J-Tec’s Infor implementation delivered on time and within budget

“You become a team along the way.”

At the kick-off, J-Tec Material Handling displayed an image of a Formula 1 team on the presentation screen. One team, one task. Bas van Haaren, who led the J-Tec project on our behalf, responded: “Great picture. But it will take the entire project for us to become that team.”

Fifteen months later, Infor CloudSuite went live at J-Tec. On the planned date and within the agreed budget. This is the story of how that team came together.

J-Tec Material Handling designs and builds automated installations for handling powders, granules and liquids, primarily for customers in the chemical and food industries. From its base in Kapellen, Belgium, the company serves customers around the world. J-Tec has been part of Katoen Natie since 1999.

Navision and Excel

Every J-Tec project starts with engineering and ends with a fully operational installation. What an engineer puts on a drawing must be purchased and built accordingly. J-Tec’s existing Navision ERP environment continued to support its day-to-day operations well, but further modernisation proved difficult.

In addition, certain process and project data was managed using specialised Excel solutions across different departments. Although this approach had also worked well for many years, there was a growing need for centralised data storage, standardisation and the reuse of information across projects. J-Tec therefore needed a future-proof ERP platform capable of supporting technological innovation, business growth and process integration.

Pieter Jordens, Digital Transformation Manager at J-Tec, gives an example: “You order a component from a supplier. On the next project, you have to enter all the data again, find the same documents and attach them all over again. We wanted to move towards one central database where that information is retrieved automatically.”

Choosing Infor

J-Tec initially considered Microsoft and Oracle, two platforms already familiar within Katoen Natie. However, neither was a strong fit for the way J-Tec manages and delivers projects internationally, so the search continued.

“In the end, it came down to Infor and one other supplier,” Pieter explains. “Our preference was Infor. That was because of its strong project functionality, the business case and the confidence we had in the Antaras implementation team.”

“If the software itself is not the differentiating factor, you can achieve your objective with different solutions,” explains Sebes Zevenhuizen, Director at Antaras. “In that case, look at the implementation team. Who do you think you can work best with over the coming period?”

Jan Pijpers, our Business Development Manager, wrote the proposal for J-Tec. “In a proposal like this, I sell our solution from A to Z, not from A to X while keeping Y and Z for later, when the customer can no longer turn back. At Antaras, we want to provide clarity from the outset.”

The first few months

We started the project using Infor’s implementation methodology. First, we demonstrated how the standard processes work, then we explored how J-Tec’s processes could fit within them. It makes perfect sense on paper. In practice, there can be friction.

“Initially, we were shown a standard way of working that we felt from the very first minute wasn’t going to work for us,” Pieter Jordens explains. “On top of that, our expectations weren’t completely aligned yet.”

Sebes: “Everyone thinks an ERP implementation is an IT project. It isn’t. The business has to change. We help with that, but ultimately, the customer has to make that change themselves. If you hold on to the old way of doing things, it won’t work.”

Jan is equally open about it: “It wasn’t a motorway. J-Tec and Antaras travelled down a bumpy road together. That’s not so unusual. You first have to get to know each other properly.”

The turning point

So we sat down together to discuss expectations, roles and responsibilities, and who would take ownership of what. Once that became clear, the project started to gain momentum.

Data migration, test scripts and setting up a key-user organisation are all responsibilities that sit with the customer. At the same time, they are also activities that most companies only undertake once every few years. At Antaras, we take a different view of that.

Bas van Haaren: “As an implementation partner, you have to help the customer with the things they are responsible for themselves. That may make us a somewhat atypical implementation partner. But when the customer does their part well, you benefit from that too.”

That is exactly what the Formula 1 comparison at the kick-off was about. You become a team along the way. And that happens faster when everyone knows what is expected of them.

Solving a key challenge

At J-Tec, the value of inventory belongs to the project and the entity running that project, rather than to the location where the goods are physically stored.

For example, engineering in the United States may order materials in Antwerp and store them there temporarily. That inventory still belongs to the US entity. By default, Infor assumes that inventory financially belongs to the location where it is physically held.

Bas van Haaren: “That presented a challenge we needed to solve. We organised cross-functional sessions involving the board and management team, and there was extensive consultation with Infor. Ultimately, we automated the process so users can always easily select the correct warehouse.”

Pieter Jordens remembers those meetings well: “There were moments when I thought we weren’t going to find a solution. Then, a little later, you see that Antaras has worked everything out and that it all fits together from A to Z. That’s when you think: we’re doing a good job together.”

Another notable aspect of the project was how little customisation was ultimately required.

Sebes: “The number of customisations was surprisingly low. Every developer you let loose on an ERP system makes it more expensive to maintain and more difficult to update. That is exactly what CEOs and CFOs want to move away from.”

A controlled go-live

On 11 May 2026, Infor went live at J-Tec. Not with a bang, but according to a carefully defined plan.

“In the morning, we performed the final data migration check,” Bas explains. “The key users then entered their first orders, which we checked together. In the run-up to go-live, we worked through the processes day by day, with the key users alongside the end users and our consultants providing second-line support.”

Bas looks back positively on the final phase of the implementation. “The final six months went very well. There was a sense of calm and structure, and both sides were focused on quality. We didn’t have any truly stressful situations anymore. Of course, as go-live approached, we did feel the pressure that naturally comes with such an important milestone.”

What comes next

In November this year, Infor will be rolled out at J-Tec’s site in Spain, with J-Tec itself taking the lead.

An ERP system is never truly finished. “ERP is a verb,” says Sebes. “Organisations change, so the application has to evolve with them.”

J-Tec is already experiencing that. Pieter: “Colleagues are already asking me what the next step is and what else we can improve. That mindset is there, and that’s a good thing.”

Pieter is clear about the collaboration: “Of course, there were things that didn’t go right immediately, and that sometimes led to frustration. But Antaras was always understanding, listened to us and worked with us to find solutions whenever necessary. They have a great deal of expertise and are very flexible. That helped us enormously throughout this project.”

For J-Tec, the transformation to Infor was never purely a technology project. The objective was to create a scalable digital foundation: one that supports further international growth, makes knowledge and data easier to reuse, and strengthens collaboration between engineering, project management, purchasing, logistics and finance.

Our implementation of Infor CloudSuite was an important building block in the continued digitalisation of the J-Tec organisation.