Infor®, the industry cloud provider, announced that Automotor, a French market leader in the export of automotive parts, has chosen to deploy the Infor CloudSuite Distribution Enterprise ERP (enterprise resource planning) solution to cover all of its business needs in a single, centralized platform. In addition, Automotor opted for the Authentic Distribution Solution (ADS), developed by Infor's partner Authentic Group, to support the implementation and enrich it with high value-added services for the automotive distribution sector.
Founded in 1972, Automotor is the leading independent French exporter in the automotive parts industry, with a presence in more than 70 countries. Its increased focus on business activities in emerging markets, mainly outside Europe via its group AMERIGO International, has enabled the company to consolidate its turnover. A modernized information system is needed to support this growth.
The project to implement Infor's solution, hosted by Amazon Web Services in the cloud and with the help of technology partner Authentic Group, replaces a previously failed ERP project, which was, as Automotor’s management admits, poorly prepared. "We started a process transformation program in 2018," says Jérôme Cambray, Automotor's IT manager. "Unfortunately, at the time, we had poorly defined our needs both around the businesses related to the management of our logistics warehouse, which requires a lot of agility, but also in terms of our support and administration activities. We interrupted the project in order to resume it in a rational and strategic way on much healthier bases, by relying on a solution dedicated to our business and with a much more serious business commitment."
The project resumed at Automotor in 2021 with a precise analysis of all the company's business processes carried out with its internal users. The resulting document served as the basis for the call for tenders submitted to solution integrators, including Authentic Group, which took charge of the project. Authentic Group suggested to Automotor's teams that they opt for the Infor CloudSuite Distribution Enterprise solution, which is widely used among distribution professionals in France.
"After our first aborted project, we were able to define a double objective. The first was to improve our productivity in terms of transit flows in our warehouses and to optimize our replenishment orders. The second was to be able to capitalize on our data and share some of it — in the form of a catalog and a diagnostic tool — via a platform open to our network of wholesale distributors. This had to be done with a tool that spoke our business language and that evolved with our growth. Infor's solution met these requirements exactly, and the fact that it is available in the cloud also allowed us to focus 100% on our business and to free ourselves from IT maintenance constraints," Cambray says.
The support of a true industry specialist, Authentic Group, was crucial in the conduct of the project. "When we were approached by Automotor, it was clear to us that Infor's solution, with which we have a very close relationship, was perfectly suited to Automotor's business requirements, its need for agility and growth ambitions," says Fabrice Caumette, Authentic Group's executive delivery manager. "We were so convinced that we even developed a dedicated preconfigured model to implement Infor’s solution easily in order to reassure a customer that was coming out of a difficult experience."
From the Infor point of view, the project further solidifies the relevance of its portfolio of solutions dedicated to some of the most specific verticals. "The Infor CloudSuite Distribution Enterprise solution, on AWS, is both comprehensive and scalable. Dedicated specifically to distribution professionals, it supports their growth and strengthens their commitment to their customers via, in particular, the development of high value-added services," said Philippe Maillet, Infor sales director in France for SMB & channel. "We are therefore particularly pleased with our technology partnership on this ambitious Automator project, conducted jointly with Authentic Group, whose rigor and expertise in the distribution sector is a perfect recipe for a successful business transformation."
Infor CloudSuite Distribution Enterprise is a multi-location, multi-company, multi-currency, multi-lingual solution that covers inventory and warehouse management, financial management, omnichannel order management, purchasing, services and more. Supporting 49 locations and 24 languages, the solution provides Automotor with the flexibility and scalability to easily enter new markets and adapt quickly to change.
