SkyPlanner helps Opes Corporation maintain 100% delivery reliability

Opes Corporation is a Finnish specialty manufacturer founded in 2014, operating at the intersection of chemical and food production. The company has grown into the world’s leading manufacturer of flavor cards: its products ship to more than 30 countries, and hundreds of millions of units have been produced. Production runs in Salo, Finland, where about 35 professionals work within an organization of 50. Operations follow strict industry standards, including the FSSC 22000 food-production certification. Products are made to stock, as a rule against predictable three-month customer commitments, so deliveries have to land on the exact day.

Outgrowing separate tools

In its early years, Opes Corporation planned production with Excel and a separate, in-house-coded warehouse application. The setup served at first, but it handled only warehouse management and had no connection to financial administration. Data accumulated in several places. As the company professionalized its operations and grew into the tightly regulated environment of food production, it wanted a single unified whole with all of its data, from the warehouse to finances, in one view. The trigger was an acute need to connect the ERP and the finance system so that warehouse management could be tied to raw-material purchasing.

The right solution, ready to go

When Opes Corporation renewed its ERP, its Visma partner recommended SkyPlanner for production planning as the more user-friendly option. The first demos confirmed the view: SkyPlanner met the need as it was, and user-friendliness was the clearest advantage in the choice. From the company’s perspective, the most significant alternative would have been replacing the entire ERP, which would have required far more configuration without a ready solution to match the need. SkyPlanner was integrated into the company’s Visma Nova ERP.

Taking SkyPlanner into use was easy. The rollout proceeded in phases, and time was set aside so the staff who would use the system could learn and test their work safely in a test environment. Both parties took an active part in the work and were strongly committed to seeing the project through.

Clear reporting, flexible scheduling

In daily use, the most important part of SkyPlanner is production reporting. Production workers log the quantities produced and the raw materials consumed. Any waste is recorded with clear reason codes. The view is simple enough to learn quickly and easy to teach onward. The Visma Nova integration keeps the data in one place.

SkyPlanner’s AI-powered production planning gives a clear picture of capacity and of production as a whole. When product-development runs or urgent small orders come in, the system updates the production plan automatically and shows their effect on delivery times. The team sees at once when jobs will finish and how the schedule adapts to changes. The clear view also helps new production planners find their footing and get productive quickly.

The planners have got up to speed well. Nobody needs hand-holding for weeks on end; they can make the plans themselves.

Dan Berglund · COO/CFO, Opes Corporation

Deliveries on time, data in hand

Opes Corporation’s delivery reliability has been 100% for the entire time SkyPlanner has been in use, since 2021. That is a strong result in tightly regulated production. It rests on the make-to-stock model and the customers’ predictable delivery commitments. SkyPlanner backs it up: capacity and the work queue are clearly visible, so the timing of jobs stays in hand even when urgent orders land in between. When changes are needed, they get made faster than before.

Clear reporting has improved the accuracy of production records and made traceability easier. Plans are transparent and the knowledge stays in the system, so nobody has to work out afterwards how a plan was made. Production control stays stable and consistent.

SkyPlanner gives us visibility into capacity and makes planning predictable.

Dan Berglund · COO/CFO, Opes Corporation

Reported results

• Delivery reliability: 100% since 2021
• Production reporting is clear and simple
• New production planners get up to speed fast
• AI-powered capacity view brings flexibility and predictability

Ready to expand

Opes Corporation is expanding into new industries through private label solutions. Clear reporting, fast onboarding, and visibility into capacity keep production in hand as the business grows. Reliable, easy-to-use production planning gives this development a stable base, and Dan Berglund has recommended SkyPlanner to other companies as well.