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.

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Lasko Manages Mother Nature’s Unpredictability With QAD’s Enterprise Edition

Lasko Products, Inc., a family-owned business based in West Chester, PA has been manufacturing and distributing electric fans and ceramic heaters for over 100 years. Due to the unpredictability of the seasons, Lasko depends on their high-quality inventory management system to keep their customers cool — and warm, during the right time of the year.

One of the biggest challenges Lasko faces is the unreliability of the seasons and how that can affect inventory. This means it’s imperative they have an inventory management system in place. Lasko sells to all the major, big-box retailers and these retailers are very price-sensitive. Lasko has to differentiate themselves from their competitors with changes in style and functionality, all while keeping the price low and never sacrificing on quality. Another reason for careful planning, scheduling and a strong inventory management system.

Lasko has been a QAD customer for almost 20 years and took advantage of the long-standing relationship to upgrade to QAD’s Enterprise Edition (EE). The EE upgrade provided enhanced inventory management, financial and reporting capabilities — all of which improved Lasko’s planning and scheduling capabilities.

With the help of QAD's consultants, Lasko was able to upgrade to EE with no down time and immediately experienced great benefits including:
• The elimination of at least 50 percent of the previous customizations
• Robust general ledger reporting capabilities
• Multiple databases consolidated into one master database
• Twenty years of data have been cleansed and realigned
• Finance has better capabilities and report generation has improved in ease of creation, content, accuracy and timing.

To read more, and learn about QAD's Enterprise Edition (EE), as well as other products and services, 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.

Read our 2016 Mid-Year Supplements.

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.

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

Decor Transforms Data Into Valuable Information with QAD BI

Headquartered in the Melbourne, Australia area, Decor is an award-winning manufacturer of kitchenware, picnic-ware, garden-ware, brush-ware and baby-care products for over 55 years. The company distributes over 450 products to major retail outlets globally, the majority having earned Australian Design Awards.

Decor, while highly successful, was lacking a robust business intelligence (BI) solution necessary to support their sales strategy. Their plan was to deliver more effective sales tools to the field and raise productivity while reducing costs. In order to accomplish this, they were going to need better ways to get accurate sales data to improve their planning analysis.

After reviewing their current ERP solution, QAD Enterprise Applications, Decor realized that enhancing the analytics with additional business intelligence capabilities would allow them to effectively implement their sales strategy. Said David Mathie, MIS Manager at Décor, “with just a few clicks using QAD BI, the percentage increase on brush-ware was on screen. It allowed us to identify the increase by brand.”

To learn more about how QAD can take your business intelligence data to the next level, visit: www.qad.com/solutions/analytics

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.

For 2016 Distribution Software Guide: http://www.software4distributors.com/vendor/2016_BSW_Distribution_Interactive_Website_Guide.pdf?utm_source=DownloadInteractive&utm_medium=Blog&utm_campaign=2016DSG

For 2016 Manufacturing Software Guide: http://www.software4distributors.com/vendor/2016_BSW_Manufacturing_Interactive_Website_Guide.pdf?utm_source=DownloadInteractive&utm_medium=Blog&utm_campaign=2016MFG

Coming Soon:

Developed through a partnership with Industrial Distribution, Industrial Supply, Contractor Supply Magazine and Brown Smith Wallace Advisory Services, our 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.

Royal Agio Gains Global Insight With QAD ERP

Royal Agio Cigars (Agio Cigars) is a leading European cigar manufacturer. The company produces more than 750 million cigars per year distributed in more than 100 countries under brands that include Mehari’s, Panter, Balmoral and De Huifkar. With headquarters in Duizel, Netherlands, the company employs more than 2,000 people and posts annual turnover of approximately 100 million euros.

For several decades, Agio has relied on custom-made software and had to make use of one-off spreadsheets to analyze their data. Recently hired CFO Tom Mens wanted to implement an integrated business solution, and the search for a manufacturing-focused solution began.

After narrowing down the field, Agio chose QAD. According to Mens, “We chose QAD because QAD was able to do the complete implementation. QAD is focused on manufacturing, which makes its applications truly lean. This makes management easier.” By implementing QAD ERP, Agio saw improved efficiencies in many areas, including elimination of extra work and fewer information silos. They were also able to get more insight and visibility into their business processes through QAD Enterprise Applications.

To read more, and learn about the benefits of QAD ERP for manufacturers, visit the QAD news blog.

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.

For 2016 Distribution Software Guide: http://www.software4distributors.com/vendor/2016_BSW_Distribution_Interactive_Website_Guide.pdf?utm_source=DownloadInteractive&utm_medium=Blog&utm_campaign=2016DSG

For 2016 Manufacturing Software Guide: http://www.software4distributors.com/vendor/2016_BSW_Manufacturing_Interactive_Website_Guide.pdf?utm_source=DownloadInteractive&utm_medium=Blog&utm_campaign=2016MFG

Coming in August 2016:

Developed through a partnership with Industrial Distribution, Industrial Supply, Contractor Supply Magazine and Brown Smith Wallace Advisory Services, our 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.

Vaillant Industrial Selects QAD's DynaSys Cloud Production Planning

DynaSys, a division of QAD Inc., and a leading provider of demand and supply chain planning solutions, recently announced that Vaillant Industrial, one of Europe's leading heating and boiler manufacturing companies, will implement the DynaSys Cloud Production Planning solution to improve its manufacturing planning process.

DynaSys provides integrated and collaborative planning solution that allows businesses to optimize their supply chains, including sales and operations planning, demand planning, and network, inventory and business resources optimizations. DynaSys software enables customers to meet their goals of better managing Demand and Supply Chain Planning, and becoming more effective enterprises.

Vaillant was founded in 1874 and is currently the second-largest company in the European heating, ventilation and air-conditioning (HVAC) industry. Its core business centers on the development and distribution of energy-saving, environmentally friendly heating systems and water heaters based on natural gas and renewable energy sources.

After investigating several demand and supply chain solutions, Vaillant chose DynaSys for the following reasons:
•A comprehensive production planning tool.
•The ability to easily incorporate DynaSys Demand Planning.
•The Cloud model was best for their business.
•A structured Easy On Boarding project methodology.

To learn more about QAD Inc. and DynaSys Cloud Production Planning, and read additional case studies and customer testimonials, 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.

Read our 2016 Mid-Year Supplements. 

Developed through a partnership with Industrial Distribution, Industrial Supply, Contractor Supply Magazine and the Brown Smith Wallace Consulting Group, 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 Consulting Group and to use our Software Features Comparison Wizard.