Tell us about and how the organization is growing and scaling globally before we get into the technology and decisions you made.
Marieve: Sure, I’ll start by explaining our current business model and where we’re going. It’s important to know that we’re not franchisees, we don’t replicate the same company in seven different countries, we’re really a fully integrated global organization. So, for example, we can win a project in California with a major medical client, and we can go get the expertise of an engineer in Poland, with the competencies of our logistics and procurement team from Canada and implement the solution and assist the client from our team in Mexico. This is how we can be financially successful because we can get the capacity and energy of all our teammates across the world. You can imagine how complex this model can be in the background on the finance side, but this is also how we will continue to succeed and evolve in the future,. The test industry is highly decentralized with small players in each country doing local market service. We want to be the first global player to assist global clients. We’re already fast growing with 10% organic growth every year and intend to double in size within 5 years with many acquisitions in the US and Europe. This is why we need a strong ERP to support this growth.
How have you been able to adapt your business model for the pandemic?
Marieve: I can say we have been extremely lucky. I know that was not the case for most businesses. We are not focused on only one industry, so some industries like medical grew, and had urgent and important needs which we could jump on and support, while automotive was completely shut down for a few months and is still slow to pick up. It paid off that we diversified the industries we serve and the way we are structured internally to be flexible in which resources we pick without being limited by country.
What are the main industry challenges Thinkmax has seen created by the pandemic?
Patrik: Resources are a key challenge right now. What we are seeing in the market is that the pandemic created this complexity around people. Combine that with the supply chain, you have a recipe for challenges. Focusing on the people, companies want to do more with what they have, start thinking about automating processes, how to eliminate repetitive tasks that have no value. The second challenge is the supply chain, having visibility on overseas shipments, inbound, and raw materials, how do we drive that? And last but not least is the cost. Costs are increasing, how much can you manage the costs? How much can you absorb and how much can you transfer to the market? A lot of our clients have pre-determined agreements with their end users or clients.