Success story: How automated order intake process benefits Toivalan Metalli

Background

Toivalan Metalli is a specialized machine shop in the subcontracting industry, known for its high-quality metalwork. Their goal is to be a modern pioneer in subcontracting, continuously improving processes, employee expertise, and versatile machinery. The company serves its customers across various sectors, including the defense-, manufacturing- and construction industries.

Toivalan Metalli has been using Jakamo via a free, web-based user interface since 2020. Although the Jakamo interface is intuitive and easy to use, efficiency in order intake handling can be raised to new levels with Jakamo’s sales order integration into the ERP system.

Jakamo sales order integration was implemented during the introduction of the Collapick Odoo ERP at Toivalan Metalli. The Collapick product family is built on Odoo, an open-source suite of business management software tools.

The Challenge

Order intake can be a significant effort, especially for subcontractors like Toivalan Metalli. “If we look at our operations in terms of numbers, it’s approximately 5000 orders per year, which translates to about 20 orders per day. One order can consist of anywhere from a single line item to tens or even hundreds of product lines,” says Toni Pasanen, the welding supervisor at Toivalan Metalli.

Each line needs to be handled quickly and accurately. If manual work is minimized and handling is automated through the integration between Jakamo and the Collapick Odoo ERP, the savings in working time become prominent.

The Solution

The Jakamo platform offers standard APIs for both customers and suppliers. Some of Toivalan Metalli’s customers have integrated with the Jakamo Purchase Order API. Customers create their purchase orders (POs) in their ERP systems, which then pass the orders to Jakamo. Collapick developed a connector between the Tempo ERP and Jakamo, allowing these orders to be automatically transferred from Jakamo to Toivalan Metalli’s ERP as sales orders (SOs). The entire purchasing process between parties becomes an automated flow from ERP to ERP and back.

One of the most significant benefits of Jakamo, compared to traditional EDI connections or similar automation systems, is its scalability. When a new customer adopts Jakamo, all Toivalan Metalli needs to do is add a mapping ID to their Jakamo account, and orders start flowing automatically. Adding a new mapping ID takes about two minutes.

Implementation

The integration was implemented at the end of 2023, and numerous orders have been automated since then. “From our perspective, the implementation required only a few days of work. Collaboration with Collapick was smooth yet highly efficient. It became clear that they understood the nature and logic of the procurement process for our mutual customer. Communication was fast and precise, which, in my opinion, usually indicates a high level of professional competence,” says Jussi Ahtiainen, COO of Jakamo.

In the technical implementation, standard APIs and message structures in Jakamo made things easier for Collapick compared to traditional EDI integrations. “Using a specific standard allows for easier creation of various messages, without needing to invent or customize them from scratch each time. With other partners, we have to separately define what kind of message it is or what the field names mean, but such information is pre-standardized on Jakamo’s side,” explains Janne Roivas, Software Developer at Collapick.

Results

The collaboration between Toivalan Metalli, Collapick, and Jakamo has resulted in improved order management, streamlined processes, and better customer service.

Juha Kolehmainen, CEO of Toivalan Metalli, summarizes the results: “It would be great if more of our customers started using Jakamo. It’s so convenient that we no longer have to manually type anything or send emails related to orders as we used to.” Pasanen adds, “All necessary parties now receive the information they need directly, and no one is left in the dark regarding communication. Both Jakamo and Collapick are especially good because they work seamlessly on mobile devices, no matter where you are.

Since Collapick built the Jakamo sales order integration in a rational and efficient way, it will be easy to onboard new customers in the future.

For more details, you can read the full case study on Collapick’s blog: Case Toivalan Metalli: Collapick Odoo ERP ja Jakamo integraatio (in Finnish).