Profiles in Supply Chain Enablement: Appliance manufacturer upgrades its enterprise systems and sees revenues double as business expands
Company: Focus Products Group LLC (Vernon Hills, IL)
Company Size: Midsize
Company Sector: Distribution/Wholesale
Area(s) of Enablement: Order/Demand Capture, Sourcing, Procurement, Fulfillment/Logistics, Payment, Product Lifecycle Management, Supply Chain Integration & Infrastructure, Decision Support
Enabler: TECSYS Inc. (Montreal)
Case Study: In July 2003, Focus Products Group completed the acquisition of West Bend Manufacturing Company. Located in West Bend, Wisc., this manufacturing company was one of the founding businesses of the community.
At the time of the acquisition, West Bend was running on J.D. Edwards manufacturing software, but they had only completed the implementation of three modules. The system was held together with a variety of manual processes, all of which limited West Bend's ability to truly service their customers.
TECSYS signed an agreement with Focus Products Group in July 2003 to implement its EliteSeries Order Management, Inventory/Warehouse Management and Transportation Management software to provide a single, integrated solution.
Increasing Accuracy
TECSYS worked with key Focus Products and West Bend staff to complete the implementation, and West Bend went Live on EliteSeries software on January 1, 2004, capping a six-month project.
As a result of the combination of distribution functionality and technology, Focus Products has seen revenue rise in excess of 100 percent since the go live and have been able to expand into additional retailers, fully meeting the electronic data interchange (EDI) requirements placed upon them. During the last physical inventory taken, the total inventory discrepancy was less than $5,000.
The next step for the West Bend team is a move to a new building to further increase their operational efficiency. As part of this move, TECSYS will be working with them to complete the implementation of advanced warehouse features, along with an upgrade to the latest release of TECSYS EliteSeries software.
Improving Performance
The overall budget for this project was mid-six figures, and as a result of the increase in business, operational efficiencies and inventory accuracy, Focus' management expected full return on investment within two years from the go-live date.
As a result of this project, TECSYS and Focus Product have built a lasting partnership, and Focus continues to implement EliteSeries in all additional acquisitions it has made going forward. TECSYS continues to work with Focus to ensure that EliteSeries continues to meet the operational requirements placed upon it by the major retailers.
In summary, Eric Lockwood, vice president of operations with West Bend, said of the project: "In the past three years, our company has installed the TECSYS EliteSeries Supply Chain Management software for six of the businesses that we own and operate. The DMS, WMS and TMS applications have allowed Focus to improve our shipment performance, our inventory control, our item costing and our EDI demands. In short, without a fully integrated product like EliteSeries, we could not survive in today's demanding retail market."
For more stories of successful supply chain implementations, read the "2005 Supply & Demand Chain Executive 100" article in the June/July 2005 issue of the magazine. Also watch the Today's Headlines section of SDCExec.com every Tuesday and Thursday for more in depth best practices drawn from this year's Supply & Demand Chain Executive 100.
Company: Focus Products Group LLC (Vernon Hills, IL)
Company Size: Midsize
Company Sector: Distribution/Wholesale
Area(s) of Enablement: Order/Demand Capture, Sourcing, Procurement, Fulfillment/Logistics, Payment, Product Lifecycle Management, Supply Chain Integration & Infrastructure, Decision Support
Enabler: TECSYS Inc. (Montreal)
Case Study: In July 2003, Focus Products Group completed the acquisition of West Bend Manufacturing Company. Located in West Bend, Wisc., this manufacturing company was one of the founding businesses of the community.At the time of the acquisition, West Bend was running on J.D. Edwards manufacturing software, but they had only completed the implementation of three modules. The system was held together with a variety of manual processes, all of which limited West Bend's ability to truly service their customers.
TECSYS signed an agreement with Focus Products Group in July 2003 to implement its EliteSeries Order Management, Inventory/Warehouse Management and Transportation Management software to provide a single, integrated solution.
Increasing Accuracy
TECSYS worked with key Focus Products and West Bend staff to complete the implementation, and West Bend went Live on EliteSeries software on January 1, 2004, capping a six-month project.
As a result of the combination of distribution functionality and technology, Focus Products has seen revenue rise in excess of 100 percent since the go live and have been able to expand into additional retailers, fully meeting the electronic data interchange (EDI) requirements placed upon them. During the last physical inventory taken, the total inventory discrepancy was less than $5,000.
The next step for the West Bend team is a move to a new building to further increase their operational efficiency. As part of this move, TECSYS will be working with them to complete the implementation of advanced warehouse features, along with an upgrade to the latest release of TECSYS EliteSeries software.
Improving Performance
The overall budget for this project was mid-six figures, and as a result of the increase in business, operational efficiencies and inventory accuracy, Focus' management expected full return on investment within two years from the go-live date.
As a result of this project, TECSYS and Focus Product have built a lasting partnership, and Focus continues to implement EliteSeries in all additional acquisitions it has made going forward. TECSYS continues to work with Focus to ensure that EliteSeries continues to meet the operational requirements placed upon it by the major retailers.
In summary, Eric Lockwood, vice president of operations with West Bend, said of the project: "In the past three years, our company has installed the TECSYS EliteSeries Supply Chain Management software for six of the businesses that we own and operate. The DMS, WMS and TMS applications have allowed Focus to improve our shipment performance, our inventory control, our item costing and our EDI demands. In short, without a fully integrated product like EliteSeries, we could not survive in today's demanding retail market."
For more stories of successful supply chain implementations, read the "2005 Supply & Demand Chain Executive 100" article in the June/July 2005 issue of the magazine. Also watch the Today's Headlines section of SDCExec.com every Tuesday and Thursday for more in depth best practices drawn from this year's Supply & Demand Chain Executive 100.
