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Vallen Poised for Business Expansion and Captures New Revenue Stream in the Cloud with Infor

Asia Pacific’s leading provider of indirect industrial supplies taps Infor solution to launch e-commerce business and boost customer satisfaction

SINGAPORE – Media OutReach – 4 August 2021  Infor, the industry cloud company, today announced that Vallen has rolled out Infor CloudSuite Distribution Enterprise solution across four countries and 15 locations in Asia to better manage the complexities of owning and managing inventory.  In the process it has reduced TCO by 30% while achieving increased visibility, agility and innovation across the company, as well as creating an additional revenue stream with the launch of its e-commerce business.  Key to the company’s digital strategy is a nimble and highly-scalable platform afforded by Infor’s multi-tenant SaaS solution to support growth spurts and increase customer intimacy.  The company is expecting to grow at a CAGR of 25% over the next five years.

 Andrew Bennett, CEO of Vallen Asia


Learn more about Infor CloudSuite Distribution Enterprise: https://www.infor.com/en-sg/products/cloudsuite-distribution-enterprise

 

Vallen operates in a differentiated market with a robust demand for the outsourcing of the supply chain for indirect materials, the success of which is underpinned by an innovative technology-driven model.  In order to maintain a high level of operational excellence and deliver on its customer promise, whilst ensuring flawless execution, the company has been working with Infor as its strategic technology partner over the years to carve out a digital roadmap that supports business growth, change management, customer value-creation and overall customer satisfaction.

 

A responsive business model to capture market opportunity for Vallen

 

“Five years ago, Vallen went through a huge growth spike. It took us years to digest it. We missed a tremendous market opportunity because our platform, systems and capabilities were not robust enough to scale quickly and support the demand for our solutions and services,” said Andrew Bennett, CEO, Vallen – Asia. “With Infor CloudSuite Distribution Enterprise, we will be better poised to capitalize on those market opportunities in a way that doesn’t require us to stop.  The business is able to scale quickly and effectively as it’s not resource-intensive, and we’re already seeing the results.  We run bespoke integrated supply customer programs for our customers, and we are now more robust and efficient in our service delivery because of the Infor technology and platform. The first couple of programs that have launched witnessed seamless customer onboarding and enhanced automation. Ultimately, we want to achieve scalable growth with Infor’s partnership and innovation. This will be a true measure of success for us.”

 

Vallen’s digital strategy for growth

 

Vallen started its journey with Infor being an on-premise customer.  “On-premise we were heavily modified and supported out of our Australian business,” says Bennett.  This was not ideal as the nature of the Asia Pacific business is very different from Australia’s. “We weren’t in control of our own destiny in terms of having the system work the way we wanted it to support our business. We also had to deal with the whole cycle of upgrades, which became just too hard with the customization and cost prohibitions, so upgrades got delayed and never happened.”

 

“Single-tenant was only a stepping stone to get us to multi-tenant because at the end of the day, we wanted a performance asset that will help us drive the business, that aligns to our business goals of having the right platform to achieve what we want in the market with our customers,” Bennett shared.

 

Why Infor?


Bennett said that they had selected Infor for the upgrade because of the continuity it enabled. “Our team are familiar and comfortable with Infor M3, so change management was less. Secondly, we understood and agree with the vision that Infor had put forward with CloudSuite, which isn’t just ERP but an all-encompassing solution – business analytics, e-Commerce, and now we’re also evaluating warehouse management (Infor WMS) capabilities as well. It’s an ecosystem that we could invest in and build up on as we scale the business. This aligns with our company growth plans.”

 

The third reason was the extensibility feature that Infor offered.  Vallen had targeted to go for a vanilla version of ERP. On the multi-tenant cloud, it is able to take advantage of auto-updates to the latest versions.  A pre-condition for leveraging Infor’s extensibility platform is to be as vanilla as possible and the organization has chosen to change a few business processes by doing so, but Bennett notes, “It’s a good time for us to do it. It’s a good foundational thing to do.”

 

Business outcomes and e-Commerce new revenue stream

 

Apart from enabling scalable growth, the pivot from using an in-house shared service centre in the early days to a fully SaaS model today has enabled a TCO savings of 30% for Vallen.  Dedicated IT support cost is kept to a minimum with a lean IT team of only two to three to support the company across Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand and China.  “In the SaaS model, we really rely on Infor to provide us that support in a multi-tenant environment  optimized for AWS for ERP and all those connected solutions – this ensures we’re deriving full value from the Infor applications purpose-built for our business.  That leaves us to focus on our core competency.”

