Ankerslot

Challenge

• Creating a comprehensible and transparent production chain  

Solution

• Microsoft Dynamics AX with solution for Discrete Manufacturing (Production)  
• Advantages Completely transparent production chain, from order and purchase to delivery and invoicing
• Very accurate capacity planning
• Improved customer service, quality and fast delivery times

Ankerslot develops and manufactures lock and access solutions: industrial cylinders, profile cylinders and electronic cylinders. Ankerslot has its own production facilities and, with Assemble-to-Order, can manufacture exactly what the customer wants. The family business has a long history and will be celebrating its 65th anniversary next year. Ankerslot is the only Dutch lock production company that is still completely independent. This liberty gives the company more opportunities to quickly respond to the market and autonomously determine its strategy.

Automation? Ankerslot has had experience with automation for almost 30 years. The same goes for sustainability, which is the company’s natural part of first-rate and responsible management.  

The Enschede location can boast of thousands of different semi-manufactured products that can be turned into more than 15,000 different cylinders. What is more, one product number may have eight different versions. Ankerslot manufactures relatively small series of locks, and the actual production of the cylinders is very often done by hand, since every lock is different after all. In short, compared to a relatively well-organised company with 50 employees, there is a huge database of information. Thanks to years of experience and intelligent automation, Ankerslot can achieve a quick and smooth delivery and offer high quality, durable products and excellent service.  

For Ankerslot, automation is a piece of cake. Since 1980, says Bernie Siers, Head of Administration: “At that time we were part of the Ahrend-Group, a company that automated all its branches. Later, when we as an independent enterprise, wanted to optimise our ICT, these years of experience and the fact that we had a decent database, was a great advantage. We also knew that good ICT could move us forward.”  

As a relatively small enterprise, Ankerslot opted for Microsoft Dynamics AX, as this was the only system that could actually support the production process. “We work with so-called anonymous parts production,” explains Bernie Siers, Head of Administration. “Our products become customer specific products late in the process. Within AX, you can adequately distinguish between anonymous and customer specific data, and thanks to AX we’ve made enormous progress in our production chain.

The production module enables us to monitor 15,000 to 20,000 orders and this helps us to monitor our capacity much better and determine delivery times. When, for example, an employee is ill or on holiday, we immediately have insight in the effects for the production and delivery and can inform our customers in time. AX has provided much transparency for the entire process flow, from raw material and order till delivery.  From their workplaces, our office staff can easily inspect all data at customer and order level.  In short, they can follow the entire chain and answer customer questions immediately. That’s our profit.”  

Siers works together with Erwin Koenhorst, Head of Information, to get the most out of their system: “We continuously try to improve and optimise the system. Right now we’re busy integrating our CRM system with AX and, to give you an example, we’re trying to provide insight into visitor reports. The advantage of AX is that it is a very flexible system and we can arrange it in our own way. We’re also working on further professionalising our reports and developing relevant dashboards for the different users and levels.”  

Koenhorst: “The implementation of the system took longer than we had estimated. Despite our experience with ICT, this turned out to be a complex process and it wasn’t easy to combine the implementation and our daily routine. Besides, a successful implementation requires behaviour change of its users. To ensure that the system will be accepted, we continuously use the users’ questions and problems to improve the system.”  

Siers: “During the implementation project, we were very pleased with the commitment of the consultants and the pleasant cooperation.  The Qurius team really thought along with us. The human factor is extremely important. Nevertheless, after the first stage Qurius should have been more alert to the progress of the project, as we stepped into a familiar pitfall, trying to combine this project with our day-to-day duties. This is also a tip I’d like to pass to other companies: you really need to engage people for such a project. It’s also practical to talk in advance with other companies that went through similar processes.”  

Sustainable management? For Ankerslot this is a matter of course. Manufacturing companies tend to suffer from the old-fashioned image of being drab and dirty factories, an image that is no longer applicable. Erwin Koenhorst: “Ankerslot has worked with biodegradable oil in the machines for years and brass waste, for instance, is fully recycled. We also offer integrated sheltered employment to a dozen of people, so the knife cuts both ways. This is not only economically attractive, but our social responsibility is also very important to us.”