LANEX: Flexibility in decision making

The focal point of business conducted by our company lies behind the borderlines of the Czech Republic, above all, in the competitively difficult European market. We have therefore looked for a tool which would be capable of comparing favourably under the conditions of an accelerating pace of changes of the market environment, would provide the management, salespersons and other responsible officers sufficient room for their work and would present at the same time an effective assistance for the flexible decisions and economic management.

Company characteristics

LANEX, a. s. ranks above the foremost Czech producers of technical textile with a significant pro-export orientation. Export share in the overall turnover of the company amounts to more than 85 per cent of which the dominant portion is covered by the demanding markets of the European Union. Among the significant products are included large-volume bags, flexible tanks, textile ropes and cords. Among the wide public there have been spread, above all, sewing threads or mountaineering dynamic or static ropes. LANEX has been also the traditional sponsor of high mountains expeditions.

Prior to BNS installation

We began to put emphasis on the company information system immediately after gaining our independence in the ninetieth of the twentieth century. To cover the key financial, sales and logistic processes we had utilized the stable System 21 which enabled maximum orientation on the market environment with the assured flexible procession hinterland. Violent global changes arriving at the beginning of the new century enforced however a re-assessment of the current development in both the European and domestic markets, including their impact on the company liquidity and cash flow.
We therefore began to look for a system which would enable us to diagnose various conditions of risks well in advance and which would be at the same time capable of simulating impacts of the management decisions.

After BNS installation

The Business Navigation System was applied after the three-month implementation while developing alternatives of the plan 2003, where its qualities and our expectations were confirmed in full. The uniform environment for the plan creation and evaluation of the achieved reality brings a clear idea of the current situation and possibly required modifications or measures. The Management Information System (“MIS”) supplied by Inekon Systems is for us an effective tool to support the decision making processes leading to the achievement of the company strategic goals.

What was the decisive point

Inekon Systems offered an already finished product the application of which could have been adapted to the needs of our company in a tailor-made way. This meant for our company savings of time and human capacities. We preferred also the open environment of the globally extended and verified database OLAP. Our decision was undoubtedly supported by the professional approach of Inekon Systems specialists, who were able to adapt themselves to our specific requirements and to share with us their experiences from other similar projects. The contractor’s potential provided moreover an option of further co-operation in the area of Balanced Scorecard, cash-flow, etc.

Implementation procedure

The objective of BNS installation was to support to the maximum possible extent LANEX flexibility in global environment of the international market. The Navigation Concept thus focused not only on the consistent analysis of the reality but attempted also to describe and possibly to suggest the planning processes with all their connections. Only then it was possible to create the BNS model interconnected for subsequent simulations. Current data from the information system were downloaded in the prototypes of individual modules prepared in advance. After then the Inekon Systems specialists prepared together with our specialist team the navigation screens for individual procession areas. At the same time we modelled also the planning and responsibility processes. The system audit was conducted after not yet three full months following the date of commencement of implementation and the modelling functions were verified on the plan from the previous year.

Results:

• Thanks to BNS we are able quickly to respond to the changes resulting from the current market development and thus to maintain our position of a significant Czech company in the EU markets.
  
• We are able to foresee the existence and degree of possible risks and timely to take up the appropriate measures.
  
• We can develop plans in different variants and test the effectiveness or impact of individual management decisions.