Supply chain disruptions and customer expectations for tailor-made products and services are among the many concerns faced by furniture industry professionals today. TRIMIT is a global provider of ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) solutions built on Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central, empowering furniture businesses to innovate, scale efficiently, and stay ahead of industry trends.
We caught up with Steve Breit, Managing Director at TRIMIT NL, who highlights the importance of seeking the right ERP solution in today's tough market.
This is part 1 of the interview with Steve Breit. In part 2 we'll dive deeper into one of TRIMIT's recent projects with the Dutch furniture company Satelliet, and how TRIMIT can help expand brands to expand their products to the European market, so stay tuned!
Can you tell us a bit about the history of TRIMIT and how it was founded?
'Since 1990, TRIMIT, founded in Denmark, has been the go-to solution for the furniture industry struggling with the limitations of standard ERP systems. The founders understood from the beginning that the complexity of product variations and the need for configuration functionality were crucial to success in the furniture industry. Standard software was not up to the mark, so companies were often forced to develop expensive, but ultimately unsustainable, customised software.
TRIMIT offers the solution: an advanced product configurator that effortlessly supports all variations and configuration options, regardless of quantity. The automatic link between the sales and production orders, using automatically generated BOMs (Bill of Materials) makes therewith inventory management more efficient. This makes TRIMIT ideally suited for production in smaller batches (make-to-order).
With offices in Denmark, Norway, Switzerland, Germany and the Netherlands, and a broad network of partners, TRIMIT offers the flexibility and specific functionality that companies need to grow in an ever-changing market.'
What are some of the challenges in the market right now, and how does TRIMIT deal with them?
'For furniture companies, it is increasingly challenging to comply with stricter sustainability and ESG regulations. TRIMIT provides a solution by providing real-time visibility into all business operations and delivering tools to effectively track and manage ESG data. This not only helps companies to comply with the growing regulations, but also to optimise their business operations in a sustainable way.
In addition, the growing demand for customisation and product variations is another important challenge. Customers increasingly expect to be able to customise their products, whether it's different materials, colours, or sizes. TRIMIT responds to this with advanced variant management and product configuration features, allowing companies to offer their customers a wide range of options without complicating production processes.
Another critical point is the management of supply chain disruptions. TRIMIT provides real-time visibility into the inventory of both products and raw materials, as well as "inventory on the go", allowing businesses to run their production process without interruption. This is particularly essential for companies working with smaller production batches, where control and efficiency are key.'
New software is a big investment. In what way can companies invest efficiently? 'Investing in software is often a costly affair, and we realise that all too well. However, what we often see is that companies prepare extensively in advance with meetings and detailed plans, without properly understanding of the technical possibilities of today. This often leads to the initial process having to be carried out again, resulting in the first frustrations within the organisation.
In addition, I regularly find that time-consuming workarounds exist within companies, while the solution is actually (standard) available. This simply means that companies often have to cross a threshold before embracing new software, when this could have already saved them a lot of time and money. In other words, the organisation could have worked much more efficiently if only it had been aware of the possibilities. I don't mean to say that every organisation should immediately purchase new software. On the contrary, in the world of software, the rule often applies: "If it works well, leave it." But it is important to regularly take a look at both the organisation and the technological possibilities to see if there is any untapped potential. This can save time and money that would otherwise go to waste.
In my role as sales advisor, I am sometimes seen as someone who tries to persuade companies to purchase our software, but that is absolutely not my intention. As a former logistics manager specialised in warehousing, I'm always looking for efficiency – that's what it's all about in the end. I understand that time is money, but a short conversation of half an hour or a visit of an hour can often provide a lot of insights. Before internal conversations start about possible software purchases, companies should get advice about their options. This saves time, money and a lot of frustrations. So my appeal to everyone is actually: just give me a call. Maybe we can help each other!'
More information:
TRIMIT
www.trimit.com
Steve Breit
[email protected]