Good IT Systems Ensure High-Quality Painting Products
If you’ve painted your living room or hired painters to work on your townhouse exterior, there’s a good chance you’ve encountered Jordan’s brushes and painting tools.
A Wide Range of Painting Equipment
Naturally, this requires significant logistics and coordination.
“Our brands have long traditions and strong roots. We’re proud of our company, our products, and the way we operate,” says Kristine Songstad, IT Director at Orkla House Care.
Background as a programmer and project manager
Kristine has been with Orkla since 2017.
“We primarily focus on three segments: the DIY segment, meaning painting tools for regular consumers; products for professional painters; and industrial uses, such as painting oil platforms and ships,” she explains.
Kristine notes that the industrial segment is particularly demanding:
“There are high costs involved in projects like recoating an oil platform. Conditions are extreme, so using high-quality tools is crucial to achieving a durable and excellent result.”
The Need for Modern IT
Kristine emphasizes that in today’s interconnected world, having the best products isn’t enough. Companies must adapt quickly to changes and provide optimal customer support, which requires robust IT systems.
“When I joined Orkla House Care two years ago, each location had local IT systems with no collaboration or global digital processes. Each country also used different ERP systems. That marked the beginning of a transformation journey to leverage our expertise better and collaborate as one company across countries.”
Orkla House Care chose IFS and now operates version 10 of the system, implemented in most markets, with Benelux and China pending.
“We’re not fully finished deploying it across all sites yet, but the foundational solution is in place, serving as the basis for further rollouts.”
Digitalizing All Processes
This transformation aligns with broader goals for modernization and digitalization within Orkla House Care, centered on a shared data platform. The ERP system is a critical component, integrating other data sources to improve decision-making and management insights.
“Standardization and global processes are the focus. We aim to utilize product-related data more effectively. Over time, product development and related processes will be integrated into the platform. This is a significant transformation effort that we’re breaking into smaller tasks to see results sooner,” Kristine explains.
The investment in IFS and a professional platform provides immense value:
“The systems enable closer collaboration across countries, fostering a new understanding of how our business operates. It’s easier to learn from one another and leverage the expertise of our employees.”
Given its production and transport across many countries, Orkla House Care considers these factors crucial in its digitalization efforts.
“We’ve implemented sales, finance, planning, production, and logistics into IFS. Next, we’ll plan how to incorporate Benelux and China into the shared solution. We foresee many synergy benefits from our efforts, particularly in data handling,” Kristine adds.
Read more about IFS
From the headquarters at Skøyen to operations across half of Europe and China. A robust ERP system makes logistics much easier. Photo: TUM Studio
The Importance of a Strong Partner
This transformation wouldn’t have been possible without a competent partner. Kristine highlights the collaboration with Addovation in implementing and supporting IFS.
“They’ve been our partners since the project began in 2020, and we went live last year at four locations. They now serve as our support and operations partner, hosting our solutions and supporting the integration platform and application operations.”
“In a short time, we’ve shifted from traditional, local IT operations focused on delivering infrastructure, hardware, and networks to strategically using IT to support the business,” Kristine explains.
contact usFor Kristine and her colleagues at Orkla House Care, good systems are essential to elevate the already excellent products and processes.
“Better IT systems will also benefit our consumers. By working better together, we deliver even better results for our customers,” she concludes.
Learn more
How Addovation Contributes to Orkla House Care’s Success
Addovation supported Orkla in implementing IFS Cloud™️, leading to streamlined processes, improved data integration, and standardization across locations.
Orkla House Care selects Addovation
The new ERP solution will consolidate all Orkla House Care’s current systems and be delivered in the cloud by Addovation.
Addovation implement IFS Cloud upgrade for HABIA
IFS Cloud upgrade for HABIA will be managed by IFS partner Addovation.