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Tuesday, August 25, 2015

VAI S2K Enterprise for Food Enhances Inventory Management For Dietz & Watson

VAI, an independent mid-market ERP software developer for the distribution, manufacturing, specialty retail and service sectors recently announced that Dietz & Watson, Inc. has selected its S2K Enterprise for Food software to improve inventory management and manufacturing processes, and gain deeper business insights with analytics.

Founded in 1939, Dietz & Watson is one of the largest preparers of premium deli meats and artisan cheeses, offering more than 1200 products to supermarkets and delis throughout the world. Dietz & Watson needed to eliminate manual processes associated with capturing product data from the shop floor and sought a fully integrated ERP system to provide more precise and timely information to allow them to make more prudent decisions.

As an IBM Premium Business Partner, VAI’s S2K Enterprise for Food software was selected as the best solution. As a result of the implementation, Dietz & Watson will leverage the following S2K Enterprise for Food modules: Analytics, CRM, Distribution, Financials, Mobile, Manufacturing, Portal, and WMS. Through S2K Analytics, the company will be able to provide its sales force with quick, accurate, and visually appealing data that drills down into the needed details. This includes information such as who buys on promotion vs. normal pricing, which proteins are driving sales or causing them to lag and how are they trending, how various regions performing, and the impact of advertising campaigns with newspapers, media, and television.

To read more, and learn about upcoming webinars and other events, visit the VAI Newsroom.

The Brown Smith Wallace 2015-16 Distribution and Manufacturing Software Guides are currently available for download. Please contact snelson@bswllc.com for more information about these latest editions.

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Wednesday, August 19, 2015

Vikingbad Selects Blue Ridge Cloud Supply Chain Planning & Analytics To Accelerate Growth

Norwegian bathroom equipment wholesaler Vikingbad recently announced that it has implemented Blue Ridge Cloud Supply Chain Planning and Analytics solution to accelerate growth and increase cash flow.

From 2010 to 2013, Vikingbad more than doubled its annual turnover, and in the Asia-Pacific region are among the preferred brands for total bathroom solutions. Because of their rapid growth, Vikingbad needed a solution to support their ambitious goals without the limitations of traditional supply chain software. Specifically, the company wanted a cloud-native platform with highly accurate demand planning and forecasting to effectively plan their global supply chain with precise supply plans and replenishment.

Blue Ridge was selected for its cloud-native platform with highly accurate demand planning and forecasting abilities to effectively plan global supply chain with precise supply plans and replenishment.

Vikingbad saw planning and optimizing the warehouse capacity as key to the overall performance success. “The detailed plan in Supply Chain Planning combined with Analytic’s easy-to-grasp visualization of the inbound flows, will help us gain a deeper understanding of the supply chain plan. This will allow us to prepare for peak inbound volumes and take proactive action well ahead in time,” stated Kristian Schlanbuch, Vikingbad Founder and COO.

To read more about the implementation and learn about Blue Ridge's supply chain solutions, visit the Blue Ridge Newsroom.

The Brown Smith Wallace 2015-16 Distribution and Manufacturing Software Guides are currently available for download. Please contact snelson@bswllc.com for more information about these latest editions.

Click to download the: 2015 Distribution Software Guide
Click to download the:  2015 Manufacturing Software Guide
 
To copy and paste into a browser, use the following:
 
2015 Distribution Software Guide: 
 
2015 Manufacturing Software Guide: 
 
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Wednesday, August 12, 2015

Essential Qualities For Successful Electrical Distributors

If you expect to thrive in an increasingly competitive marketplace as an electrical distributor, embracing a new generation of technology services is key.

A new Infor white paper, Survival and Growth for Electrical Distributors, states, “It wasn’t long ago that electrical distributors could rely on regional and territorial advantages as a means of maintaining a steady stream of regular customers.” Unfortunately, this is no longer a reliable advantage.

With the Internet turning smaller markets into a single, global exchange, “it’s more important than ever to not just understand your customers’ specific needs, but to also have the flexibility to adjust your business practices in order to meet those needs.

In the paper, seven promising practices are suggested to help electrical distributors survive and grow against mega-competitors like Amazon Business and Grainger.

Here are the qualities that can get you there:
1. Seize the moment: You need to be nimble enough to seize competitive opportunities when they present themselves.
2. The right tool for the job: The best way to visibly pay attention to a customer’s needs is to deeply understand their business and deliver the solutions they’re looking for.
3. Get the pricing right: Your unique inventory determines the pricing model you put forward to your customer. Your ERP has to be able to keep up.
4. Always offer more: Value-added services are a powerful differentiator for specialized distributors, empowering you to better support your customers’ active manufacturing and assembly operations.
5. Sweat the details: The right ERP solution should make it easier for you to meet complex job management requirements, even for projects that take place over a longer period of time or in several locations.
6. Operate on all channels: Omni-channel sales and fulfillment is the new price of entry for any electrical distribution business. Without mobile and social at the center of your ERP, you start out at a disadvantage.
7. Boost that SKU count: Industrial Supply Magazine reports that distributors with high SKU counts are “growing at a minimum of twice the GDP of 2.5%, whereas distributors with smaller content show only slight growth.” Whether your inventory grows organically or suddenly spikes because of a merger of acquisition, you need an ERP system that can carry the load.

To read more of the article, investigate Infor case-studies, and download white papers, visit the Infor blog.

The Brown Smith Wallace 2015-16 Distribution and Manufacturing Software Guides are currently available for download. Please contact snelson@bswllc.com for more information about these latest editions.

Click to download the: 2015 Distribution Software Guide
Click to download the:  2015 Manufacturing Software Guide
 
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Wednesday, August 5, 2015

McLendon Hardware Increases Effectiveness With Epicor's Eagle N Series

McLendon Hardware has been serving the Seattle metro area with hardware, garden supplies, and lumber since 1926. Today, McLendon has seven retail locations, two distributions centers, and 550 employees.

An Epicor customer for almost 20 years, the business is run entirely using the suite of Epicor Eagle business management solutions. When considering the Eagle N series, McLendon was facing the following challenges:
• Using data more effectively to drive decisions
• Empowering employees with the data they need

Adopting the Epicor Eagle N Series made good business sense as it would allow key stakeholders and employees access to business critical information and analytics - and encourage greater business insights and faster and more effective decisions.

As a result of deploying Eagle N Series, McLendon experienced the following benefits:
• Improved decision timeliness and effectiveness with enhanced real-time analytics
• Increased customer service by using system functionality
• Instant access to Help, Chat, online training, and Community forums

“The Eagle solution is at the core of our business. It has helped reduce our inventory by almost 25 percent just by using automated replenishment. We’ve increased our in-stock percentage and ultimately, we serve our customers better. Eagle N Series software is a solid continuation of that journey” said Nathaniel Polky, information technology manager for McLendon Hardware.

Epicor Software Corporation delivers business software solutions to the manufacturing, distribution, retail, and service industries. With more than 40 years of experience, Epicor has more than 20,000 customers in over 150 countries. To read more about the McLendon implementation as well as other Epicor customer news, visit the Customer Success News blog.

The Brown Smith Wallace 2015-16 Distribution and Manufacturing Software Guides are currently available for download. Please contact snelson@bswllc.com for more information about these latest editions.

Click to download the: 2015 Distribution Software Guide
Click to download the:  2015 Manufacturing Software Guide
 
To copy and paste into a browser, use the following:
 
2015 Distribution Software Guide: 
 
2015 Manufacturing Software Guide: 
 
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