 

Productivity has increased with the ability to automate and streamline much more of the business using BI that is closely integrated with the Infor CloudSuite Distribution Enterprise solution.  “Whether it be our finance team for month-end reporting, or different financial reports that took many hours to create for different stakeholders – these can all be automated through workflows now and help us digitize paper processes and be more efficient — be they customer orders, quotations or purchase order approvals,” says Bennett.

 

Harnessing SaaS technology to create an additional revenue stream in the new e-Commerce platform is a big plus and aligns with the strategic intent of Vallen’s digital plan for growth.  The company’s integrated e-Commerce platform allows seamless management and ease of overall configuration for the onboarding of new customers and managing new business opportunities, without having to deal with the complexities of other third-party applications.  “It allows us to be “always on” and to be highly-responsive to scaling business needs and customer wants,” says Bennett.

 

Going forward, Vallen will assess how to derive further value from its digital investments and augmenting its value proposition to customers, whether it be on the e-Commerce front or digital portals for customers, or integration with third-party systems such as vending machines, made possible by the openness of Infor’s digital platform. 

 

“Infor is proud to be a strategic business partner for Vallen all these years.  We are excited to continue supporting them in their digital agenda and leadership as they grow and transform their business,” said Fabio Tiviti, senior vice president & general manager, Infor ASEAN & India.  “We are confident that we can help drive innovation for our customers with our Infor CloudSuite solutions that are purpose-built for specific industries and finely-tuned in the cloud.”

Media Contact:

Phyllis Tan

Infor Asia Pacific

phyllis.tan@infor.com

+65 9799 9133

About Vallen

Vallen is a leading provider of Integrated Supply Chain Solutions and MRO Industrial Distribution across Asia. Vallen is dedicated to designing, building, and operating ‘best in class’ solutions to optimise the ‘Total Cost of Ownership’ (TCO) for the Indirect Material Supply (IDM) Chain. Vallen, with locations in Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand and China is part of the Sonepar Group, one of the world’s leading international service companies. Vallen has the capability to leverage the global strength of the Sonepar Group providing international reach to its local clients. Vallen offers an extensive range of industrial MRO product offerings and digital business tools to meet industry demands and continues to expand and adapt to changes in the market, reinforcing Vallen’s position as the market leader. www.vallen.asia

Vallen is part of the Sonepar Group

Sonepar is an independent family-owned company with global market leadership in B-to-B distribution of electrical products, solutions and related services. Through a dense network of 100 brands spanning 40 countries, the Group has an ambitious transformation agenda to become the first global B-to-B electrical distributor to provide a fully digitalized and synchronized omnichannel experience to all customers. Drawing on the skill and passion of its 45,000 associates, Sonepar had sales of €23 billion in 2020. Sonepar makes its customers’ lives easier, over the counter, visiting customers, by phone or online, – however we’re needed. Sonepar’s ambition is to become “La Référence” – the standard-setter for all its stakeholders. www.sonepar.com

About Infor

Infor is a global leader in business cloud software specialized by industry. Providing mission-critical enterprise applications to 67,000 customers in more than 175 countries, Infor software is designed to deliver more value and less risk, with more sustainable operational advantages. We empower our 17,000 employees to leverage their deep industry expertise and use data-driven insights to create, learn and adapt quickly to solve emerging business and industry challenges. Infor is committed to providing our customers with modern tools to transform their business and accelerate their own path to innovation. To learn more, please visit www.infor.com.

#Infor

Japan Provides Emergency Aid to Help Laos Tackle Covid-19

Japanese MOFA pledges more assistance to Laos

The Government of Japan decided at its cabinet meeting on 3 August to provide
emergency grant aid worth approximately USD 710,000 to Laos.

Condominium “The Seasons Residence” in Manila, Philippines, Receives the Highest Award in the Philippines and Five Stars in the Asia Pacific Region in “International Property Awards” Recognizing Excellent Real Estate Projects

-Product planning ability cultivated in domestic condominium business and solid construction design highly evaluated-

TOKYO, JAPAN – Media OutReach – 4 August 2021 – Nomura Real Estate Development Co., Ltd. (Head office: Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo, President and Representative Director: Daisaku Matsuo; hereinafter “the Company”) announced that The Seasons Residence, a condominium in Manila, Philippines, promoted jointly by the Company, Isetan Mitsukoshi Holdings Ltd. (hereinafter “Isetan Mitsukoshi HDS”) and major Filipino real estate company Federal Land Incorporated, received the highest award for the Philippines, the five-star recognition, making it a candidate to compete against other countries in the Asia Pacific region under the Residential High-Rise Development category of the International Property Awards which recognizes excellent real estate projects across the world. This was the first time for the Company to receive such award.

