ARIMS
ARIMS is Bossard's cloud platform for industrial B- and C-parts supply. It consolidates stock, order and delivery data into a real-time dashboard, adds algorithmic replenishment, a mobile app and a web API, and is sold by contract.
What is ARIMS?
ARIMS is the software cockpit of Bossard's Smart Factory Logistics offer. Bossard is a Swiss fastening-technology group headquartered at Steinhauserstrasse 70 in Zug, founded in the town in 1831, listed on the SIX Swiss Exchange since 1987, and today employing around 3,300 people across 33 countries. ARIMS is the cloud platform its industrial customers use to see and steer the flow of B- and C-parts through their own plants.
Bossard describes it as a cloud-based, AI-powered inventory management software and calls it the core of its supply chain solution. The published substance behind that label is narrower than the phrase suggests: two named functions. Smart Ordering, presented as a core part of the platform, applies intelligent algorithms to optimise procurement for SmartBins, which Bossard credits with cutting express deliveries by up to 70 per cent. Separately, the platform is said to analyse Big Data to improve predictability through usage patterns and forecasting. No model, vendor or technical description is published for either.
The product factsheet splits ARIMS into three modules. ARIMS Analytics unifies data from B- and C-parts management and its add-ons into a single dashboard with graphical analyses and reports, giving an overview of locations, articles, orders and deliveries. ARIMS Interactive lets customers change their own system parameters and submit larger change requests, with a full history kept. ARIMS Mobile, free on both the App Store and Google Play, brings the same data to the production floor on Android and iOS.
Around those modules sit real-time data, round-the-clock modifications, B2B ERP integration, machine-to-machine communication and a web API for pulling stock and order data into another system. The live application runs at arims.bossard.com behind authentication.
ARIMS is not sold on its own. It presupposes a Bossard logistics service already installed on site, and the only route in is a "Contact the Experts" form. No price, plan, trial or API documentation is published, and no terms of use or privacy notice covers the platform itself in any of the site's languages.
What it does
- Consolidate B- and C-parts data from every site into one real-time dashboard
- Track orders and deliveries and monitor stock levels as they change
- Automate replenishment with Smart Ordering's algorithmic optimisation of SmartBins
- Produce graphical analyses and detailed reports on inventory and consumption
- Adjust system parameters directly and submit tracked change requests
- Consult stock and order data at the point of use through the mobile app
- Feed stock and order data into an ERP through the web API or M2M exchanges
When to use ARIMS / When not to
A quick filter to help you decide if ARIMS is the right fit.
When to use ARIMS
- Manufacturing and assembly plants already running Bossard's B- and C-parts logistics service, who want a single screen over the whole flow
- Purchasing and supply teams looking to stop planning consumable fasteners by hand and let algorithmic reordering handle SmartBin replenishment
- Multi-site industrial groups needing one consolidated view of locations, articles, orders and deliveries rather than one spreadsheet per plant
- Operations and industrial engineering teams chasing leaner intralogistics, fewer stockouts and fewer express deliveries
- IT and integration architects who need stock and order data pushed into an existing ERP through a web API and machine-to-machine exchanges
When not to use ARIMS
- Companies that are not Bossard logistics customers: the platform is the cockpit of a service contract, not a standalone product you can subscribe to
- Buyers who need to compare costs before talking to anyone, since no price, plan or trial is published anywhere on the site
- Teams looking for general-purpose warehouse or ERP inventory software, as the scope is deliberately limited to B- and C-parts
- Developers expecting public API documentation, a sandbox or a self-service portal, none of which exist
- Organisations whose procurement requires an information-security certification such as ISO 27001 or SOC 2, which Bossard does not publish for this product
How to use ARIMS
A typical end-to-end flow, from setup to results.
