Bonatrans

Implementing IFS Applications has given Bonatrans, a.s. Bohumín a more accurate overview and better control of order flows, enabling the company to enhance the quality of the service it offers customers.

Required better information processing

Bonatrans management understood that one of the conditions for maintaining its leading position and competitiveness in Europeand in the world was the quality of the information processing system. Václav Paprok, change management specialist at Bonatrans, explains, “ We were mainly interested in the ability to cover the most important company processes—mainly manufacturing—in a step-by-step implementation. One of the basic requirements, which is a critical ingredient in the success of production companies, is to be able to get an overview of sales and shop orders and to plan production resources.”

Industry-specific, component-based solution

IFS Applications provided advanced component architecture and functionality that covered the entire scale of the company’s manufacturing requirements. Paprok continues, “IFS clearly demonstrated that it had a deep understanding of the issues we confront in this industry. The solution covered all our key processes.”

The stability of IFS and its future prospects were other factors in its favor when Bonatrans compared vendors. In addition, IFS offered an experienced local implementation partner. ALTEC, which also took responsibility for system integration.

Implementation on time

The implementation project was started in June 2002 and was divided into three basic stages. The first stage covered the manufacturing and the directly connected logistic processes for procurement, shipment, and invoicing, as well as support for production planning. Since IFS Applications is designed to fit in with existing business software, it was easy for Bonatrans to integrate the IFS components with its legacy financials solution.

Faster, more accurate production data

IFS Applications has enabled Bonatrans to fulfill one of its most important success criteria: obtaining and evaluating high-quality, accurate, and timely data from its manufacturing and logistics processes. “One of the main priorities of our company is to stay competitive on the European and world markets and to acquire new customers. We can only achieve this by providing higher-quality products and services to our customers. One critical means of reaching our goals is access to relevant information,” says Václav Paprok, and adds, “IFS Applications, with its advanced technology, will enable us to meet our expectations and at the same time it will create a robust foundation that will allow us to further extend this functionality.”

The company’s principal focus is on ensuring that production data are collected directly at source by using barcode technology. During production, all the products are labeled with bar codes, which ensures accurate record data for each order and product. This creates prerequisites for evaluating the order status and machine/employee load information. 

IFS Applications is also helping Bonatrans streamline its maintenance processes, both internal and external. With respect to internal maintenance, the solution is contributing to optimized maintenance and manufacturing costs by coordinating maintenance activities and production planning. The status of the machinery in use can be accessed by production planners, making it easier to schedule maintenance during lulls in production. Similarly, machines can be taken out of operation in good time when it is obvious that maintenance is required. External maintenance processes focus on providing a higher quality of service to customers.   

About Bonatrans

Bonatrans, a.s. was founded in 1999 by demerging the Železnicní dvojkolí (railroad wheel sets) plant from the ŽDB a.s. Bohumín company. It is one of the world’s leading manufacturers of railroad wheel sets and their components. Bonatrans customers include the Association of American Railroads, Eorutunnel, Indian Railways, and a large number of government- and privately owned railroads.