Maskun Kalustetalo Oy

Maskun Kalustetalo trusts in FidaWare WMS

Masku's IT Manager Samuli Skog, Logistics and IT Director Pepe Yli-Kaila and Warehouse Manager Jarkko Riihola are looking to the future with enthusiasm.

Maskun Kalustetalo Oy is Finland’s leading seller of house and garden furniture and aims to continuously improve its competitiveness. Masku understands the importance of a smooth supply chain for the customers, and hence also for the company’s own competitiveness. The goods must move from the central warehouse quickly and without errors, and the online store must provide accurate and reliable information on the availability of each product in real time. That is why Masku decided to put their priorities right and raise their warehouse management to a new level. The aim of Maskun Kalustetalo is to stay on the edge of electronic business development. Therefore, Masku had many times in different contexts been wondering how they could boost their own warehouse operations through digitalization.

One of the cornerstones of an efficient warehouse is a user-friendly and modern Warehouse Management System (WMS). In 2015, Masku’s Logistics and IT Director Pepe Yli-Kaila thus decided to raise the warehouse operations to their rightful place in Masku’s list of priorities and launch a project to map out the possibilities for a new warehouse management system. At just the right moment, Roima’s industry expert Arto Pellonpää happened to contact Yli-Kaila, and the discussions on the importance of an efficient warehouse got off to a good start.

Masku carried out a normal mapping of potential suppliers, after which the company was convinced of the expertise of Roima’s professionals and warehouse management solution. Together, Masku and Roima set strict goals for the WMS project, from more efficient processes to the payback period.

One of the central goals adopted was to reduce waste related to deliveries. Another important goal was to enhance the efficiency of material flows at the central warehouse and find out whether the total costs of the central warehouse could be reduced. Additional challenges for Masku’s warehouse operations were posed by seasonal fluctuation and multidimensional product structures.“Roima’s expert familiarized himself with our situation extremely well. After the mapping phase, we received a clear action plan and ROI calculation for the investment”, Pepe Yli-Kaila explains.

“Roima’s system’s modern technology, scalability, and excellent usability on the shop floor as well as the well-reasoned ROI calculation convinced our management team as well, and the investment was given green light”, Yli-Kaila continues.”

After the negotiations for an agreement, the project was kicked off in November 2016 with a more detailed specification phase, and the actual information system implementation was scheduled for the fall of 2017. For Masku’s warehouse personnel, the WMS project was a new and interesting project, as no-one had previous experience of WMS system implementation. For this reason, too, Masku wanted the support of an experienced partner.

The project started smoothly, and from the very beginning, Masku and Roima shared the same understanding that the WMS project is a common endeavor, and both parties were fully committed to its execution.

The implementation of FidaWare WMS went well and on schedule. The preparations for the implementation were started in good time in November, and the official implementation was carried out at the end of November. The central warehouse has been run with Roima’s system since that moment, and now the project continues with addressing the needs for fixes and changes identified during the use of the system.

At Masku, the eyes are now on the future. In the light of the good start and the experiences acquired thus far, Masku can expect significant improvements in its warehouse figures. The development of logistics and customer service has been defined as one of Masku’s central development projects for the coming years, where an efficient warehouse forms one of the cornerstones.

Furthermore, investing in the online store requires new delivery methods and quick reaction to the changing and growing customer expectations. Therefore, Masku plans to increase the significance of its online store as a channel for orders and to improve its customer service. When the warehouse is under control, the entire chain functions better – all the way to the customer.

Maskun Kalustetalo Oy is a privately owned Finnish family enterprise which has been in the furniture business since 1983. Maskun Kalustetalo runs 47 Masku chain stores in Finland and two in Estonia, three Finnlandia chain stores, and the Masku.com online store. The company employs almost 300 people.