- Check the fit first: ARIMS is the interface to a Bossard B- and C-parts logistics service, so that service has to be in place or planned
- Download the ARIMS factsheet from the product page for the module-by-module description
- Submit the "Contact the Experts" form on the ARIMS page, the only entry point offered
- Work through scoping with Bossard, which the company frames as starting small and scaling as you grow
- Have the physical layer installed: SmartBins, points of use and the replenishment set-up the platform reports on
- Receive credentials for the web application at arims.bossard.com
- Open the dashboard and review locations, articles, orders and deliveries consolidated by ARIMS Analytics
- Tune your own system parameters through ARIMS Interactive, and file a change request for anything larger
- Install ARIMS Mobile on Android or iOS for shop-floor lookups of items and order status
- Connect the web API to your ERP so stock and order data flow into your own systems
Pros & Cons
Pros
- Three consistent first-party sources describe the same product: the web page, the parent service page and a dedicated PDF factsheet
- The platform is demonstrably in service, with a live authenticated web application and mobile apps still being updated
- A web API is offered as a product feature with a named use case, feeding stock and order data into a customer's ERP
- The publisher is a substantial, identifiable company: a SIX-listed group operating in 33 countries, not an unproven start-up
- The mobile app is free on both stores, with no separate charge advertised
- The wider service publishes measurable outcomes, including up to 60 per cent higher efficiency in production material control
- Bossard states that customers can start small and scale, rather than committing to a full rollout upfront
Cons
- No price, plan or trial is published anywhere, so the cost cannot be assessed without a sales conversation
- No terms of use and no privacy notice cover ARIMS in any of the site's published languages
- The website privacy policy explicitly limits itself to www.bossard.com and its eShop, excluding the platform
- A web API is advertised as a benefit but no public documentation, reference or developer portal exists
- Nothing is published about where ARIMS data is hosted or which subprocessors touch it
- No information-security certification is published: the site's certificates are ISO 9001, 14001, 50001 and AS 9120 held by local distribution units
- The AI-powered claim rests on "intelligent algorithms" and Big Data analysis, with no technical description to support it
Pricing & Plans
No pricing is published for ARIMS. The website carries no pricing page, no plan, no rate and no currency for the platform, and there is no permanent free plan and no free trial on offer. Access is arranged commercially through a "Contact the Experts" form, as part of a wider Bossard logistics service contract. The only free element is the ARIMS Mobile application, available at no charge on the App Store and Google Play, which nonetheless requires an active Bossard logistics system to be of any use. Prospective customers should expect a quotation rather than a published rate card.
Data, GDPR & hosting
A consolidated view of how ARIMS handles your data.
GDPR overview
The privacy policy invokes the GDPR explicitly and states that personal data is collected, processed and used in accordance with it. Legal bases are cited article by article, and the rights of access, rectification, erasure, restriction, portability and objection are set out, along with the right to complain to a supervisory authority. The controller is Bossard AG, Legal Department, Steinhauserstrasse 70, 6301 Zug, reachable at group_dataprotection@bossard.com. Transfers are said to remain within the EU as a rule, with contractual guarantees beyond the EEA. No Article 27 representative is designated, although the controller is a Swiss company, and no data processing agreement is published or offered. All of this concerns the corporate website: the policy excludes ARIMS from its own stated scope.
Who owns the data?
Bossard publishes no contract, licence or privacy notice specific to ARIMS. Its website privacy policy states its own scope explicitly: it applies to users of www.bossard.com, and it covers the eShop, the Bossard Scan App, the supplier portal and ELAM Solutions, never the ARIMS platform. The company named as controller there is Bossard AG in Zug. The General Terms and Conditions govern the sale of goods and services; software appears only once, by analogy, in a warranty clause. Clause 16 reserves copyright and other intellectual property rights arising from Bossard's supplies exclusively to Bossard. Who owns the operational data a customer generates inside ARIMS is therefore not addressed by any published document.
Reuse rights
No published document tells a customer what they may do with the data held in ARIMS, nor whether they may reuse or export it freely. Two product functions are described: Smart Ordering applies intelligent algorithms to optimise SmartBin procurement, and the platform is said to analyse Big Data to improve predictability through usage patterns and forecasting. Both operate on the customer's own inventory data, but neither is framed as a permission or a restriction. Practically, the web API is presented as the sanctioned way to retrieve stock and order data and process it further, for instance in an ERP, which implies re-use is expected. Bossard never states whether it trains models on customer data, and offers no opt-out.
