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Wednesday, January 25, 2017

Zeller Corporation Uses Phocas For Smarter Decision Making

Zeller Corporation provides engineering solutions to global customers. Zeller’s legacy system was sufficient, but had flaws: a report generation process that, although complex, processed all data in the same way and delivered two dimensional and time-delayed outputs.

Zeller’s IT Manager Janet Martinez says, “Phocas changed the game. Once we saw its capabilities and competitive pricing structure, we knew that Phocas offered the functionality, flexibility and business insight we were looking for. Critically, the depth of business intelligence was matched by simplicity of use.” 

Training needs were minimal. Zeller employees were able to operate the system from the moment it went live. “Our CEO has been using it since day one,” says Martinez. “It allows him to slice and dice the numbers in ways that are meaningful to our business, and gives a multi-faceted overview of what’s happening internally, and how we are meeting our customers’ needs.” 

Before Phocas, Martinez was the only member of the Zeller team able to query the business data, forcing her to produce 13 reports every month. This represented a major time investment and delivered static, snapshot, data with no analytical capabilities. Today, 20 members of the Zeller team, including branch managers, sales staff and senior management, access the company’s data in real time, with the ability to drill down and transform it into information that helps to drive productivity and profitability. 

Ongoing support from the Phocas team is uncovering new potential for Zeller. “Phocas is already proving itself a priceless business asset, but the more we use it, the more ways we find to use it,” adds Martinez. “With sales and forecasting now in place, we are looking to add open orders and inventory data so we can bring the same level of visibility to these areas. We are also looking to open it up to more users, bringing the power of real time information to our sales teams on the road. Whatever we need, the Phocas team makes it happen. The sky’s the limit.”

To read more and learn about how Phocas can help your business, visit the Case Studies section of the Phocas website.

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Developed through a partnership with Industrial Distribution, Industrial Supply, Contractor Supply Magazine and Brown Smith Wallace Advisory Services, these 12 page Supplement Guides provide valuable, independently researched information. Each Guide details software company information, identifies vertical markets, highlights functions and technology features, new developments to the software package, shows graphs of the user range, basic entry price point, sales channel (how and where the software is sold), along with company contact information. The Supplement Guides provide everything you need to know when beginning your software selection and evaluation process.

Visit our website to learn more about the Brown Smith Wallace Advisory Services and to use our Software Features Comparison Wizard.
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Wednesday, January 18, 2017

Epec Engineered Technologies Streamlines Manufacturing With NetSuite

Epec Engineered Technologies is a New Bedford, Massachusetts based designer and manufacturer of custom products for the electronics industry. With over 100 employees Epec was struggling with their on-premise solution and was experiencing difficulty integrating several manufacturing locations in Asia and getting real-time data on order status and production location.

Epec chose NetSuite Manufacturing Edition as the system that could be best customized to meet its unique workflows and business processes for its production of custom-built electronics products while still supplying end-to-end design and manufacturing capabilities including bills of materials inquiries and MRP for greater control over production.

NetSuite scaled with Epec as the company expanded its base of 5,000 customers around the world, including GE, Honeywell, Philips, Raytheon and Northrop Grumman; and allowed it to easily onboard 10 acquired companies while supporting anywhere, anytime work for new personnel.

In addition, Epec has extended NetSuite usage to four contract manufacturers in China, with third-party personnel updating work-in-progress information daily for visibility by headquarters. Two dozen other Asian manufacturers receive work orders through the system and communicate status back via email.

To read more NetSuite case studies and learn more about NetSuite Manufacturing Edition, visit the NetSuite NewsRoom.

New Software Research Guides Available
Finding that you cannot keep up with all the changes in the latest software?
Want to know how the software's features and functions can assist you?
Please contact snelson@bswllc.com for more information about these latest editions.

Developed through a partnership with Industrial Distribution, Industrial Supply, Contractor Supply Magazine and Brown Smith Wallace Advisory Services, these 12 page Supplement Guides provide valuable, independently researched information. Each Guide details software company information, identifies vertical markets, highlights functions and technology features, new developments to the software package, shows graphs of the user range, basic entry price point, sales channel (how and where the software is sold), along with company contact information. The Supplement Guides provide everything you need to know when beginning your software selection and evaluation process.