 

(Upper left) Perspective drawing of overall appearance, (Upper right) Logo of ASIA PACIFIC PROPERTY AWARD 2021-2022 FIVE STAR, (Lower left) Amenity space of “Japan Concept” evoking the four seasons of Japan, (Lower middle) Vibration damper (image)

 

The Seasons Residence is a residential building in a large-scale, mixed-use development in Bonifacio Global, the second largest financial district in Metro Manila. It consists of four condominium towers with commercial facilities on the lower floors and is the first mixed-use development based on a joint partnership between Japanese real estate developers and the retail company in the Philippines. It received the five-star award for being the first residential project to have a unique Japanese concept – from the building design of Nikken Sekkei Ltd to the various building features such as the vibration dampers installed in each tower, tested to withstand earthquakes, typhoons and other natural disasters.

 

■ About International Property Awards

The International Property Awards is one of the greatest and most prestigious awards recognizing excellent residential and commercial real estate projects in the world. It focuses on design, quality, service, innovation, originality and sustainability, and projects leading the industry are recognized by the evaluation committee consisting of more than 80 industry experts. It selects the recipient of the highest award in nine regions namely the Africa, Asia Pacific, Arabia, Canada, Caribbean, Central & South America, Europe, UK and USA as well as the world’s highest award in the International Property Award for more than 45 targeted fields.

 

■ Overview of The Seasons Residence

Address

8th Avenue, 1630, Bonifacio Global City, Taguig City, Metro Manila

Lot area

Approx. 15,000 m2

Total floor area

Residential section: approx. 120,000 m2 (total of 4 buildings);

Commercial section: approx. 28,000 m2

Size

4 buildings

(3 underground floors + 54 aboveground floors for tallest building)

*Residential section: 3rd aboveground floor to 54th aboveground floor for tallest building

*Commercial section: 1st underground floor to 3rd aboveground floor

Total no. of housing units

Approx. 1,400

Schedule

Entire project scheduled for completion in 2027

■ About the Overseas Business of Nomura Real Estate Group

The Nomura Real Estate Group(hereinafter “the Group”) has positioned its overseas business as a growth field in its Mid to Long-term Business Plan and plans to invest approximately 300 billion yen in its overseas business by the fiscal year ending March 2028. In addition, the Group has set a policy to expand the ratio of profit earned from its overseas business to 15%–20% of total profit by then. Since its entry into overseas business, the Group increased the number of participating projects under the business system of providing added value to local partner companies and consumers in each country as its largest strength by utilizing the quality and various knowledge on project process management, etc. it has cultivated through residential and office developments in its domestic businesses until now.

In addition, in recent years, the Group has proceeded with the establishment of overseas local bases and the promotion and training of local personnel in countries into which it has expanded in order to strengthen business functions that enable deep involvement in a wide range of business phases such as planning, promotion and sales based on local characteristics instead of simply making net investments or partly joining projects. The Group continues to aim for business expansion and participation in new businesses in countries into which it has already expanded such as Thailand, Vietnam, Philippines and China as well as sustainable growth of
overseas business through such initiatives.

 

Laos Reaches Over 7,000 Total Cases of Covid-19

Covid-19 Update Vientiane

Laos has confirmed 290 new cases of Covid-19 today, bringing the total number of cases to 7,305.

Enjoying Innovative Vitamins That Taste Better: YOUVIT Gummies Launch in Hong Kong, Pledges Donation to Po Leung Kuk Children

HONG KONG SAR – Media OutReach – 4 August 2021 – YOUVIT, an innovative multivitamin company founded by a Dutch team with carefully selected ingredients sourced from Australia and Singapore, launched its 7-Day Adults Multivitamin and Kids Multivitamin Gummies in Hong Kong last month.

 

95% of Adults in Hong Kong Lack Daily Recommended Nutrients

The Centre for Health Protection revealed that more than 95% of adults in Hong Kong do not meet the recommended amount of fruit and vegetables every day – a troubling statistic given its significant benefits for immunity support amidst the various COVID variants threatening the city.

 

Delicious Taste

Formulated in the U.S., YOUVIT has the complete set of 10 vitamins and 2 minerals (vitamins B complex, C, D, E, and zinc) to boost immunity and fight viruses – with its delicious taste of mixed berries, orange, pineapple, and strawberries setting it apart from other products and perfect for those who find it difficult to take and remember to have vitamins in tablet or pill forms.

 

Wrapped Individually for Hygiene & Convenience  

YOUVIT’s one-a-day gummies are wrapped individually and easy to bring on the go – making sure customers will not forget to have their daily vitamins no matter how busy their day is!

