Overview:
Our Project with Athesia AG
The Athesia Kalenderverlag GmbH from Unterhaching offers the widest selection of calendars in the German-speaking area with brands such as Harenberg, Heye, Weingarten, Eiland, and Athesia Tappeiner. Recently, puzzles have also been added to the product range. Athesia Kalenderverlag has been part of the South Tyrolean Athesia Group since November 2015, with a focus on media and printing.
Since 2018, the company has been part of our client base. Ultimately, we have contributed to the professionalization and (partial) automation of processes, as well as positively influencing the development of the puzzle business segment.
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Long-standing Collaboration
Success Story in Chapters
Chapter 1
Initially, we introduced only the Anveo Mobile App at the publishing house. At that time, Athesia was still being serviced by another Microsoft partner company.
Introduction of the Anveo Mobile App
Chapter 2:
Athesia was very satisfied with our app implementation, so later on, we were allowed to take over the support of the entire ERP solution and implement some customizations.
Partner Switch and Support
Chapter 1
Initial Situation
“In the past, our 50-60 field sales representatives were unable to access the necessary data and figures while visiting customers in bookstores. This resulted in them lacking answers to some questions:
- What did we sell to the bookstore last year?
- What new products can we offer?
- Which product performed well or poorly at the bookstore last year?”
Product and Partner Search
“We started researching a mobile solution for our field sales team. During this process, we came across the Anveo Mobile App. After clarification with our previous partner company, it turned out that they had no experience with Anveo products. Therefore, we decided to search for a new partner company with expertise in Anveo products.
Alongside our technical requirements, we particularly focused on having a dedicated contact person who would accompany us over a longer period. Upon Anveo’s recommendation, we discovered anaptis. Our employees immediately felt understood and well-supported here. Anaptis not only impressed with their IT and process perspective but also with their understanding of the business. Our processes were their top priority, separate from IT considerations.
It became evident that anaptis could meet our requirements. Their proposal also fit very well. We were especially impressed by the future project manager. His expertise convinced us from the start, as he could quickly grasp our processes and contribute ideas.”
Implementation
“We ultimately chose anaptis as our partner company and the Anveo Mobile App as the new mobile solution for our field sales team. We had already terminated our previous mobile solution, giving anaptis six months for implementation. Looking back, this deadline was met despite the tight timeframe, and we were operational within six months.”
Outcome
“We found a reliable partner company with a highly competent project manager and introduced the Anveo Mobile App within our desired timeframe. Over the months and now years of collaboration, it has been established that a weekly meeting or jour fixe for task organization and status updates works well. We organize ourselves using a Microsoft Teams board and work with our own ticketing system. Access to shared tools greatly facilitates collaboration and organization.”
Chapter 2
Among other things, anaptis installed an object manager and thus a source code management system, allowing us to program within the system ourselves. The anaptis provided training in this regard. The collaboration between our own IT department and anaptis worked very well from the outset. The company also provided excellent support in introducing the new features to our employees.
Within this framework, anaptis performed several customizations for us to accurately reflect our processes. After all, our processes are highly individual:
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Initial Situation
For the production planning of calendars, we need to consider and calculate dozens of article attributes. Typically, we place an initial edition order and consolidate the demand from bookstores for the final order or production. This complex production planning process was previously quite laborious, and we wished for a simpler and more straightforward solution.Solution
The anaptis GmbH has simplified our production planning and contributed to process optimization. -
Our returns concept is very complex:
At the end of a season, bookstores can return products to us (mostly calendars) that they haven’t sold and receive a refund. Some retailers also keep their products longer and try to sell them at reduced prices. These retailers receive an initial 50% refund on a specified date, and if they still return the products at the end of the season, they receive a second 50% refund for the remaining products, totaling a 100% refund. This way, Athesia participates in the reduced sales. Additionally, booksellers can obtain products through wholesalers (instead of directly from us). In this case, the bookseller does not receive a refund of the purchase price. We wanted the system to automatically recognize whether a bookstore is entitled to a refund and the amount thereof. Numerous criteria and sometimes caps needed to be considered. We aimed to significantly expedite and simplify this process.Solution
Anaptis has accurately depicted our complex returns management in the system. Our criteria are automatically taken into account. Therefore, the system now automatically checks which bookstores are eligible for refunds on returns and the amount of such refunds. -
Initial Situation Our calendars contain images for which we do not hold the rights, so we must compensate the rights holders proportionally based on calendar sales (commission per unit sold). We have several different billing models. Throughout the year, we sell our calendars, and only at the end of the year is it determined how many calendars were sold. We needed a module for billing license fees based on sales or volume. Solution
Anaptis has developed a module for us that allows us to easily handle the billing of license fees. -
Initial Situation
Our field sales representatives sell products directly to customers on-site, resulting in orders that we pass on to our logistics team. Our order management previously involved many manual steps.Solution
We utilize the Anveo Mobile App in conjunction with Dynamics NAV, enabling our field sales representatives to access all necessary information on-site and enter orders directly while being with the customer. They can view order history, returns made, as well as product availability and current alternatives.Additionally, an EDI (Electronic Data Interchange) solution is used in conjunction with the Anveo Mobile App. This means that our orders are automatically processed by the Anveo Mobile App and transferred to logistics via EDI in the evening, ensuring they can be delivered the next day.
Paulette Lamber, Managing Director, Athesia Kalenderverlag GmbH
At a Glance:
Which Prodcts Were Used?
Microsoft Dynamics NAV
Microsoft Dynamics NAV is the ERP solution for integrating your business areas.
Anveo Mobile App
The Anveo Mobile App provides offline-capable, mobile access to your ERP solution.
OPplus 365
OPplus is a tool for digital payment processing provided by our partner Continia.
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