How does a global quantum technology company manage 20+ integrations across ERP, CRM and PLM without multiplying tools or manual effort? Bluefors centralized on Frends, cutting process times by 10x and eliminating hours of weekly manual data handling.
As Bluefors grows globally, integration has become increasingly important for keeping systems and processes aligned.
Since selecting Frends five years ago, Bluefors has expanded its architecture to include more than 20 active integration processes with multiple workflows. The team has also added new system layers, including its Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) system, and reduced manual steps in several workflows.
As IT Applications Manager Erik Holm puts it:
“So far there hasn't been any challenge that Frends hasn't been able to tackle. It’s like Frends is some kind of multi-purpose tool — you will always find something that works.”
Enabling growth in a complex, evolving IT landscape
Bluefors develops cooling solutions used in quantum technology, fundamental physics research and select industrial applications. In a fast-evolving market, the company continues to expand its product portfolio, global footprint and internal systems landscape.
“We are both developing always new processes and refining existing ones,” he says.
Integration is not a one-time project. It is continuous.
Starting from 2021, Bluefors has been centralizing ERP, CRM and data warehouse integrations onto Frends. Since then, the integration footprint has roughly doubled. Some start as MVP implementations and are later refined, reflecting the company’s agile approach to scaling.
All integrations are built on a single centralized platform, supported by Frends’ enterprise capabilities.
Reducing manual work
A concrete example of measurable business impact came with the introduction of a new PLM system.
Previously, transferring technical data and documentation from PLM to ERP required significant manual effort:
- Saving files
- Uploading documents
- Filling in metadata manually
Each item required almost half an hour from its users.
“Now, they click a button and it basically goes through,” says Holm.
He describes this as one of the more noticeable improvements for users: “There we are saving many, many hours per week.” Outcomes are now achieved 10x faster than before.
While not every process benefit is easy to quantify, this example demonstrates how integration directly removes friction from engineering workflows, enabling specialists to focus on value-adding work instead of repetitive data handling.
“How humans can focus more of their time on the things that humans are good at.”
Erik Holm, IT Applications Manager, Bluefors
Cleaner processes, cleaner interface
Beyond time savings, Bluefors highlights usability as an important part of day-to-day work with Frends.
“The Frends interface is very clear and crisp. It makes things much more clear.”
For Bluefors — a growing organization where IT specialists collaborate across domains — this clarity matters.
Holm highlights two core benefits:
- Built-in documentation through visual process mapping
- Clear troubleshooting visibility
“When a process fails, you can see exactly where and what you, and that makes everything much more clear.”
This helps speed up issue resolution and support collaboration across IT roles, without heavy custom code or separate documentation efforts.
“The way the Frends platform documents the processes is very powerful.”
Erik Holm, IT Applications Manager, Bluefors
A repeatable approach to building integrations
Bluefors operates with a hybrid architecture: on-premise systems, cloud applications, legacy environments and modern platforms.
Rather than introducing multiple integration tools, Bluefors standardized on Frends as the backbone. Holm describes the model as a consistent way of building integrations, combining the in-house team with support from Frends specialists.
Internal IT defines requirements and business logic. Frends specialists support implementation and capacity balancing. This structure can help keep delivery timelines more consistent and support collaboration as needs change.
“We can quite well estimate when something will be done and released.”
Supporting data sovereignty and compliance
As Bluefors expands globally, data governance and legislative requirements have become increasingly important.
“The location of the data is important, where it is stored and how you can fulfil customer requirements,” says Holm.
Frends’ European presence and architecture support Bluefors’ data storage and access requirements, particularly in regulated and customer-sensitive environments.
Lessons learned: Process first, integration second
One of Holm’s strongest recommendations for fast-growing companies is to define process ownership and requirements clearly before building integrations.
Integration projects fail not because of technical limitations, but because business processes are unclear.
When processes are clearly defined, both IT and business benefit:
“A process that is more defined, it's both easier to implement in an IT solution, but it's also better for the people working with it,” he explains.
A platform that scales with complexity
Bluefors’ IT landscape continues to evolve with consolidations, new subsidiaries, new applications and potential AI-driven use cases. Yet the integration foundation remains stable.
For a global manufacturing company working with advanced technology, flexibility is important.
With 20+ integration processes and growing, Frends continues to support Bluefors in scaling its integrations while maintaining clarity, control and efficiency.