Visit our website to learn more about the Brown Smith Wallace Advisory Services and to use our Software Features Comparison Wizard.
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Wednesday, January 11, 2017

Plasan Leaps Ahead With QAD Cloud ERP

When Plasan Carbon Composites, a manufacturer of carbon fiber automotive components, was about to start a new company with two major Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) customers (General Motors and Chrysler), they realized they were in need of an ERP system that would not only meet their current needs, but also those of a growing and expanding business. They also had to move quickly, but effectively to be successful.

QAD Cloud ERP rose to the top of their Cloud ERP list. “QAD is a major power in the automotive sector and their Cloud ERP is a well established product,” commented Phillip Austin, Plasan’s QAD Systems Manager.

In addition to implementing their new ERP system, there was a critical deadline to satisfy both GM and Chrysler contracts. “We needed to be up and running quickly, so we focused on tracking production, financials, purchasing, and order entry,” noted Austin. “It was invaluable to be able to begin with an ERP implementation that required very little customization. The entire process took less than three months.”

Plasan enjoyed many benefits of their Cloud ERP system as it has proved to be stable, responsive and with excellent uptime. “If we used on premise ERP we would need to double, triple, even quadruple our ERP team to support our 24/7 operations, plus invest in hardware. Thanks to QAD Cloud ERP that we don’t even have to think about that.”

To read more about QAD Cloud ERP and view additional customer success stories and case studies, visit the QAD Newsroom.

New Software Research Guides Available
Finding that you cannot keep up with all the changes in the latest software?
Want to know how the software's features and functions can assist you?
Please contact snelson@bswllc.com for more information about these latest editions.

Developed through a partnership with Industrial Distribution, Industrial Supply, Contractor Supply Magazine and Brown Smith Wallace Advisory Services, these 12 page Supplement Guides provide valuable, independently researched information. Each Guide details software company information, identifies vertical markets, highlights functions and technology features, new developments to the software package, shows graphs of the user range, basic entry price point, sales channel (how and where the software is sold), along with company contact information. The Supplement Guides provide everything you need to know when beginning your software selection and evaluation process.

Visit our website to learn more about the Brown Smith Wallace Advisory Services and to use our Software Features Comparison Wizard.
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Wednesday, January 4, 2017

Martin Bros. Increases Service and Reduces Inventory with Blue Ridge

Martin Bros. is a full-line distributor with more than 11,000 SKUs, including food products, large equipment, small wares, medical supplies, and janitorial and cleaning supplies. Headquarters in Cedar Falls, Iowa, the company employs more than 500 people who serve the Midwest United States.

Revenue first surpassed $100 million in the early 2000's and has more than tripled a decade later. This growth could not happen without a world-class inventory team. From the perspective of Jennifer Meinders, Purchasing Director, her team of replenishment buyers is key to providing the company’s legendary customer service. However, in order to support this rapid growth, Meinders knew she needed a replenishment system to enhance produce purchasing, school bids, events, minimize dumps, and increase cash flow.

Since implementing Blue Ridge, they now consistently achieve firstpass order fill rates of 99.6 percent before item substitutions. This was accomplished while reducing overstock by 25 percent. “Blue Ridge listens to our industry and they have been delivering breakthrough solutions at a rapid pace. Very few software companies combine a state-of-the-art application with very proactive guidance that pushes us to excel. They never let us rest on ‘good enough’ and we have the type of team that turns that into results. Our results in inventory and service speak for themselves."

To learn more about Blue Ridge and read additional customer success stories, visit the Blue Ridge Newsroom.

New Software Research Guides Available
Finding that you cannot keep up with all the changes in the latest software?
Want to know how the software's features and functions can assist you?
Please contact snelson@bswllc.com for more information about these latest editions.

Developed through a partnership with Industrial Distribution, Industrial Supply, Contractor Supply Magazine and Brown Smith Wallace Advisory Services, these 12 page Supplement Guides provide valuable, independently researched information. Each Guide details software company information, identifies vertical markets, highlights functions and technology features, new developments to the software package, shows graphs of the user range, basic entry price point, sales channel (how and where the software is sold), along with company contact information. The Supplement Guides provide everything you need to know when beginning your software selection and evaluation process.

Visit our website to learn more about the Brown Smith Wallace Advisory Services and to use our Software Features Comparison Wizard.
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