — by September 2024.
It was vital to invest in order to maintain Exadis’ lead (one of the very few players to have a homogeneous information system (IS) and a single ERP) and to strengthen its position. “A first salvo of investments was made in 2022,” explains Romain Hourné, Exadis IT director. “Based on the company’s good results from 2021, our shareholders agreed to transformation efforts in logistics and IT infrastructures, for example, by increasing our storage capacity, adding mechanisation modules, and renovating our networks. The IS has also evolved on the business level with developments around a first proprietary CRM and the integration of a BI solution (Qlik sense) immediately put in place with the arrival of our general management.”
The reason for choosing the Infor CloudSuite Distribution Enterprise solution can be explained in part by the historical partnership between Exadis and Infor: “We were one of the first Infor M3 customers in France in the automotive sector and were very satisfied with this implementation,” Hourné says. “But with time, the evolution of the users and the complexity of the distribution chain, it became impossible for us to continue specific developments to integrate the innovations which were increasingly multiplying. Our information system was becoming almost obsolete on issues specific to logistics that we can now address with the new solutions in the cloud: inventory management, customer and supplier vendor managed inventory (VMI), order consolidation, transport cost rationalisation, elaborate reverse logistics, process automation, enhanced drop shipping, not to mention the incredible challenges of connectivity.”
“Another fundamental element for Exadis, which has implemented a CSR-certified approach, with the organisation ECOVADIS, is the solution’s ability to effectively support our initiatives in this area. The new system allows us to rationalise our supply chain operations with strict control of consumption and associated energy costs. In addition, the dematerialisation of invoices – a legal obligation – is already supported by the system, which we will resolutely rely on to further reduce paper printing and thus limit our carbon footprint to a minimum,” Hourné says.
One of the other reasons for the renewed confidence in Infor lies in the historical partnership with its partner Authentic Group. Fabrice Caumette, executive delivery manager at Authentic Group, says: “We have established a close relationship of trust and efficiency with Exadis, through our collaboration on previous development and implementation initiatives for more than 10 years. This new project, with its broader scope, allows us to showcase the advanced capabilities of the Infor cloud solution, which we master perfectly. It also provides us with the opportunity to position ourselves as a high value-added company through the implementation of our preconfigured ADS solution, specifically dedicated to the complex business of distribution and which integrates the constantly evolving best practices that we monitor closely.”
“The specific distribution business – with all its associated logistical complexity – is particularly well addressed by our Infor CloudSuite Distribution Enterprise solution,” explains Philippe Maillet, Infor sales director for France SMB & channel. “We are, therefore, particularly pleased to continue our partnership with Exadis and Authentic Group to reinforce the operational efficiency of a major French player in the automotive sector and to transform its IS.”
“This project is far from being a simple technical migration project. It embeds our ambitions to be and/or remain the first and only one in strategic areas by putting operational excellence, collaboration, and scalability of a strong and responsible growth at the centre of our ambitions,” concludes Jean-Christophe Barthelet, CEO of Exadis.
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