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.

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

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

Millcraft Finds Success With Hitachi Solutions Ecommerce

The Millcraft Paper Company is an independently-owned business serving the professional paper, packaging and graphic art industries. Millcraft currently has sales and distribution centers in 14 cities, covering seven states and Canada and processes more than 8,000 stocked items in more than 500,000 square feet of warehouse space, resulting in $15 million in inventory annually.

Millcraft’s previous ecommerce software simply could not keep up with the changing needs of the growing business, and the interests of the customer base. As a result, Millcraft sought an ecommerce platform powerful enough to process thousands of items, while providing scalability for changing business processes and flexibility to meet continuously evolving customer needs.

With Ecommerce for Microsoft Dynamics, Millcraft was able to create a polished, user-friendly ecommerce platform for its customers. By incorporating customer feedback into the design of MyMillcraft, the web store front became a top choice for placing paper orders online.

With Hitachi Solutions, Millcraft is able to achieve:

•Quick Order Entry
•Custom Search Functionality
•Integration with Microsoft Dynamics AX

In addition to providing a rich customer portal and web ordering platform, Ecommerce for Microsoft Dynamic’s integration with Microsoft Dynamics AX ensures that everything is running smoothly on the back end as well. Inventory information is updated real time via an automated flow of information between Microsoft Dynamics AX and Ecommerce for Microsoft Dynamics. This ensures that accurate pricing and availability is displayed on MyMillcraft, and orders are fulfilled more quickly.

To read more, and learn about the services provided by Hitachi Solutions, visit their Customer Profiles page.

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.

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

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

Black River Produce Increases Productivity With VAI S2K

Black River Produce is a food service distributor located in North Springfield, Vermont. It has delivered fresh and frozen provisions from local farms and regional markets to buyers throughout Vermont, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and New York for more than 30 years. Employing more than 180 people, the company’s revenue exceeded $78 million in 2015.

In 2011, the company found that its existing technology was limiting its ability to scale and grow: The existing enterprise resource planning (ERP) application had been heavily customized and, as a result, had not been upgraded in some time. Reporting within the existing application was difficult and time consuming, and offered only limited visibility into business operations because of challenges with integration of data from the warehouse and other areas. Black River needed a system that would provide greater end-to-end visibility into the business from the warehouse to orders and deliveries, and could support its growth needs.

Deployment of VAI S2K initiated a business transformation that supported Black River’s mission of increased efficiency, full accountability of all departments, and a support plan for continued growth.

Key benefits of the implementation have included: 

• Increased productivity. The implementation of voice picking and other automation increased productivity and efficiency in the warehouse.
• Visibility across the business for accounting, buyers, and sales reduced the time spent searching for information for decision making.
• Reduced inventory shrinkage. The implementation of a voice picking system and accessibility of real-time business analytics resulted in reduced shrinkage.
• Decreased errors. Greater visibility and automation resulted in fewer customer credits issued because of delivery errors and incomplete deliveries.
• Increased visibility. With greater visibility into business operations across the board, managers can now implement and track the impact of their decisions while having a better handle on employee and team performance.

To read more about the Black River Produce implementation, and learn more about the products and services offered through VAI, visit their website's 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.

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

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

Millar, Inc. Improves Productivity and Visibility with ECi's M1

As a leading provider of neurological and cardiac catheters to the clinical and research segments of the healthcare market, the Millar, Inc. not only has to meet a heavy burden of government regulations but also faces the hard reality that anything less than perfection in production could become a source of major problems for someone further down the line.

The good news, though, is that since the company switched to ECi's M1 ERP system in March of 2013, they’ve been more than able to meet those challenges and more besides. The healthcare market is growing and Millar has been experiencing growth. In 2013, headcount at the company stood at about 105; today, it’s close to 140 and growing.

Prior to converting to M1, on-time delivery rates at the company hovered around the low 90s. Today, they’re touching 99%. In addition, most of Millar’s manufacturing is built to stock rather than custom product and the superior visibility M1 provides has allowed the company to keep inventory levels lean while keeping on-time delivery rates high. With M1, the company has a level of confidence about its inventory that it just didn’t have before converting.

As an FDA-regulated business, Millar has very large regulatory demands in terms of the visibility of our product throughout the entire production chain. The company lot-tracks raw materials and components and serial-tracks finished goods for its entire product line. Since switching to M1, production managers can now pull up at any point in the production process a lot number or serial number and see the complete history of that item which not only allows them to maintain traceability on products but it also means the FDA can be provided with information quickly and easily.

Close to three years after Millar went live with M1, the company's enthusiasm for the program is as strong as it was on the go-live day. To read more, and learn how ECi's M1 ERP system can improve your business' productiveity and visibility, visit the ECi 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.

