When Finnish food group Herkkumaa acquired food company Björnekulla in Skåne, one of the company's biggest modernization journeys began. In just five months, Navcite built a cloud-based solution, laying the foundation for a completely new group-wide way of working.

“We have insight into all data within the group, presented in real time. Customers have also noticed a difference in increased service levels. Everything was done within budget and on time, and we are very satisfied,” says Atte Rekola, CEO of Herkkumaa Group.

The group has high ambitions and wants to grow both organically and through new acquisitions. In the spring of 2024, Herkkumaa acquired the 110-year-old Swedish food brand Björnekulla Food, which offers pickled vegetables, jams and sauces, among other things.

The acquisition of Björnekulla from its owner, Abdon Food, presented challenges. The two companies used two different business systems. Björnekulla used the outdated Navision business system. The system was also full of older and outdated customisations linked to the previous group structure.

Herkkumaa, in turn, used the Lemonsoft business system, which neither matched the ambitions of a growing food group nor its high security requirements.

Looking for a business system adapted for expansion

Herkkumaa was looking for several things in a new ERP:

  • A modern cloud solution that enables collaboration between companies in Sweden and Finland
  • Adapted for the food industry and its suppliers
  • High IT security
  • Flexibility and the ability to easily connect new systems and software

“We want to grow and need a business system and IT environment that supports this and offers flexibility. It should be easy to connect new companies to the ecosystem,” says Atte Rekola.

The choice fell on Microsoft Business Central, a platform well established in the food industry, with flexible add-ons and clear scalability. To assist with implementation and integration, Herkkumaa chose IT expert Navcite and external consultant Timo Lappalainen.

“The choice of Navcite was easy. It was mainly the human factor, in connection with Navcite’s experience in the food industry in Finland.”

Four projects in record time

A total of four different projects were included, some of which were carried out in parallel.

  1. Migrate Björnekulla’s older Navision environment from Abdon to a modern cloud-based Business Central solution
  2. The group’s finance companies, Herkkumaa Holding and Group, were moved from Lemonsoft to Business Central
  3. The factory in Finland, Herkkumaa Oy, was moved from the older on-premise ERP-solution to Business Central
  4. Integrate a third-party warehouse (3PL) solution between Björnekulla’s factory and Postnord’s warehouse in Sweden

To create a sustainable future environment, Navcite and Herkkumaa chose to leave the old and extensive customisations behind and establish a clean standard installation. Only business-critical functions were included.

The first project, implementing Business Central at Björnekulla, served as a live pilot project.

“We knew early on that there would be more companies that needed a new IT structure or needed to be brought into the group. So, the integrations were designed accordingly, with chart of accounts, reporting tools and templates adapted to the needs of a group,” says Markus Lampenius, Project Manager at Navcite.

At the same time, an integration project was also carried out with Herkkumaa Group and Herkkumaa Holding, two smaller financial companies, where Business Central was implemented. This mainly concerned financial functions such as accounting, chart of accounts and payroll management.

Modernised production flows

Smooth and reliable production is central to a food supplier. Björnekulla has a large warehouse in Svalöv, Skåne, Sweden. Herkkumaa has a warehouse in Hämeenlinna, Finland.

For these, Navcite implemented, among other things:

  • A new EDI (Electronic Data Interchange) solution to monitor documents and invoices
  • Improved order and production flows
  • Simplified warehouse processes and inventory
  • Updated outdated labelling techniques to work properly in modern environment (e.g. SSCC numbers)
  • Built third-party logistics solutions for Finnish Posti and Swedish Postnord

Communication was an important factor in the success of the project. Both the interaction between the three companies and the collaboration with consultants needed to run smoothly.

“Herkkumaa’s Project Manager Timo Lappalainen was a central bridge between the parties and one of the resaons for a successful projeect” says Markus Lampenius.

“This is a major and important investment on Herkkumaa’s part. They were looking for a customised IT environment to grow with. One of the keys to success is communication and matching Herkkumaa’s requirements and needs with what is actually possible,” says Timo Lappalainen.

A global standard that unites the group

Thanks to the fact that the solution was designed from day one based on Herkkumaa’s ambition to grow, both organically and through acquisitions, the group has gained a flexible platform that offers significant business advantages. These include:

  • The same chart of accounts and reporting structure is used in all companies
  • Data and insights can be shared directly across the entire group
  • Management has better insight and increased access to decision-making data
  • Increased cross-border collaboration, for example between the factory in Finland and Björnekulla

The concrete effects for the organisation are:

For management

  • Faster decision-making processes
  • Full transparency of data, production and finances
  • Database-driven reports that are accurate and immediately available
  • Ability to manage and monitor the group as a whole

“Insight into the business is much better today. We have accurate data, available within a second. In addition, we have new Power BI tools and can share insights and documents with each other. This is an important investment for us, and we are already seeing the effects,” says Atte Rekola.

For production

  • Better production and purchase planning and increased service levels
  • Clear visualisation of order flows
  • More efficient warehousing
  • Stronger quality assurance directly in ERP, avoiding multiple systems

For customers

  • More reliable deliveries
  • Higher level of service
  • Predictable production and better matching of demand

We are already seeing value where we can offer greater transparency for customers and an improved production path.

With a modern and scalable ERP environment, Herkkumaa is now equipped for continued growth, more acquisitions and an increasingly data-driven future.

Navcite and Timo have done a really good job; we are very satisfied. Everything was completed on time and within budget,” says Atte Rekola, CEO of Herkkumaa Group.