How Bluestar PLM embedded with Dynamics 365 Finance & Operations keeps Schréder leading the outdoor lighting market

Business

From the streets of Paris, Valencia and Queensland to Rome’s Colosseum: Schréder’s smart outdoor lighting solutions illuminate the world’s most iconic cities and landmarks. To keep lighting the world, the company embarked on an ambitious digital transformation. In the spotlight: Schréder’s new Microsoft Dynamics 365 ERP, fully integrated with Bluestar PLM.

Putting the world to light

When Jules Schréder founded his company in 1907, he could never have imagined a future so bright for his family-owned business. Today, Schréder is a world leader in outdoor lighting, active in 70 countries. They produce two million luminaires per year.

The key to Schréder’s success? A relentless focus on designing the most aesthetically pleasing, intelligent, sustainable and innovative public lighting solutions. The company is also deeply committed to providing outstanding customer experiences – from initial quote and design to after-sales support.

Mastering complexity

While Schréder’s business is expanding, both geographically and in its markets, the company needs to continually raise the bar, says Jean-Jacques van Gils, Group IT Director: “Competition is fierce in today’s global market and customers demand unique products delivered quickly at competitive prices, plus superior services. So, we have to keep innovating and optimizing our customer services to retain our edge."

One of the ways for Schréder to add value for its customers is customization: they configure and assemble products to meet every client’s exact specifications. With a portfolio of 300 products, each with a million standard variants, its catalog includes 300 million SKUs – quite an impressive stack to manage. Though this configure-to-order manufacturing sets Schréder apart, it adds complexity to the value chain.

Digital transformation

To improve flexibility, agility and customer services and, as such, drive growth, Schréder kicked off a fully-fledged digital transformation. The plan included replacing the existing ERP platforms by one, single, cloud-based IT landscape. “Schréder was running 12 disparate legacy ERP and CRM systems,” Jean-Jacques explains. “That set-up is inefficient and error-prone. It obstructs our view of transactions and hinders collaboration. If we wanted to become a data-driven organization and streamline our processes across our entities, we had to consolidate our enterprise architecture.”

“We have to keep innovating and deliver outstanding customer services in order to retain our edge in the global market of smart outdoor lighting.”

Solution

As a longstanding early adopter and user of Microsoft’s products, Schréder chose Microsoft Dynamics 365 Finance & Supply Chain Management to transform the enterprise around the globe. The Customer Relationship Management (CRM) platform would help them drive a superior customer and sales journey.

After a successful go-live in Belgium, the solution is being rolled out to all sales entities and, in a second phase, to every manufacturing site. By using a rollout template, Schréder accelerates data migration and implementation to make sure they’ll quickly realize global benefits.

Embedding Bluestar PLM in ERP

“We have a clear blueprint for digitizing Schréder globally,” says Erik Dietvorst, Digital Program Manager. “Early on, we realized we needed to upgrade our Product Lifecycle Management tool. PLM is crucial for a custom-to-order business like Schréder to get insight in the product configuration process and track orders, inventory and production status. However, our existing tool wasn’t integrated with ERP platforms. Engineers had to switch between systems, which was very inefficient and led to data inconsistencies.”

Cegeka consultants who were supporting the ERP migration recommended Bluestar PLM, built exclusively for Microsoft Dynamics 365. “We considered various PLM solutions, but Bluestar’s configuration and integration capabilities are unique,” Hervé Damoiseau, R&D Mechanics & Tools Manager continues. “And while it’s a standard, out-of-the-box tool, it includes all the features and intelligence we need.”

Connecting the entire value chain

Schréder set off to installing Bluestar PLM, with a dedicated team. After running it as a standalone tool for a while, it was integrated in the CRM rollout template. In the meantime, it’s being embedded in the manufacturing plants too.
Integrating PLM into the ERP allows Schréder to connect the entire value chain, from sales, engineering and manufacturing to finance, ensuring full visibility between sales and production.

Angelo Vandenberghe, Cegeka’s solution architect, explains: “As soon as a sales rep enters customer product requirements into the CRM, the data is available in ERP along with a list ‘technical options ‘ needed for the order. This is sent to Bluestar PLM, which generates a bill of material for each of options that forwards it to the factory. Schréder can then modify BOMs, simulate changes, and calculate costs to ensure the best solution is produced quickly and cost-effectively.”

Managing variability

“The big advantage is that our PLM tool works with real-time data from many different systems,” adds Hervé Damoiseau, R&D Mechanics & Tools Manager. “When engineers configure or modify a solution, for example, the system notifies them if one of the components they need is out of stock. It’s also easier to identify and fix issues since designers see the impact of changes in real time.

Schréder’s engineers also value the ability to draw 3D models without switching systems and the flexibility to configure approval flows. Altogether, the Bluestar PLM helps them win valuable time and shortens lead times.

“We’re still new to the solution, and I’m confident we’ll discover more benefits soon. We even plan to open it up to suppliers and customers in the future.” concludes Hervé.

“Bluestar PLM is exactly what we need to complete our digital journey.”

Approach

Cegeka has been Schréder’s dedicated Microsoft partner for many years now and helps Schréder to build their ERP foundation. For the Bluestar PLM project, a dedicated Cegeka team worked in close collaboration with Schreder and Bluestar.

Stick to the scope

“As we first set up Bluestar PLM as a standalone solution, Bluestar and Schréder were taking the lead,” says Angelo. “Our involvement grew as we started integrating Bluestar PLM, first in the sales and later in the factory rollout templates.”

Erik adds: “We’re very pleased with the support we’re receiving. Cegeka thoroughly reviewed the blueprint and technical solution, and assists us every step of the way. Bluestar is equally dedicated. Their team is service-minded and really committed to helping us succeed. While Bluestar PLM is an out-of-the-box solution with limited configuration options, the consultants listened to our needs and worked hard to find creative solutions. We especially appreciated that they stuck to the scope, even when we made additional requests. Thanks to their disciplined approach, the project stayed on time and within budget.”

“I must also thank our own team. We could never have achieved this without the dedication of our project team and the full support of the executive and full digital transformation team,” Erik says, adding a valuable tip: “Choose your project team well and give them enough time and freedom to work on the project.”

Breaking out of the silo

For Bluestar, this was the first integration with Microsoft Dynamics 365 and one of first projects they did in Belgium – and a textbook example of a successful PLM project. COO Jesper Bøgh Thomsen is delighted with the results: “We always work in a very agile way. By defining a clear minimum viable product and closely monitoring progress, we were able to stay within budget.”

Jesper further praises the strong partnership between the Bluestar product team, Shréder’s implementation team, and Cegeka’s solution architects: “Open communication and close collaboration were key to achieve a fast time-to-market.”
Erik agrees: “This is one of the most successful IT projects we’ve done in years. Our only regret is that we didn’t discover Bluestar PLM sooner. It would have saved us valuable time.”