"Initially, we brought Skopos on board to gain an external perspective on where we stood."

"Skopos has in-depth knowledge of the manufacturing industry and international family-owned businesses."

After more than twenty-five years of loyal service, the current ERP system of the Walraven Group had become outdated. Not because the globally operating manufacturer and supplier of installation systems had stood still—far from it. But looking ahead to future growth, a modern ERP system became essential.

Together with Skopos, we conducted a thorough analysis of our processes and information needs across the Walraven companies. Key questions included: how do we currently operate, how do we want to work in future, and what do we need to get there? We made good use of Skopos’ expertise—not only in technical terms, but also regarding modern ERP systems and stakeholder management.

Founded after World War II, Walraven has grown over 77 years from a pipe clamp producer into a multinational. The nature of our business is evolving, explains Marco Deterink, Enterprise Architect at Walraven. “Our customer base is becoming increasingly international. We work more and more with architects and installers to deliver integrated solutions for building projects. As a result, we need to simplify and scale our fastening systems and exchange more data. Standardising the basics is crucial to deliver a higher service level, enable growth, and support future business models.”

A shared direction

With a new ERP system, Walraven is not only preparing for growth, but also for better alignment with customer needs. Digital communication and configure-to-order options would have been difficult or even impossible with the old software. “We initially asked Skopos to assess our situation as an outsider,” says Jan-Hendrik van Walraven, Group Business Analyst. “After all, a fresh pair of eyes often helps. We also wanted alignment internally: are we aiming for a new information system, or do we have other ambitions? People don’t like talking about systems—they’d rather focus on smarter, better processes.”

Conducting a company-wide inventory across dozens of countries would have been very time-consuming. “That’s why we started with our UK site as a pilot—it includes both production and sales.” Marco Deterink, Jan-Hendrik van Walraven and Gerrit Vixseboxse from Skopos made seven trips to the UK to map current and desired working methods.

A major success

The UK pilot turned out to be a great success. “Especially because we let our employees analyse their own processes and internal cooperation,” Van Walraven explains. The Skopos method and the resulting UK blueprint were very well received. Together with Jelle Hollema of Skopos, we decided to create a blueprint for all European locations.

Van Walraven continues: “We brought representatives from each country to the Netherlands to identify their shared processes. That way, warehouse management in Belgium doesn’t differ from that in France or Germany. Only after identifying the similarities did we start working on harmonised processes. Subgroups—finance, production, and supply chain—were merged. We used specialist BPM software to design and manage the Walraven blueprint.”

From blueprint to supplier

Following this intensive internal analysis, Walraven and Skopos had a complete European blueprint—a single document created and endorsed by people from all levels of the company, from shop floor to boardroom. To this day, senior management remains actively involved in the project. “That’s exactly what you want,” says Jan-Hendrik van Walraven.

In parallel, Walraven and Skopos developed an ERP business case: a document outlining the benefits, costs, and risks of ERP—quantified where possible. They paid particular attention to showing how ERP supports the company’s strategy. Another key focus was creating ownership among line managers for this business case.

Shortlist and evaluation criteria

The blueprint raised awareness of the urgency for ERP renewal and led to a clear set of requirements for the next phase. “Management recognised that our current system could no longer meet our future process and information needs,” Van Walraven explains. Walraven and Skopos conducted a market scan to explore what systems were available—from standard platforms to low-code and from cloud-based to on-premise solutions. Even the supplier of the old ERP system was included. “In the end, we narrowed the list down to four finalists.”

To avoid being overwhelmed during the demo phase, we developed an objective assessment tool with weighted criteria. We also considered non-technical aspects. Deterink: “What kind of supplier are they? Are they global or local? Do they seem reliable? Do they have sufficient references?” This process led to a preferred supplier with whom Walraven began detailed discussions. “Here, we relied heavily on the experience of Skopos—they know exactly where to focus and what questions to ask.”

Stakeholder alignment

Just as the ERP supplier must fit Walraven, Skopos fits our way of working. Deterink: “We want consultants who understand our sector, align with our values of long-term value creation, and know how family businesses operate. That’s why Skopos suits us better than the large consulting firms. Skopos was instrumental in managing stakeholders, aligning our people, and securing broad support.” The collaboration has become a true partnership, with both sides learning from each other.

Deterink and Van Walraven also value Skopos’ independence: “They have no alliances with suppliers and are strictly neutral. That gives us peace of mind, especially in the long term. We’ve never felt that Skopos favoured any particular vendor—it’s always been about what best suits our architecture and company culture.”