German Manufacturer Möhling Chooses iTernity iCAS

Möhling GmbH & Co. KG, a manufacturer of connection elements for key components of products, e.g. vehicles, electronics, sports equipment, cshoose iTernity iCAS and ELOprofessional from ELO Digital Office GmbH.

The company was searching for an audit-proof digital archiving solution to comply with data governance policies and to accelerate the digitization of its business processes.

Möhling strives for paperless processes and compliance with legal and internal policies without changing its existing IT infrastructure. The challenge was the integration of the archive into the hardware infrastructure and an interaction with the Document Management System (DMS).

Marc Eicker, head of IT, Möhling, said: “Without secure storage, we would not be able to digitize many of our processes. Therefore, we use iCAS not only to store data in an audit-proof way and to meet compliance requirements. The software-defined archiving solution also helps us digitize and streamline our processes.“

Long-Term and Successful Connections
When Möhling introduced a new ERP system in the company, the question about how important data should be stored digitally and secure in the future arose. Due to the development of the medium-sized company, it needed to start implementing paperless business processes and building a secure foundation for digitization.

“The Möhling company group has been manufacturing high-quality connection elements for over 175 years. For example, we produce elements for the automotive industry,” says Marc Eicker, Möhling’s head of IT. “In this case, there is no room for discussion. The elements must work. For product liability reasons, the documentation of the production must be stored without interruption or errors.“

Thus, the company motto Möhling establishes long-term successful connections is applied in the production and also in the configuration of the IT infrastructure. The ERP system, the DMS, the long-term archive, and the hardware infrastructure should work together to ensure long-term, audit-proof, and legally compliant storage of important data.

Möhling was supported by IT System House when it was searching for a suitable WORM archive solution. After analyzing Möhling’s existing infrastructure and its requirements for long-term archive, IT System House recommended iTernity iCAS. iCAS fits into Möhling’s hardware and applications infrastructure and could fulfill all requirements.

iCAS as Foundation for Digitization
Möhling deploys iCAS to fulfill compliance requirements and to store important data in an audit-proof way. Especially in areas requiring documentation, in which product liability plays a major role, important data like customer’s drawings, CAD data, and data exchange with customers must be archived. These data, which come from the DMS ELOprofessional, are archived in iCAS’ unchangeable and secure containers. The containers are then stored on Möhling’s storage hardware.

“iCAS also ensures data integrity and long-term security for commercial and business-relevant data. “We redesign our processes with iCAS so that paper is no longer necessary. For example, we have digitized the entire accounting system with ELO and iCAS,” explains Eicker.

The document management system ELO has long been a priority solution at Möhling. However, the solution can only reach its full digital potential when it is combined with the software-defined iCAS solution.

“Without secure storage, we would not be able to digitize many of our processes at all,” argues Eicker. “Therefore, we use iCAS not only to store data in an audit-proof way and to meet compliance requirements. The software-defined archiving solution also helps us digitize and streamline our processes.“

Integration into the Existing IT Infrastructure
Eicker was glad that the implementation of the long-term archive went quickly and smoothly: “The implementation was carried out by our IT System House and was successfully completed in one afternoon. Since then, iCAS runs solidly in the background and secures the data“.

Möhling’s overall solution consists of various components: two mirrored data centers with Huawei hardware, VMware, DataCore, the ERP system Abas, and the DMS ELOprofessional. As middleware, iCAS links the applications with the storage infrastructure and guarantees data integrity and availability over long periods of time – regardless of the storage technology used.

For Möhling, iCAS impresses with its advantages: “I was simply thrilled that we didn’t have to worry about integrating iCAS into our infrastructure. iCAS system offers us the greatest possible flexibility for future development. iCAS also works as desired. The iCAS platform is there and running. We have so few points of contact with it. Our administration effort is limited to the motto ‘implement and forget,” said Eicker.

Potential for Optimization and Expansion
Möhling’s IT is well equipped for the future. The digitization of the company is a continuous process and constantly creates new archiving projects.

“There are still many processes that we want to optimize because there are still paper circulations at some points,” explains Eicker. “For example, production documents with comments or further personnel files are next to be archived digitally and audit-proof with iCAS.“

As a final note, he with the image of archiving as a dusty filing system: “In my opinion, digital archiving is a very productive activity as it can streamline and digitize many processes. With iCAS, Möhling has managed to connect corporate processes with IT and to digitize them step by step – just like its motto, Möhling creates long-term successful connections.“