Now boasting an efficient IT-environment, moving into the cloud was a strategic choice for Nordic's largest supplier of supplementary parts in the trucking industry
JOAB, the Nordic's largest supplier of supplementary parts in the trucking industry, such as ship loaders, cranes, and hook lifts, develops innovative solutions and services within the trucking industry. The company's field of expertise ranges from production and assembly of supplementary parts for trucks to service and aftermarket services.
The company is the leading supplier within this field in the Nordics. The main office of the growing family business is in Gothenburg, and the company has 270 employees.
Embarking upon the cloud journey was fuelled by the modernisation needs of the traditional industrial workplace. Many of the work routines were manual, which was sufficient when the company was smaller. However, as the company grew, manual tasks started to become more and more challenging.
The board also emphasized that increased security was an important part of the decision.
"The management was instructed to focus on cybersecurity," says Peter Olsson, CEO of JOAB.
JOAB's digital journey started in 2018. Moving the IT infrastructure to the cloud became a central component in scaling the business as outlined by the company's growth ambition. As for IT, higher requirements for efficiency and automation helped them to ensure continuing to deliver services of high-quality.
JOAB soon realized the need for external competence, and they began searching for a partner that could guide them to modern cloud solutions.
"We wanted to succeed from the very beginning, and not be guinea pigs. That's why we were looking for an experienced IT partner that could guide us," says Pär Persson, IT and digitalisation manager.
Their chosen partner became Innofactor.
"With their vast experience and technical competence on the Microsoft's ecosystem, including security, Innofactor's experts helped us find an efficient solution that suits JOAB very well," he continues.
Today, Innofactor's experts are an integral part of JOAB's IT team.
The IT environment in JOAB used to be a classic "90s solution" with outdated structures and no mobile access.
The cooperation with Innofactor was the first step toward creating a modern workplace. The introduction of the digital workplace has increased the efficiency in several ways. For instance, increased use of different production tools from Microsoft has enhanced cooperation and communication.
"Using more modern and secure cloud technology with Microsoft 365, Azure and Power Platform, enables more possibilities for innovation, both internally and for our customers," Persson says.
The framework that facilitates digital communication all the way from end customer to the business system – which is still being operated internally – is in place.
"Today, we can create apps and BI-reports that combine data from internally operated systems and external public data – in addition to data delivered by our customers and suppliers. Everything exists in the same place, with mobile access and security firmly in place," Persson says.
This investment opens a whole new toolbox for digitalization at JOAB, which means higher business value and stronger competitiveness that supports continuing growth.
Security in a modern hybrid work model was another crucial project within the initial phase of the cloud journey. As JOAB wanted solutions that permitted targeted follow-ups, one of their choices fell on Microsoft Secure Score in Azure.
"With this solution we can maintain the security level that is right for us, where multi-factor authentication has brought the highest security increase," Persson says.
Limited access via certified units makes logging in both more simple and more secure for the users.
"The traceability has gone up and the number of incidents has gone down."
CEO Peter Olsson tells that demonstrating and evaluating JOAB's security work has been crucial.
"Over the last years we and the board have followed up on how we have improved the movement and quality of our IT security. The goal is to improve the overall security by getting a clearer picture of what factors give the most effect, where the biggest security risks lie, and how vulnerable JOAB is to different types of threats."
Involving the whole organization is the key to success when carrying out big changes. By listening and understanding how the processes work today, what the needs are, and daring to ask 'why?', Persson and his team are building trust within the company.
"IT must be visible in the organization and get to know our colleagues in order to increase our legitimacy and establishment. I would like to understand our challenges, so that we can cooperate to find smarter ways to work together."
"Thinking around the corner is a way to catch the details leading to new development opportunities. This is how I prefer to work," Persson concludes.
Now, JOAB and Innofactor are taking the next step to offer more digital services that create added value and improve competitiveness.
"Power Platform opens several exciting opportunities, which we want to take advantage of. A vision for the future is creating a more transparent and quality-assured service process, and with digital service manuals for our partner workshops and customers. That would enable us to offer a more predictive service," Persson says.
Another long-term possibility is offering the employees a JOAB ID with secure access from their mobile phones to a new cloud-based intranet. This integral piece of the puzzle will foster even more cooperation within the company.
"With their vast experience and technical competence on the Microsoft's ecosystem, including security, Innofactor's experts helped us find an efficient solution that suits JOAB very well."
Pär Persson
IT and digitalisation manager
JOAB
The following solutions and services, among others, are part of the overall solution implemented for JOAB:
