Discover how a 10-person IT team at Ljungström, an Arvos Group company, prepared for global rollout by integrating six ERPs into one central warehouse in just 21 mandays, powered by Frends.
Industry: Machinery Distribution & Support
Operations: 100 years with global operations across 15 sites
Employees: 1,000 - 5,000 employees
Customer since: 2024
Use case: ERP Migration / Enterprise Automation
Ljunström's, an Arvos Group company, and its advanced thermal solutions have been reducing industrial energy waste dramatically for 100 years with global operations spanning 15 sites.
By recapturing and recycling heat from exhaust systems, they help companies lower their energy consumption and reduce environmental impact. Despite the innovation driven by their mechanical systems, their digital backbone lacked a similar transformation.
With operations spread across five countries, several ERP systems, and over 1,200 global systems to manage, their 10-person IT team faced a monumental challenge: how to streamline reporting, accelerate data access, and support innovation without scaling resources unsustainably.
The starting point: A new era of IT leadership
When Cengiz Altun joined Ljungström seven years ago as CIO, he entered a global enterprise marked by fragmentation. There was a lack of centralized visibility due to more than 1,200 systems spanning ERP, HR, and teams across locations in U.S, Japan, Germany, China, India, Check Republic, and Poland.
“Everything was isolated—multiple ERP systems, data silos, and an unclear integration strategy,” Cengiz recalls. “I knew right away we had to move towards automation, transparency, and most of all, security.”
From day one, Cengiz led an initiative to invest in automation and a security-first infrastructure. The IT team became a key business enabler rather than a reactive cost center.
Today, that same 10-person team efficiently oversees all the company’s global systems, proving that smart integration, not just headcount, drives agility.
“We manage 1,200 systems globally with just 10 people. That’s our pride — but to keep up, we had to automate smartly.” — Cengiz Altun, CIO Ljungström (Arvos Group company)
From ERP silos to a unified data warehouse
The turning point came with the decision to centralize their scattered ERP data. Ljungström ran six different ERP systems across its business units. The task of aligning them into one central, harmonized data layer seemed monumental.
But Frends iPaaS made it possible in just 21 person-days.
Using Frends’ low-code, BPMN-based interface, the team successfully completed the connection of all six ERPs to a unified data warehouse. The approach was simple yet powerful: drag-and-drop orchestration, deep transparency, and reusability that scaled across workflows and business logic.
“The magic was in how intuitive it was,” says Cengiz. “You don’t need to be a developer to build robust integrations. You can just see it all: processes, exceptions, success rates, right there.”
By keeping existing systems in place and wrapping them with a layer of smart automation, Ljungström avoided disruptive rip-and-replace scenarios. Instead, they added value where it mattered most—data availability, traceability, and control.
“We didn’t need to replatform. We just needed the right partner to bring automation, speed, and security to our core systems. That was Frends.” — Cengiz Altun
The results: From bottlenecks to breakthroughs
The expected impact is transformative, and early feedback from the technical phase indicates strong efficiency gains once the solution is live.
Internal reporting processes, previously manual and delayed, are now technically automated and ready for go-live, expected to significantly boost reliability and speed post-training.
Teams that were once bogged down by repetitive reporting tasks now had time to focus on strategic work.
The finance department, previously overwhelmed with operational tasks, could finally dedicate time to strategic initiatives — even driving product innovation in carbon capture and offshore wind technologies.
“The difference is incredible. Teams that once postponed projects now have time for innovation. We’ve not only gained efficiency... we’ve gained creativity.” — Cengiz Altun
Frends also helped maintain lean operations. No staff reductions were needed. Instead, team motivation and ownership increased.
Integration became a business enabler, not just an IT task.
Why Frends, and not the industry giants
Ljungström didn’t choose Frends by accident.
In fact, Cengiz evaluated larger players and integration suites, but quickly found they came with drawbacks.
“Other vendors felt too distant. It was hard to get through layers of sales before reaching someone technical. That just doesn’t work for us,” he explains.
In contrast, Frends presented not just a powerful iPaaS, but a team that felt embedded.
“It was important for me to know who’s behind the platform. Not just the technology, but the people I can trust. With Frends, we had direct access to experts, fast answers, and a sense that they cared.”
That confidence translated into a fast start and long-term alignment. For Cengiz and his team, it wasn’t just a new platform, it was a new way of collaborating around automation.
Looking ahead: ERP, ESG, and AI readiness
With six ERPs successfully integrated and automated workflows ready for operation, Ljungström is already planning for its next leap: embedding AI across business processes.
Their roadmap includes voice-activated reporting for leadership, using AI to query business data on demand, and embedding intelligent agents into operational workflows.
“We’re ready for AI because of Frends. Our data is unified, secure, and actionable. That opens the door to a new generation of business agility.” — Cengiz Altun
The company is also expanding integration coverage to more legacy systems and incorporating their ESG platform into the central warehouse, providing even greater visibility into compliance and sustainability performance.
The broader goal is to enable data-driven decisions across the board—HR, finance, sustainability, logistics—with minimal human intervention.
“Automation lets us move from firefighting to future planning. With Frends, we’re not just integrating. We’re evolving.” — Cengiz Altun
Key takeaway
Ljungström, an Arvos Group company, is proof that with the right platform, and the right people behind it, complex global integration doesn’t have to be slow or painful.
With just 10 people and a bold vision, they achieved what many would consider impossible.
Frends turned their integration challenges into an operational advantage: fast, scalable, and secure.
- 27 processes automated across 6 ERPs in just 21 MWDs
- Unified data warehouse powering real-time reporting and analytics
- IT team of just 10 managing over 1,200 systems globally
- Freed up strategic capacity across finance and business teams
- AI-readiness now a reality, not a vision