VDL and Thinkwise nominated for best ERP project
Large-scale ERP implementation nominated for Business Software Award
Apeldoorn, 29 September 2017 – The VDL Group, an industrial family business that produces among other things vehicles and components for the automotive industry, will this year complete the large-scale implementation of an ERP system developed with Thinkwise Software. Within the past three years 36 VDL operating companies have been transferred to the new software. The project was one of the finalists for the Business Software Award, an award for the most innovative business software project within the manufacturing sector.
VDL is a family business with a total of 93 operating companies and branches in 19 countries. It produces, among other things, buses, cars and components for the automotive industry. It previously used a self-developed ERP system, that through time had become technically outdated.
VDL had previously already successfully modernized a quality system with Thinkwise Software and at the end of 2014 it made the strategic choice to develop its own ERP system with Thinkwise. Within one year the original application was modernized with Thinkwise’s low-code development platform. This has been subsequently rolled out to 36 operating companies with an average implementation time of eight weeks.
Strength through cooperation
Paul Spades, ERP ICT Project Manager: “VDL has delivered a unique achievement by developing its own ERP system within one year and then successfully rolling it out to more than thirty operating companies. Our motto ‘strength through cooperation’ is more than applicable to Thinkwise, our strategic development partner during this project”.
Business software of the future
According to Victor Klaren, COO of Thinkwise, the VDL project demonstrates the power of low-code software development for business software: “We are extremely proud that VDL has opted for the Thinkwise low-code platform to modernize its ERP system. Despite long and expensive implementation projects traditional business software frequently does not provide what was expected from it. Together with VDL we have achieved an incredibly high speed of development and implementation and have produced the ERP system within a very short period. This proves that things can also be done differently.