Ahlsell Selects Stibo Systems to Support its Growth Strategy

ATLANTA and READING, England, August 14, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --

Stibo Systems STEP MDM platform enables the leading Swedish distributor of installation products and tools to streamline its ever-growing product range

Stibo Systems, the Strategic Information Management Technology and Solutions Company™, today announced that Ahlsell in Sweden will implement Stibo Systems' market-leading STEP MDM platform across its Russian, Scandinavian and Baltic operations. Ahlsell is the leading Scandinavian distributor of products and services within heating & plumbing, electrical, tools and machinery, refrigeration and Do It Yourself (DIY). As the strategic information relevant to its expanding range of 1.2 million products, as well as the number of marketing channels continues to increase, Ahlsell realized the need to streamline their purchasing and marketing processes by investing in a proven Master Data Management system.

Jonny Kohlström, business process and business development manager at Ahlsell, says, "STEP will become Ahlsell's product Master Data Management hub. We believe it will improve Ahlsell's time to market by introducing monitored workflows on all processes, and cut down the time to synchronize product information. This is especially important when acquiring new companies, but also to keep product information synchronized between countries and between suppliers and Ahlsell. We will use automated processes for gathering product information with STEP's Supplier Portal and use branch-specific taxonomies such as ETIM. On top of that, we want to enable our customers to accelerate searches for the right products in Ahlsell's internet shop and through all other marketing channels by improving product data quality with STEP."

The implementation of Stibo System's STEP platform underpins Ahlsell's continued commitment to its customers and its overall strategy of both organic growth and growth through acquisitions.

"We see a great potential for increased efficiency, and regard this investment as a strategically important choice for Ahlsell," says Gunnar Haglund, CFO Ahlsell. "We selected Stibo Systems STEP platform because it is definitely the best PIM system with the broadest offer we have seen, which is also underlined by the fact that STEP has won awards as best PIM from both Ventana and Gartner. Stibo Systems project team is very responsive and showed they understand our business needs."

STEP will be implemented to harmonize Ahlsell's product information so it is accurate and complete, and so that the products in stock and the products available through the many marketing channels-from eCommerce to printed catalogues-are aligned.

"Stibo has supported the complex needs of international B2B distributors for more than 35 years, and we are very happy to welcome Ahlsell to our growing customer community," says Mikael Lyngsø, CEO, Stibo Systems. "We are confident that our partnership with Ahlsell will be fruitful and we look forward to bringing them many business benefits, such as increased revenue, reduced overall costs and improved agility."

For more information, visit the Ahlsell's website at http://www.ahlsell.se.

About Stibo Systems

Stibo Systems, the Strategic Information Management Company provides technology and solutions that enable organizations to manage their strategic information on a global scale through an integrated process. Stibo Systems' STEP technology is a flexible, uniform Master Data Management (MDM) platform that provides the business with a single trusted source of operational information for the entire enterprise. Stibo Systems' global customers include GE, Sears, Siemens, Target and Thule. Stibo Systems is a subsidiary of the privately held Stibo A/S group, originally founded in 1794 with corporate headquarters in Aarhus, Denmark. For more information, visit http://www.stibosystems.com.

Media contacts:                          

Angela Culver
Titel: Marketing Director
Telefon: +1-678-797-8499
ancu@stibo.com