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

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

Emma & Tom’s Increases Revenue With NetSuite

Emma & Tom’s, an Australian producer of healthy drinks and snacks, has replaced its previous MYOB system and implemented the JCurve "all-in-one cloud ERP" edition of NetSuite to manage its mission critical business operations across its entire distribution supply chain, financials, financial reporting, customer relationship management (CRM), sales and marketing, order management and warehouse and inventory management. Since going live on NetSuite, Emma and Tom’s has achieved 30 percent revenue growth year-over-year and has been able to gain the scalability needed to manage its fast growing business, which today has 40 distribution vans delivering to more than 3,000 café and retail customers around Australia.

NetSuite is delivering the following features and benefits to Emma and Tom’s:
◾Track sales and inventory in real-time, minimizing delays and ensuring customers receive the freshest products available.
◾Expand product range without increasing operational complexity. Emma & Tom’s has experienced year-on-year revenue growth of 30 percent since 2013—a strong result that has given the company the ability to dedicate more resources to plan the company’s national and global expansion.
◾Multiple warehouse management. NetSuite allows the business to seamlessly track not just its fleet of mobile distribution vans, but also consolidate and monitor inventory levels across multiple warehouse locations across Australia.
◾Real-time financial reporting speeds up the financial close.
◾Built-in business intelligence that provides real-time insights into key business performance indicators for a unified view of the organization and delivers a single version of truth.
◾A flexible and agile platform. The NetSuite platform enables Emma and Tom’s to customize their requirements by easily capturing data from new resources like vans and warehouses as and when these are added to the distribution network.

To read more, and learn about the JCurve edition of NetSuite, visit their 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.

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

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

Rapid Growth Drives Reliable Parts to Upgrade to Iptor

When Reliable Parts of Tukwila, Washington acquired Appliance Parts Depot (APD) of Dallas, Texas in July of 2015, the first major expansion of a new era had begun. As a distributor of appliance and BBQ parts and accessories, Reliable Parts had been operating 30 locations and 3 distribution centers in the U.S., along with 30 locations and 4 distribution centers in Canada. The APD acquisition pushed their number of total U.S. locations to 45, and the new owners were now faced with merging their acquired ERP system into the legacy system Reliable Parts had been using to anchor their business since 1999.

In order to ensure smooth integration of future acquisitions and manage the growing transaction volume that would undoubtedly come with continued expansion, it was time for a major system refresh. After reviewing several products, Reliable elected to upgrade their existing Iptor system to the latest version, partly because the new release proved superior, but also because the overall cost of the upgrade would be considerably less.

The onboarding process was projected to take about nine months. Key tasks during this phase included converting APD’s customer and historical data to the Iptor platform, merging the websites to share information and training APD’s personnel on Reliable’s existing version of the system. Reliable added two key modules to their system, these included PlannerView, a powerful, adaptable, PC- based, graphical planning and information management tool that provides real- time supply chain visibility, and Integrator, a powerful tool to manage systems integration and data management, replication and synchronization. The move to include these modules immediately shortened Reliable’s overall learning curve once the new system was launched.

Says Lowell Millard, Reliable's CTO, “Iptor represents a tremendous upside for us, as we move into new territories. The scalability of the solution is exactly what we need long-term, and the ability to use the system out-of-the-box, without paying programmers to reinvent our solution, gives us excellent flexibility in pursuing new business.”

To learn more, visit the Iptor 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.

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

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

Pittman Supply, Inc. Sees Growth With Epicor Eclipse

Pittman Supply is a leading supplier of plumbing products to wholesalers, retailers, and contractors throughout the Dallas, Texas area. With two locations and an onsite showroom, the company offers everything from pipe, fittings, tubs, showers, sinks, and toilets to custom, in-house design services. Focused on a future that includes more branches and employees, the company’s owner and president, Scott Pittman, needed a solution that would support operations ranging from purchasing and accounting to warehousing, order processing, and shipping.

Because it was designed specifically to expand product lines and grow business in today’s global economy, the Epicor Eclipse enterprise resource planning (ERP) solution was an ideal fit for the company’s needs—with add-ons such as the Solar graphical user interface for ease-of-use, multi-tasking, and signature capturing.

Another Eclipse benefit is the ability to answer inquiries quickly and accurately. This includes instantly coordinating between both locations to identify the requested item and arrange for delivery or pick-up, while the customer still on the phone. The system’s signature capture feature has also added additional layers of efficiency by eliminating “questions about who signed for what product and when.” Nearly everyone at Pittman can now instantaneously access the date and time of the delivery as well as the signature itself. Positioned for ongoing growth Pittman believes the Epicor Eclipse system will help the company “triple business over the next 10 years.”

Read more on Epicor's News and Success Stories.

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.