Karlsruhe – Heless, located in Germany, has been producing doll-s accessories and toys for girls for over 60 years. Today, the family company is successfully managed by Beate Becker. It was she who, as a young boss in 1983, decided to lead the midsize company into the age of electronic data processing. The young businesswoman did not select one of the usual software solutions by one of the large hardware manufacturers like Siemens, IBM or Nixdorf, but gave the newcomer ABAS a chance. A decision she did not regret.
Selecting an independent software vendor
“We had a long ERP selection process. In August 1983 we called for bids in collaboration with a consultant. Previously we had a look at various solutions at CeBIT fair in Germany. At that time, ERP systems as we know them today did not exist. Back then the large hardware providers were also providing the IT solution. Accordingly, we first talked to companies such as Siemens and Olivetti. This dragged on for quite some time. After two years we almost signed with a large provider. However, when we went to sign the contract, we didn-t feel like a customer but more like an applicant. Various contractual specifications didn-t seem appropriate. We reconsidered our decision. Our consultant then pointed out that it was also possible to buy a software independent of the hardware. This was an entirely different approach. According to my knowledge, there were only two companies in Germany at that time which provided a solution for business planning independent of the hardware: Roth and ABAS.
Back then, Unix was spreading on the German market as an independent operating system. Our consultant saw it as a good sign that we had not signed the contract with the large provider and were now able to buy an independent software. We had sent a kind of requirements specification to ABAS and Roth and on this basis then decided in favour of ABAS.”
A time of change: from typewriters to electronic data processing
“In October 1986 we had our first meeting with ABAS, almost three years after our call for bid. The requirements specification was used as basis for our collaboration. We went through it item by item. Almost everything that we needed had to be developed. It was a time of change, the conversion from typewriter to electronic data processing. I had just taken over the company from my mom and as a “young boss” I had to convince many of the long-established employees with my modern approaches, such as IT implementation. One employee even said she wanted to resign if we would start processing data electronically.
After initial contact in the fall of 1986, the first installation was carried out in January of the following year. We created our customer master files and sent first invoices. Even if in the years of developing the program, we sometimes had the impression that we would never reach a point where it would end, we always felt that we were in good hands with ABAS. Our requirements and ideas were integrated into the software. In July 1992, we confirmed a successful implementation. Five and a half years is a long time, according to today-s standards, but as I have said before, it was a time of change, the solutions were new and everything had to be developed first.”
An inspiring synergy: ABAS and its customers
“In the past years, ABAS has grown with its customers and customers have grown with ABAS. I always appreciated this approach. We, the Heless GmbH, compared to ABAS, had a more relaxed growth and were quite successful. ABAS is a part of our company and we have trusted them for over 20 years. I regularly attend the customer forum to get information about innovations. Many features and functions are added every year. IT is an essential part of a company. We don-t need most of these features as a small company, but some of the things have provided us with a competitive edge.”
No new data migration for over 20 years
“For us it was a huge benefit that we started using ABAS early on. We have an IT environment that we never had to change. I know some companies that had to change their system, some of them even several times. Every time this means a lot of working hours for the employees. We have been working with ABAS since 1986 and never had to migrate our data.”(te/jj)
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