MITS Helps BJG Electronics’ Sales Exceed Business Goals

New York-based BJG Electronics (BJG) specializes in the distribution of mil-aero, industrial, and harsh environment connectors, connector accessories, and electromechanical interconnect products. BJG has supported the Military, Aerospace, Transit, and Industrial marketplaces since 1979.


BJG had big reporting needs that could not be met by the company’s one-person IT shop said Lisa Hathaway, Manager of Information Systems for BJG. Lisa discovered MITS at a trade show and loved what she saw in MITS Distributor Analytics. “I was thrilled to see that MITS included hundreds of built-in, functional reports right out of the box,” said Lisa. “This meant that time to value was practically instant for us.” Before making a purchase decision, Lisa evaluated a couple of other products, neither of which offered pre-built reports and the same depth of functionality as MITS.


All Field Sales reps use MITS to track their performance against individual, sales team and company goals said Mark Mulle, Global Sales and Marketing Manager for BJG. “If we expect our sales reps to be accountable for their sales and other goals, we had to give them the tools to be successful,” said Mark. “The dashboards and scorecards that came with MITS helped us jumpstart adoption. With very little training, my team was able to drill into their accounts to identify opportunities for growth. They can analyze accounts down to the part number and quickly identify why and where business has been lost. With this information in hand, the reps can have a directed conversation with the customer. All of the data they need to be successful is now at their fingertips through MITS.”




To learn more, visit the MITS 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 sjay@bswllc.com for more information about these latest editions.


For 2018 Distribution Software Guide: http://www.software4distributors.com/downloads/2018_Distribution_Software_Guide.pdf?utm_source=DownloadElectronic&utm_medium=Blog&utm_campaign=2018DSG


For 2018 Manufacturing Software Guide:
http://www.software4distributors.com/downloads/2018_Manufacturing_Software_Guide.pdf?utm_source=DownloadElectronic&utm_medium=Blog&utm_campaign=2018MFG


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


Also, read our 2017 Mid-Year Supplements
http://www.software4distributors.com/downloads/2017_Mid_Year_Supplement.pdf?utm_source=DownloadPDF&utm_medium=Blog&utm_campaign=2017Supp&gt


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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New Epicor Eagle Designed to Help Drive Sales, Customer Satisfaction

Epicor, a provider of industry-specific enterprise software to promote business growth, recently introduced a new version of its Epicor Eagle for the Automotive Aftermarket. The software features dozens of additional business-building capabilities and other enhancements designed to drive sales growth and increased operational efficiency for distributors and jobbers of automotive and commercial vehicle replacement parts.

New features available through the latest Eagle software cover virtually every functional area within a vehicle parts enterprise, from purchasing and inventory management to accounting and point of sale (POS) operations.

Among the leading new capabilities are Europay, MasterCard, and Visa (EMV) “smart card” functionality for Eagle software users who rely on the Epicor Payment Exchange or First Data credit card processing solutions. Smart card technology is quickly becoming the predominant choice of U.S.-based banks. According to MasterCard, more than two-thirds of MasterCard-branded credit cards issued in the U.S. now feature embedded computer chips, an increase of 51 percent since October 1, 2015.

Also featured in the software is a time saving new centralized workflow for Physical Inventory processes, with all tasks now consolidated into the Physical Inventory Posting (PIP) application.

A new Vendor Report Card feature enables users to quickly move relevant data into the Epicor Compass analytics application for a complete vendor performance analysis. This new capability is designed to help Eagle for the Automotive Aftermarket software users negotiate the best possible terms and promote better service.

Additional features and related enhancements include integration with Microsoft Dynamics GP accounting software, increased launch speed of Eagle N Series applications, several new Dynamic Promotions options, the ability to issue Automated Clearing House (ACH) payments to vendors, and a cloud-based, live Eagle Online Help feature that offers the correct help files based on the user’s system configuration.

To learn more, visit the Epicor 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.

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.

Belden Brick Utilizes Infor LN For Data Visibility

Founded in 1885, the Belden Brick Company manufactures approximately 225 million bricks annually for residential and commercial use. Belden operates seven plants in Ohio and the mid-Atlantic and Northeast regions of the US. It also operates 160 wells producing natural gas used in the brick manufacturing process. When Belden acquired Redland Brick Company, the company chose to implement the open-platform Infor LN on Microsoft® Windows® and SQL Server®. In just over a year, the implementation was completed at Redland, and at the Belden operations six months later.