 

Giving Back to the Community in Hong Kong

In response to the successful launch in Hong Kong, YOUVIT has pledged to donate multivitamin gummies to underserved communities. YOUVIT CEO Wouter Van Der Kolk said of the program, “it is important that everyone stays healthy and builds immunity against the virus and its variants, especially those who are most vulnerable.”  

Available at Watsons Hong Kong

YOUVIT is now available online and in 126 Watsons stores across Hong Kong.

About YOUVIT

In 2017, YOUVIT embarked on a journey to revolutionize the Asian consumer health industry by making premium vitamin supplements affordable and accessible to everyone. YOUVIT’s first products, the Adults and Kids Multivitamin Gummies, took the market by storm and in line with a paradigm shift in consumer behavior, YOUVIT’s energetic brand shifts the concept of vitamins from a traditional medicinal supplement into a trendy lifestyle product.

Website: www.youvit.com.hk

Instagram: @youvit_hk

Start your YOUVIT journey and Enjoy Vitamins That Taste Better.

#YOUVIT #Multivitamins #OneGummyEveryday

Authorities Announce Outbreak of Covid-19 in Bokeo

Bokeo requests assistance from central taskforce
Lao-China Friendship Street in the Golden Triangle Special Economic Zone in Bokeo Province, Laos,

Authorities in Bokeo have admitted that a new outbreak of Covid-19 has emerged in the province, particularly in the Golden Triangle Special Economic Zone (SEZ) in Ton Pheung District, according to Bokeo Newspaper.

‘AGON by AOC’: a New Gaming Brand Strategy to Inspire Gamers at Every Level

SINGAPORE – Media OutReach – 4 August 2021 – The world’s leading gaming monitor brand, AOC is launching ‘AGON by AOC’ as the latest step of its global brand strategy to benefit gamers with an enhanced portfolio and more monitor choices. This global brand enhancement encapsulates an inclusive range of gaming ecosystems that welcomes players at all levels of ability, as they hone their skills and aspire to be their very best.

This latest development in AOC’s brand strategy is a natural evolution, based on the recognition by analyst house IDC that AOC is now the world’s leading provider of gaming monitors by market share. In 2020, IDC announced that distinguished result for a second consecutive year.* “AGON”, it should be noted, is the ancient Greek word for intense competition and so defines a brand of gaming monitors designed to face all challenges in the pursuit of victory.

 

“Today, we can announce”, explained Kevin Wu, General Manager of MMD Singapore, “that at AOC we have listened to our customers, and ‘AGON by AOC’ will offer so much more than simply great gaming monitors. We are already offering peripherals and ergonomic enhancements that deliver a mix of accuracy, efficiency and comfort. In this way we are building ecosystems for a variety of talents and gaming communities, as we extend portfolios and offer greater choice for levels of competition that are attracting huge numbers of new fans every day. ‘AGON by AOC’ is our response to the realization that gaming is evolving at a very fast rate. It’s an exciting time for all of us”. 

Adventure is waiting

As AOC builds its gaming eco-systems with this launch, the hierarchy is now clear to see, with ‘AGON’, AGON PRO’ and ‘AOC Gaming’ sub-brands sitting under the ‘AGON by AOC’ brand, and each differentiated by its unique blend of features, designs and target users. No longer targeted simply at an exclusive audience of esports aficionados and professionals, ‘AGON by AOC’ equally reaches out to the more ambitious gaming enthusiasts, as well as the more casual, hobbyist type of gamer, and offers real value in monitors and accessories at any skill level. Harnessing the inherent quality common to all AGON offerings, the ‘AGON by AOC’ gaming lines appeal to audiences with a competitive spirit just waiting to be unleashed within the freedom to compete and grow on an individual basis. Even newcomers can now enter the learning circle of competitive gaming as a vital part of the AGON community, a growing universe of aspiration embodied by the AGON League.

 

Winning recognition: gaming community demands ‘AGON by AOC’

Saluted by both the gaming community as a whole, as well as by hardware reviewers, ‘AGON by AOC’ monitors continue to stand out for their superb ergonomics, winning features, and use of high-quality materials. Nevertheless, as part of AOC’s strategy for constant improvement and growth, the ‘AGON by AOC’ brand is poised for further evolution.

 

*For the second year in a row, AOC was named by IDC as 2020 global market share leader in gaming monitors. See IDC Quarterly Gaming Tracker, 2020Q4.

 

Find out more about AOC at www.aoc.com

 

Vientiane Police Arrest Scammers Posing as Assistance Organization

Scammer arrested on fraud charges after posing as NGO

Police in Vientiane Capital have arrested three people on fraud charges after they took money from hundreds of people under the guise of an assistance scheme.