Kährs implemented Ongoing WMS for better integration, efficiency, and traceability

Kährs, a leading global manufacturer and distributor of flooring, has been in the business for over 160 years. With a long history of innovations that have shaped the entire global flooring industry, Kährs is a mark of quality and innovation. From inventing the first engineered wood floorboard to developing the first PVC-free resilient floor for public spaces, Kährs has led the way in developing sustainable and beautiful flooring solutions for both residential and commercial use. With nearly 70 countries using their products, Kährs is a market leader in Sweden and Finland, and have very strong positions in Norway, the UK, and Germany.

To enhance their warehouse management capabilities, Kährs implemented Ongoing WMS. In an interview with Christofher Nordström, Warehouse Team Leader at Kährs Nybro, Sweden, we learned about their experience with Ongoing WMS.

Before implementing Ongoing WMS, Kährs used two different systems: M3 for sales and a homemade web-based system for their warehouse management. While the web-based system allowed for a lot of customization, it was not scalable for their growing business needs. With Ongoing WMS, Kährs was able to improve their efficiency and integrate their sales and warehouse management systems.

Kährs has made several adjustments to Ongoing WMS to tailor it to their needs. "We work with big orders, sometimes up to 30-40 tons per truck, so we have adjusted Ongoing to work more in picking orders per truck than customer by customer," said Nordström. Kährs has also been able to streamline their operations, eliminating the need for paper orders and reducing the manual handling between sales and warehouse management. "E-commerce is growing rapidly, and we need to have the best possible handling of orders and goods, and Ongoing has given us a good platform for this," Nordström added.

Kährs has worked closely with Tianfu Yun, their customer-responsible software engineer at Ongoing, to optimize their use of Ongoing WMS. "We started with about 60-70 small changes in the system, so a lot has happened in a year. Tianfu has been of great help with quick and smooth solutions to our proposals," Nordström said.

With Ongoing WMS, Kährs has seen several benefits, including better integration between departments, greater traceability and overview, improved efficiency in truck driving, and easier goods reception and warehousing. "Integration with other departments and systems has been a great benefit for us, reducing the manual handling between sales and the warehouse as much as possible," Nordström said. "We now have a better overview of orders and can also go back in time and check what happened in certain situations."

Although there is still some work to be done to fine-tune the system, Kährs is confident that they will soon achieve their goal of greater efficiency and automation in their warehouse management. "Tianfu and Tommy Liljebjörn, [application expert at Kährs] are working on it, so we'll soon be there," Nordström added.

The Ongoing team is thrilled to hear that Ongoing WMS has been a valuable addition to Kährs' warehouse management capabilities, providing them with greater integration, efficiency, and traceability. With ongoing collaboration and adjustments, Kährs is well on their way to optimize their warehouse operations even further.