Data retention & training
Hosting summary
Bossard publishes nothing about where ARIMS data is held. The platform is described as cloud-based, with no hosting country, region, provider or jurisdiction disclosed for it. Two pieces of information on the site are easy to mistake for an answer and are not one. The privacy policy states that personal data is generally processed and used only within the EU, and it names Netlify as the host of www.bossard.com, but that policy declares in its opening section that it applies to the website, not to ARIMS. Separately, the domain resolves to an anycast address in Amazon's network, which describes the delivery of the marketing site rather than the platform. Anyone with a jurisdictional requirement should treat hosting as an open question and put it to Bossard directly, along with the identity of any subprocessors, since no subprocessor list exists for the platform either.
Things to keep in mind
Risks and trade-offs to weigh before adopting ARIMS.
- Three different Bossard legal entities appear across the site and the app stores: the imprint names Bossard Group AG, the privacy policy and contact page name Bossard AG, and the listed parent is Bossard Holding AG. Check which one your contract is actually with
- No terms of use or privacy notice covers ARIMS, so the rules governing your operational data will be whatever the service contract says and nothing you can read in advance
- The ISO certificates displayed on the site belong to individual Bossard distribution units and cover quality, environment and energy management; none of them says anything about the security of this software
- The third parties named in the privacy policy serve the corporate website and the eShop, not the platform, so they are no guide to who processes your inventory data
- Headline figures such as up to 60 per cent higher efficiency describe the whole Smart Factory Logistics service, not ARIMS on its own; treat them as service outcomes, not software benchmarks
- The platform deepens your dependence on a single supplier: the more of your replenishment it automates, the harder it becomes to change logistics provider
- Automated reordering can erode the team's own feel for consumption patterns, which becomes a problem the day the forecast is wrong and nobody notices in time
Setup & Integrations
Technical difficulty
Getting started is a commercial exercise before it is a technical one: there is no self-service sign-up, and access requires a Bossard logistics service with SmartBins and points of use physically installed. Once running, day-to-day use is presented as straightforward, with an intuitive interface and self-service parameter changes through ARIMS Interactive, and Bossard invites customers to start small and scale. The real technical work sits on the customer's side: connecting the web API and the B2B ERP and M2M exchanges to existing systems, which needs IT involvement. The mobile app is a simple store install.
Deployment
Apps stores
Supported languages
Behind ARIMS
Social
Resources
All the official URLs gathered for verification and reference.
Frequently asked questions
What exactly is ARIMS?
In what sense is ARIMS AI-powered?
How much does ARIMS cost?
Is there a free trial or a free plan?
Is there a mobile app?
Does ARIMS offer an API?
Can ARIMS connect to my ERP?
Where is ARIMS data hosted?
Does ARIMS have its own terms of use or privacy policy?
What certifications apply to ARIMS?
Should you pick ARIMS?
ARIMS is a credible piece of industrial software with an unusually thin public record. What Bossard does publish is consistent: a product page, a parent service page and a two-page factsheet all describe the same platform, the same three modules and the same capabilities, and the application itself is demonstrably live, with mobile apps that are still being maintained. For a manufacturer already buying Bossard's B- and C-parts logistics service, it is the natural way to see and steer that flow, and the promise of starting small and scaling is a reasonable one from a group of this size.
The gaps matter, though, and they cluster on the same side. There is no price, no plan and no trial, so evaluation cannot begin without a sales conversation. There is a web API advertised as a benefit but no documentation for it. Most striking, no contractual document covers the platform at all: the privacy policy states in its opening lines that it applies to the website, and the general terms govern the sale of goods and services. Nothing is published about hosting, subprocessors or retention for ARIMS itself, and the certificates displayed on the site are quality and environmental standards held by local distribution companies, not security certifications for the software.
The AI-powered description should also be read carefully. It rests on algorithmic replenishment and forecasting over the customer's own usage data, which is real work but modest, and Bossard offers no technical account of it. ARIMS is best understood as the digital layer of a logistics service rather than as an AI product in its own right, and buyers should expect to obtain in contract negotiations everything the website leaves unsaid.
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