The implementation provided an opportunity to simplify the master data across the combined Belden and Redland businesses and achieve a common standard—something that Infor’s migration toolkit could manage easily. Since implementation, the company has seen important benefits in the system’s user interface alone. The filtering functionality of Infor LN is also key. Users such as production managers and salespeople can create their own filters for each screen, so they can focus on the data that is important to them. If they want to focus on a certain size, color, or shape of brick, they can do that as they look down through their inventory. Production managers also appreciate having only one transaction screen for analyzing the quantity of scrap produced on a production run and why it occurred.

The company has also implemented the Service module of Infor LN as an internal tool to manage the maintenance of the company’s trucks, bulldozers, service vehicles, kilns, and other assets. They also plan to use the system’s functionality to monitor what its gas wells are producing, and then manage the payment of royalties to those from whom Belden has acquired mineral rights.

To read more about the Belden implementation, and learn more about the products and services Infor provides to industrial manufacturers, visit the Infor 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.

  

Victory Packaging Selects IBS WMS

International Business Systems (IBS), an integrated ERP, WMS, and supply chain technology provider for mid-market companies challenged by the complexities of managing distribution, recently announced that Victory Packaging has selected the IBS Dynaman warehouse management software to enhance efficiencies in the organization's 65+ warehouse and distribution centers.

The Houston-based, $2.4-billion company provides just-in-time delivery and inventory management to a diverse customer base. Its national network includes more than 6-million sq. ft. of warehouse space and 400 delivery vehicles. The company counts the U.S. Postal Service and Mayflower Transit among its customers. The volume of orders shipped by the company for all its customers is about 11,000 pieces per hour.

Victory Packaging will be deploying IBS Dynaman to support its move into the lucrative 3PL (third-party logistics) market space. With the Victory Packaging agreement, IBS now has 80 U.S. sites under contract to use IBS Dynaman.

To learn more about the IBS Dynaman implementation at Victory Packaging, as well as additional product information, visit the IBS Newsroom.

The Brown Smith Wallace 2014-15 Distribution and Manufacturing Software Guides are currently available for download. Please contact snelson@bswllc.com for more information about these latest editions.

2014-15 Distribution Software Guide: 

http://track.websiteceo.com/r/160948/www.software4distributors.com/downloads/2014_Distribution_Software_Guide_From_Blog.pdf

 

2014-15 Manufacturing Software Guide: 

http://track.websiteceo.com/r/160948/www.software4distributors.com/downloads/2014_Manufacturing_Software_Guide_From_Blog.pdf

 

Additional materials: 

http://www.software4distributors.com/vendor/resources_index.aspx

 

Infor 10.0 Incorporates Social Capabilities To Core ERP

Infor announced Infor Distribution SX.e version 10.0, enabling social, mobile and analytics capabilities to the core enterprise resource planning (ERP) solution. The latest version builds upon the Infor 10x strategy to incorporate broader support for Infor ION, the purpose-built middleware and Infor Ming.le™, a comprehensive social collaboration platform. The release provides deep distribution functionality and substantial enhancements to user experience, business intelligence enablement, and connectivity to best in class solutions, says the company. New features, according to the company:

• Simple yet Powerful User Experience - Infor SX.e v10.0 features a consumer grade user experience. The Global Search capability has a familiar feel that allows the user to search the entire application to enable employees to work faster and smarter. Super grid technology offers an easier way to view results by allowing changes on the fly such as dynamic grouping, exporting, applying filters, drill down visibility and creating favorite views.
• Deep Distribution Functionality - Distributors typically operate on very tight margins. Infor SX.e v10.0 includes many enhancements to help distributors make better, faster decisions that can improve their profitability.  Some of these enhancements include automating freight allocation to enable freight cost recovery, better tracking and managing of non-returnable, non-cancellable items and tools to compare estimated versus actual labor costs for value-added services.
• Investment in Analytics - Infor SX.e v10.0 enables extensive transactional data to be written into the ION Business Vault, providing users with a single, optimized repository. This benefits users by allowing them to more easily mine data for flexible, powerful reporting, business intelligence and analytics. 
• Best in Class Integrations - The Infor SX.e v10.0 release provides a certified integration through ION to Lawson Financials, a robust and powerful application that helps manage complex financial requirements. This solution joins a growing list of ION certified integrations including Infor Supply Chain Execution (SCE), Inforce, Infor CRM Business, Storeroom, and Infor Road Warrior.  
• Broad Social Experience - Social business involves more than just connecting people. With the addition of Infor Ming.le, the solution is now able to unite transactions, products and other entities within one easy to use social network that captures and retains the information shared across the enterprise. This places a network of people, applications, workflows, alerts and data at the hands of Infor SX.e v10.0 users.  

For more information, please visit www.infor.com.