The Waltefaugle Group: French specialist in metal construction
Waltefaugle est un groupe, composé de plusieurs entités françaises et suisses, spécialisé dans la construction métallique depuis 1856. 220 personnes travaillent aujourd’hui pour le groupe dont les clients sont issus des secteurs de l’industrie, de l’agriculture et du tertiaire. Une de ses filiales, spécialisée dans la rénovation, a par exemple participé à la restauration du Palais Omnisport Accor Arena de Paris ou encore du Zenith de Nancy. Les équipes de Waltefaugle assurent donc l’étude, la conception, la fabrication et la pose des charpentes. Les projets s’étalent sur plusieurs semaines ou mois et nécessitent un véritable savoir-faire.
Jusqu’en 2008, il n’y avait pas vraiment de système d’information chez Waltefaugle. Un système de gestion à l’affaire avait été développé en interne mais il est rapidement devenu trop limité pour correspondre aux besoins de l’entreprise. Anne SEGUIN, Directrice Administrative et Financière, a piloté le projet de changement d’ERP et nous fait part de son expérience.
Project-based management? A necessity!
"Since 2007, our group has expanded with the creation of several subsidiaries. Before 2008, our management system didn't communicate with Purchasing and Sales. We urgently needed to share information with a truly high-performance tool in terms of project-based management. At headquarters, we have 2 sites, one opposite the other, separated by the road. Our employees could no longer continue to cross the road on foot to transmit paper documents from one site to another" explains Anne SEGUIN.
The choice? It's a no-brainer!
"So we launched the consultation process in 2007 and short-listed 2 publishers, including ProConcept. Our main criterion was the quality of the project-based management functions. Apart from this criterion, we chose ProConcept because we felt their team was more competent. In fact, we felt that there was more proximity, exchange and interaction with the ProConcept consultants"
"The project started at the beginning of 2008 and we worked for 11 months with ProConcept Consultants, specialists in their field. We set up a project team with various Waltefaugle users to determine their exact needs and expectations. The ProConcept team then carried out the required configuration, recovered the data from our old system, and developed the specific features required," explains Anne SEGUIN.
More profitability, more efficiency!
"ProConcept has enabled us to share information and, above all, to make it more reliable. Before, we were working in an archaic way. The tool has led us to do a lot of work to ensure the cohesion and standardisation of information. Changing habits is a process that can take a little time. Today, we have precise monitoring of all our projects and alerts in the event of drift so that we can adjust our decisions. We can obtain summary information without leaving our office, and when a customer calls, we have the whole history of their case at our fingertips to answer their questions. Thanks to this tool, the profitability of our projects has increased. We know exactly where we stand, we've been able to negotiate better with our suppliers and play on the adjustment variables. Of course, we use this information to improve our subsequent business and address any weaknesses. We have experienced significant growth in our sales, and therefore, in our business. We wouldn't have been able to manage this growth without ProConcept. "
"The last point I wanted to stress is the relationship with the ProConcept teams. We have regular exchanges with consultants, each specialising in their own field. This enables us to develop the tool further, making it more efficient and easier for users to work." concludes Anne SEGUIN.