High transparency and quality of data and processes

Mungo's product range includes nylon and metal dowels, chemical fasteners, insulation fasteners and drills. Anchors account for 70 percent of sales. A single dowel can carry payloads of several tons. The dowels are used in steel and metal construction, timber construction, structural and civil engineering as well as in facade and scaffolding construction. Thus, for example, in skyscrapers, bridges, supporting walls of tunnels or in sports stadiums. The customers come from the construction industry, installation technology and building maintenance. The headquarters and production facilities are located in Olten, Switzerland. From there, the manufacturer of high-quality fastening technology supplies its worldwide commercial customers - in Switzerland through direct sales, otherwise through traditional specialist dealers. Mungo sees itself well positioned in the market. The complete ERP solution proALPHA, which the Swiss company uses at its headquarters in Olten and at its German sales office in Bremen, also contributes to this.

The quantities are impressive: Mungo has around 7,000 different products in its range. The Swiss manufacturer processes almost 1,500 tons of steel wire annually. The output of steel dowels is almost 20 million pieces, that of nylon dowels even more than 100 million. In addition, Mungo also produces small series and specialities.

This flexible production requires highly automated processes, the entire planning and control of which runs via the aforementioned software. In addition, Mungo focuses on the intercompany processes with the Bremen branch. A perfect interplay between the software tools and the customs and export systems also ensures trouble-free and cross-border delivery of the goods.

Optimal detailed planning frees up capital
In production, the proALPHA Advanced Planning and Scheduling (APS) module controls and optimizes resources according to business objectives such as on-time delivery and lead times. "With the short planning horizons in the dowel business, this is worth its weight in gold," says Mungo CEO Oliver Annaheim. Because orders for 50,000 dowels, which the series manufacturer has to deliver at short notice, are the order of the day. Therefore, Mungo must always have enough goods in stock, which is only possible with fully automated and flexible production planning. Manual planning costs a lot of time and is also prone to errors. Too many parameters have to be taken into account.

The APS planning tool, on the other hand, not only displays scarce or overloaded resources, but also prioritizes the production orders at the same time. Thanks to multi-resource planning, it calculates capacities and checks whether sufficient material is available in each case.

If material is missing, proALPHA triggers an ordering process. This is possible because purchasing is fully integrated into the ERP system and workflow management automates processes. Thanks to detailed planning, Mungo can also react flexibly to fluctuations or sudden demands. Mungo is not yet using the APS to its full extent. Nevertheless, Annaheim is convinced that automation will pay off: "We expect to reduce throughput times and inventories by around 20 percent, which will free up valuable capital.

Intercompany: Automated processes increase customer satisfaction
With an export share of around 70 percent, well-functioning coordination and communication with the branches abroad is also required. Thanks to the proALPHA Integration Workbench (INWB), what was once largely a manual process is now fully automated. The following example illustrates this: If a sales employee at the Bremen branch orders goods from the parent company in Switzerland, the system in Germany automatically sends the order to the Swiss headquarters. This is a matter of seconds. After an employee in the

Switzerland has picked the goods and sent them directly to the customer, the local financial accounting department immediately settles them with the branch office in Bremen. Mungo thus processes the entire internal order and document flow automatically. This has significantly reduced the order throughput time and the administrative effort.

Customer orientation is Mungo's top priority, because the customer finds out when he will receive the goods at the time of ordering, and can then make his arrangements. Thanks to intercompany communication via INWB, the sales employee at the Bremen branch can also check the stock in the Swiss central warehouse at any time. This means that it is quickly clear whether and when the goods are available for delivery. According to Annaheim, this is very well received: "A 95% delivery date adherence makes a difference. Also the customer satisfaction values could be improved in such a way lastingly. And the trend is still upwards."

Easy customs clearance ensures cross-border flow of goods
Mungo benefits not only from the high level of process integration. The series manufacturer also benefits from the fact that proALPHA connects other systems seamlessly - for example customs systems. Thanks to an interface, the customs and compliance processes at Mungo are closely interwoven with the complete ERP solution. This makes electronic customs clearance possible. Customs clearance is mandatory for deliveries abroad, as Switzerland is not a member of the EU. The necessary forms for customs and freight documents are stored in proALPHA. The ERP complete solution automatically provides the necessary data - such as the quantity of export goods or proof of origin, which previously had to be compiled manually by an employee - and transmits it electronically to the relevant customs authorities. The customs authorities check the documents in advance of the transport and release them if there are no objections. In this way, the forwarder usually does not even have to stop at the border. The result is impressive: On the one hand, the automated processes shorten freight times. On the other hand, annual logistics costs can be reduced, according to Annaheim. The estimates are around 10 percent.

The conclusion is therefore positive: "Our industry is international and growing. We have positioned ourselves well with value-added sales activities. proALPHA automates all our processes. This helps us to maintain our leading position and to expand it further.