The nursery Majland manages one of the most complex productions with a combination of tight data discipline and experience built up over four decades. The Danish, world-leading manufacturer of Christmas tree seedlings is as dependent on valid data as it is on the quality seeds that are put in the ground. The data is provided by IFS, which has set a new standard in the company.
Photo: Majland
Unpredictability is an indisputable fact at Majland. The Danish nursery, which has specialised in producing seedlings for Christmas tree production for almost 40 years, lives with the fact that nothing in the production and supply chain can be planned with 100 percent accuracy. Both seedling growth and customer demand depend on so many factors that it is impossible to accurately predict stock and order intake.
Navision was the foundation of Majland's operations for 10 years. However, the company eventually had to throw in the towel, realising that the system did not support the business well enough.
-"The system consisted of bud after bud and was completely bogged down. It provided poor data, so we could only use it for basic things like invoicing and so on. We therefore seriously lacked a system that could deliver the valid, historical data that is crucial for a business like ours," says Majland CEO Jacob Majland, who grew up in the original family-owned company and has in-depth knowledge of the production of the coveted small plants for Christmas tree production.
Equation with many unknowns
-Christmas tree seedlings are not only a seasonal commodity but also a living product, which adds further complexity to our business. Although we draw on many years of experience and the best production principles, we never know for sure how the seedlings will develop. Nor can we be sure that Christmas tree growers will sell the number of trees they expect and thus clear the areas they had planned to fill with new seedlings. So there are a lot of wild cards. That's why it's crucial that we have access to valid data that can provide insight into customers, purchasing patterns, pricing, complaints, etc." he explains.
Majland chose to switch to IFS Applications and uses many facets of the system. The system is the backbone of the business and integrates data from all parts of the organisation. The IFS system is also the food chain for Targit Business Intelligence and guarantees that all analyses and reports are based on valid data.
Set up the necessary fence posts
-"We have a much better digital overview with IFS. We can retrieve all the data we need and, most importantly, we can trust it. The system has given us a completely different data discipline with standardised procedures, which was much needed," says Jacob Majland.
-"Over the years, we've hired a lot of employees who have sat in all corners of the business and done things their own way. IT hasn't been able to keep up, so training and systematisation have gone out the window along the way. We have remedied this with IFS. The system has an inbuilt rigidity that keeps us within the framework and ensures that we all use the same terms and follow the same procedures. It has really moved us," says Jacob Majland and continues:
-"We like that the system is a bit square. In my view, you can't get valid data and have a flexible system with full elasticity. It's like blowing and having flour in your mouth.
Support future growth
Although Majland is a difficult business to manage, the company has gone from being the third largest producer in the world in its field to being the largest today. The company is a world leader in Nordmann spruce, which is supplied to Christmas tree producers across Europe. One of the main customers is Green Team's production companies, which are sister companies to Majland, but the vast majority of the seedlings are exported.
-"Our journey does not stop here. We need to continue to grow and develop the business, and IFS is a great choice in that respect too. It's a large system built around modules that can be expanded in line with our needs," says Jacob Majland.
Curit has implemented both IFS and Targit at Majland, which Jacob Majland is very pleased with.
-"We have a permanent contact at Curit who knows both systems very well. He's a systems man down to his fingertips and has been adamant that we had to stay within the system framework. It was a bit annoying in the beginning that it was us and not the system that had to adapt, but I can see the value in that now," says Jacob Majland.