Stommen Group invests in several businesses with strong potential for growth and profitability. As the group expanded through acquisitions, it became clear that a more unified approach was needed to support the way the business operated and made decisions.
By partnering with Columbus, Stommen Group consolidated its technology stack through the implementation of a cloud-based solution, leveraging Microsoft Dynamics 365, Azure and Power BI. This enabled the company to move towards a single solution across its existing businesses, providing a clearer view of performance and more reliable data to support financial and sales decision-making.
Challenges facing Stommen Group
As Stommen Group continued to grow through acquisitions, it faced several practical challenges across its operations and reporting. Companies within the group were using different ERP systems and reporting tools, making it difficult to get a consistent and reliable view of performance.
With multiple warehouses and sites in place, reporting was complex and often inconsistent. The group struggled to extract accurate data and couldn’t fully trust the numbers available, particularly when it came to financial performance.
At the same time, Stommen Group was running a business-critical ERP implementation. With the same internal resources allocated across both ERP and business intelligence (BI) initiatives, there was limited capacity to focus on defining reporting requirements or understanding how best to extract and structure data. The organisation also recognised that it lacked maturity in BI, making it harder to clearly define what insights were needed and how they should be delivered.
“Financial insight into sales was the biggest driver,” said Jimmy Petersson, CIO at Stommen Group. “We had an old ERP system that needed updating, and we also had a previous BI solution. We wanted to run the BI project alongside the ERP implementation so we could get insights as quickly as possible after go-live.”
- Retail & Distribution
- Cloud Services
- Sweden
- Case
Summary
Stommen Group partnered with Columbus to improve how data is used across its acquired companies, consolidating its technology stack through a cloud-based solution built on Microsoft Dynamics 365, Azure and Power BI. With a single solution in place, the group now has clearer visibility into performance and more reliable insights to support financial and sales decisions.
About Stommen Group
- Stommen Group is a family-owned Swedish company in the home furnishing industry, based in Småland, Sweden.
- It acquires companies with strong potential for growth and profitability. Companies within the group are Affari of Sweden, Ambiente, Brafab, Conform, Elevate and Furninova.
- Stommen Group preserves each company’s independence and focuses on building a strong group community. It provides stability in both periods of growth and more challenging times, with shared values and a culture that supports good business and its people.
Implementation journey
Stommen Group partnered with Columbus to deliver the initial implementation for two of its companies, Furninova and Brafab. The project took place alongside the ERP implementation, with the same internal resources supporting both initiatives, making close collaboration essential.
While the ERP project remained the main internal focus, Columbus took responsibility for the business intelligence project, guiding Stommen Group through the process and helping define reporting needs. This enabled Stommen Group to deliver both projects in parallel and be well positioned to gain clearer insights into its companies’ performance as soon as the new ERP system went live.
“The implementation journey went well. Columbus took care of the BI part, asking a lot of questions and guiding us through it. At that time, we couldn’t focus much on BI as all our attention was on the ERP project. Columbus took us through it in a very clear and structured way,” said Jimmy Petersson, CIO at Stommen Group.
Outcomes
Stommen Group has seen several improvements across its Furninova and Brafab businesses, with plans for broader adoption across the group.
Key outcomes include:
- A single, reliable source of data – data is more accurate and detailed than before, giving the business confidence in the insights it uses to support decision-making
- Improved procurement and forecasting – the business can now forecast more effectively for purchasing, helping teams plan more accurately and maintain better stock levels. This has improved visibility for the purchasing department and supported more informed procurement decisions
- Increased visibility into production and logistics – Stommen Group has gained clearer insight into factory usage and production performance. The business can also track logistics more effectively and measure utilisation across every shipment, improving capacity planning
- Deeper financial and sales insight – The group now has detailed visibility into profitability at both product and customer level. This makes it easier to see where money is being made, and where margins can be improved. As a result, Stommen Group has been able to identify areas that weren’t profitable and make more informed decisions about where to continue or stop investing
- Clearer view of performance across the group – the new reporting provides a comprehensive overview of performance across Stommen Group’s companies, while still supporting individual users in their day-to-day roles with relevant, role-specific insights
- Increased flexibility in reporting – reports can be developed and adapted to meet specific business needs, making it easier to respond to new questions or changing requirements over time
- Improved order tracking and cost estimation – better visibility into orders and costs proved particularly valuable when shipping costs rose rapidly following the COVID-19 pandemic, helping the business maintain control during a period of uncertainty.
A big difference for us is that we now have one source of data. It means we can trust the data
- Jimmy Petersson, CIO at Stommen Group.
Working with Columbus
Jimmy Petersson, CIO at Stommen Group, described the relationship with Columbus as a collaborative partnership that had developed over several years, adding that the business was pleased with the results.
“We’ve partnered with Columbus on both the ERP and the business intelligence side, and it’s worked very well for us,” he said. “The Columbus team is very professional and experienced. They have a wide range of specialists across different areas, which is extremely valuable. If you need a specific skill set, Columbus usually has it internally. I would recommend Columbus to other businesses looking for similar support.”
