Interview With Georg Fischer: Simon Cruickshank, Business Systems Manager

Welcome to another Dakota Customer Interview.

This time we had the pleasure of speaking with Simon Cruickshank, Business Systems Manager at Georg Fischer, to find out how Dakota worked with him and his team to implement a new scanning and printing solution within their warehouse operation.

Founded in 1802, Georg Fischer is an international industrial corporation comprising of three divisions: GF Piping Systems, GF Casting Solutions and GF Machining Solutions. With its headquarters in Switzerland and a presence within 34 countries around the world, Georg Fischer is the preferred partner of its customers for the safe transport of liquids and gases, lightweight casting components and high-precision manufacturing technologies.

Read on to find out more.
Enjoy!

The Team at Dakota

1. What are your main areas of responsibility within Georg Fischer?

As one of the IT Managers here at Georg Fischer, my main areas of responsibility include overseeing our PCs, servers and communications, as well as ensuring that all of the IT elements within the organisation function as they should.

2. How long have you been a Dakota customer?

We have been a Dakota customer for almost 15 years.

3. How did you first come into contact with Dakota?

We first met Dakota at an IT showcase at Aston Villa Football Club back in 2007.

4. How are the products used within your warehousing facility?

The TC8300s are currently utilised for goods in, put-away, picking and packing orders and inventory control and stock checks. The printers, which are attached to our cranes, are used for printing pallet and product labels for put-away and shipping. The products all interface directly with our SAP warehouse management system within our distribution centre.

5. What type of product were you using before you deployed your Dakota product solution?

Before we implemented the new products, we were using a bespoke warehouse management system with fixed data collection terminals. 

6. What have been the main business benefits you have experienced/achieved as a result of your most recent Dakota product solution?

Part of our desire to create a much more modern warehousing system, our migration to SAP and the subsequent purchase of the new devices from Dakota, has given us far more in terms of flexibility and visibility within our distribution centre compared to our previous solution. The new system has also given us much more scope to utilise barcoding for our products and pallets throughout the distribution process, from initial goods in, to the goods being sent to our customers. The use of these new data collection products has helped us to ensure that the correct items are sent to our customers each and every time and we now also have full visibility in terms of stock control and rotation.

7. Why did you choose to work with Dakota on your warehouse automation project? 

Since the beginning, we have always had a good relationship with Dakota. As we have worked with them in the past, they were a known entity to us and the projects which we have worked on with them previously have always gone smoothly. They offer great levels of customer service and their product pricing is also highly competitive.

8. What are Dakota’s specific USPs?

Dakota’s level of customer care and attention to customer relationships is excellent. They are extremely proactive in calling us to make sure that everything is running as it should and they are great at recommending various solutions to make sure that we have everything that we need, while the products which they offer us are the best on the market. 

9. Do you have any plans to extend your Dakota solution further or do you have any new applications which you are currently considering?

We don’t have any plans to extend our solution at this stage, however if and when we do, then Dakota will most definitely be top of our contact list.

10. How would you rate your experience with Dakota?

Our experience with Dakota has been nothing short of excellent. They are extremely customer focused and genuinely want the best for their customers, not only in terms of price but in the service that they offer and the products which they put forward for consideration. We would not hesitate to recommend Dakota to anyone looking to automate their warehouse.