Mesa, AZ — May 27, 2003 — Microsoft Business Solutions and MaxQ Technologies Solutions continued to pick up midsize customers for their combined offerings, as Microflex Corp. and Manufacturers Equipment and Supply Co. (MESCO) signed up to use the providers' applications.
Reno, Nev.-based Microflex, a supplier of latex and synthetic gloves, will implement a combined Microsoft Business Solutions and MaxQ Technologies Solutions to address its supply chain management and demand planning needs.
To replace its labor-intensive, offline processes, Microflex has selected Microsoft's Solomon product line, as well as MaxQ's Supply Chain Management, Demand Planning, and eProphet Business Intelligence series.
Microflex selected the Solomon and MaxQ solution over so-called "tier-one" enterprise resource planning (ERP) solutions thanks to the formers' lower cost and shorter implementation times, according to MaxQ.
Said Morgan Porter, director of information technology at Microflex, "The Microsoft/MaxQ solution exceeded our expectations for the planning modules and offered functionality we had previously only seen with tier one platforms." He added, "With this more sophisticated tool, we will expand our planning capabilities and get closer to a real time planning scenario."
Microflex will also utilize MaxQ's eProphet Business Intelligence series to improve its reporting processes. "By standardizing our reports across the organization and allowing easier, instant access to key information, we will have a much sharper focus on profitability — specifically by product and customer," said Porter.
The company is set to begin implementation of the new modules within the next several weeks, according to Porter.
Meanwhile, Manufacturers Equipment & Supply Co., an industrial distributor specializing in tool products for the tool manufacturing and integration industries, will implement a combined Microsoft Business Solutions and MaxQ Solutions for Distribution.
To replace its 27-year-old legacy system, Flint, Mich.-based MESCO has selected Microsoft's Solomon and customer relationship management (CRM) product lines, as well as MaxQ's Financial Management, Supply Chain Management, Vendor Managed Inventory, and eProphet Business Intelligence series.
According to Chris Long, director of business development and information technology at MESCO, purchasing an integrated best of breed solution that would link to existing office applications was key. "After narrowing our search and applying our scorecard approach, the Microsoft/MaxQ solution scored 50 percent higher than any of the other ERP packages we considered," said Long.
Long added that one factor in favor of the Microsoft/MaxQ solution was its targeted focus on the industrial distribution market.
MESCO already has started its implementation of the new solution.
