JITONA: Progressive Planning

Alliance of two significant furniture manufacturers (JITONA a.s. and TUSCULUM a.s.) and their subsequent merger resulted in new requirements for strategic planning. Both the companies used the information system MFG/PRO, which satisfactorily coped with the operative run of different plants, as well as their operational areas (e. g. the production, logistics or economy). From the viewpoint of the top management this system could have been however used only with certain restrictions – as it did not offer, for example, development of strategic plans with a possibility of their continuous analysis and flexible decisions connected therewith.

Company characteristics

JITONA a.s. is the largest Czech producer of veneered furniture and one of the five major suppliers to IKEA in Europe. It is at the same time the biggest Czech producer and exporter of bedrooms, living room walls and upholstered furniture. As regards some of its products, it is the only company throughout the world, which has supplied them. Production is concentrated in four plants, namely, Soběslav, Třebíč, Klatovy and Rousínov. It exports a substantial part (95%) of its production. Its main target markets are the EU member-states, and less the U.S.A., Canada or East Asia.
Its annual turnover ranges around CZK 2 bill. and the company employs roughly 1,350 people.

PRIOR TO BNS INSTALLATION

The information system MFG/PRO provided, above all, data focused on the past and present, addressed mainly to external users. This had been unsatisfactory from the viewpoint of the developing company.
That is why there was defined the requirement tohave a system, which would enable looking at data in different contexts, as well as longer time series, and subsequently to utilize it also when developing and, already during their creation, integral and logically interconnected corporate plans.

AFTER BNS INSTALLATION

Unification of data from two different versions of MFG/PRO, which had been originally utilized in the companies, within a single and integral BNS environment and installation of the uniform superstructure system had simplified the joint planning and controlling processes. Data are available based on the user’s authorization from the uniform menu. Thanks to the quality and carefully worked-out analysis managers are able now to compare their original strategic intentions with the actually achieved results and within a relatively short time to take up measures bringing the company back to the specified targets.

What was the decisive point

Implementation of the Business Navigation System was implemented at JITONA in 2002 and after its acquiring the decisive interest in TUSCULUM in that company too. The decisive criterion were rather short but good experiences with the System application and the efforts to view the two companies from a single point.

Implementation procedure

In JITONA a.s. Inekon Systems specialists selected the system of incremental setting up individual modules, spread over a greater long-term perspective. For the first stage the economic consolidation module of outputs from all the plants was selected. Only when and after its operation has been verified, the second stage introducing the module of the produced range of goods covering contribution followed. It had been especially that time, which brought an actual change to responsible workers, as the information system MFG/PRO had not enabled this view. Following were the stages of incorporation of modules for supplier and terminal purchasers analyses. The installation of application to support Balanced Scorecard was extended by the consulting services provided by the associated company Point Consulting.

Results

• The administrative load was reduced and the costs incurred by the plan development in the areas of selling and financial effectiveness or profitability declined.
  
• Planning and budgeting processes were accelerated. The company obtained a possibility continuously to review and update its plans, not only as on the calendar date but also when any changes of assumptions on which the plan has been based take place.
  
• Plans but also short-term prognoses or forecasts have proven to be more exact and better targeted.

Ing. Miroslav Novotný, general manager:

“The success rate of business depends on the proper decision making. This may however take place only based on the timely and complete information. BNS is one of their most significant sources.”