Customer Story

Improving logistics management — Novacura Flow at Rockfin

December 14, 2017

ERP systems have firmly taken root in Polish companies and have become standard, especially in large enterprises. A problem that is cropping up more and more often, however, is that the IT systems implemented to support management have exhausted their capabilities and cannot keep up with the dynamic development of companies and their processes.

Rockfin Sp. z o.o. is an engineering company which is involved in the design, manufacture, and servicing of oil systems, including lubrication systems, hydraulic drive and control systems, and filtration/maintenance systems for industrial oils. As a design-oriented company with 98 percent of purchases and production tailored to specific projects, Rockfin requires advanced custom ERP solutions for logistics to enhance operational efficiency. By integrating IFS enhancements for logistics and warehouse process automation, they aim to streamline project-specific workflows and meet the growing demands of the industry.

Rockfin’s challenge was to automate processes in the storage of components, i.e. production-ready parts delivered from suppliers, and to extend the IFS system already in place.
The company aimed to improve quality, reduce lead times for daily warehouse tasks, and enhance oversight of material flows throughout the organization. Management sought to replace manual operations and data tracking with mobile solutions for warehouse management, using barcodes to identify stored parts and ensure real-time material flow tracking.

Key factors in selecting a vendor included a short implementation time and flexibility to meet the company’s specific needs. Rockfin required a solution that translated its active processes into tailored ERP solutions for logistics companies rather than forcing them to adapt to generic IT tools. Novacura Flow met these expectations by offering barcode-enabled logistics tools, automating warehouse operations, and providing ERP extensions for logistics efficiency. This bespoke approach ensured seamless integration and substantial warehouse process improvement.

In this solution they used the concept of logistic unit, which allows components to be grouped by type or project. This radically shortened and optimized lead times for all their inventory transactions.The advantage of this solution was the process-based approach to rolling out the system and the short implementation time.

The biggest surprise for Rockfin was that the first processes that worked on mobile devices according to their requirements were developed during the implementation workshops. Together with Novacura at Rockfin head office, we established how these processes should function. Seeing possible solutions, they also started to add new functionalities on their own, which allowed for even better work optimization.

The solution provided by Novacura Poland has enabled them to work out and implement processes for managing item throughput into sections according to project number or melt. Thanks to NC Flow our ERP system stores data about the individual sections. Each Flow user has on-line access to it — which is essential from the warehouse operation point of view — directly from the terminal screen, and inventory transactions are performed directly in the ERP. This way they reduced the lead time of inventory tasks and saved paper.

We implement all comments from employees on a regular basis by ourselves. An employee who feels an interface window is lacking, or has a different idea about data display and wants it to be faster, reports the issue to me. After 10–15 minutes we are able to apply the change. Such issues used to take a few weeks to resolve; today, we have a new functionality that facilitates work immediately” (...)

Piotr Itrich

Rockfin Group

The product provided by Novacura Poland is a flexible and user-friendly tool. These features give Rockfin’s the opportunity to develop processes by entire system management department according to the specific requirements. They were able to see scope for cooperation with Novacura. By leveraging logistics software solutions proven in practice, rather than building them from scratch, Rockfin found it simpler and more efficient to meet their goals. The cooperation with Novacura has been exemplary, with all questions and concerns addressed promptly and effectively.

Rockfin currently uses eleven terminals at three locations. Data at the warehouses are automatically read and entered into the system. With integrated logistics solutions, the company is confident in the accuracy and quality of their data. Each authorized person has easy online access, improving oversight and enabling efficient operations.