Tuesday, February 14, 2012

ERP Solution to Improve Efficiency Included Automation

BP Industries, established in California in 1989, is a distributor and exporter of home goods. The S2K Warehouse Management system, along with a portable conveyor system, allowed products to be received more efficiently.  An automated shrink wrap system and RF technology created a complete solution for their business.



Let us start with the end in mind:
·         BP has a dedicated project manager with their solution provider to take care of any issues that come up.
·         The project manager really understands our business.
·         We used to have a difficult physical inventory.  It used to take a full week of shutdown to complete the counting and reconciliation.  Now it takes a day and a half to complete.
·         Customer creditability has increased.  We can now let them know exactly what can and cannot be shipped and when.
·         Our operations are streamlined. 
·         Our employees are cross trained and can fill in where and when needed.
·         We have observability at every step of our operations.

What factors influenced our decision making process:
·         We needed a stable system that could handle the volume of transactions we processed and was scalable for the future.
·         We needed an accurate system.
·         Our previous system had not observability on the warehouse or orders.
·         We could not plan properly.

What contributed to the success of the new system?
·         It took a lot of serious planning to implement automation, including bar coding and warehouse layout.
·         We have fewer errors when replenishing, ordering, and counting.
·         Picking is so much faster. 
·         Receiving is much faster.
·         Put-a-ways are much faster.
·         Processing is much faster.
·         The system is user friendly which makes it easy to transition employees without downtime.
·         It typically takes less than a quarter of the time to do what we did previously.

The story told here is typical when organizations are willing to take an honest look at their current operations, no matter how well they “think” everything is running.  What does it hurt to get another opinion?  Try not to let the thought of having to deal with just another salesperson cloud your view of the big picture when that next salesperson knocks on your door to drop off a business card or when you shake hands with someone at a networking event.  Hopefully that person will ask questions to understand your challenges and how they relate to your operations and profitability. 

It is a shame when someone shows up and throws up.  So much time is lost and a potentially good solution is never tested.  Of course that interaction could be an indication that you do not have the right organization. 

The relationship you have with your solution provider is one of the most important factors when considering a new solution.  There is a real need for communication.  They really have to know and understand what it means to you if orders cannot be processed or a piece of equipment is not functioning properly.  It takes time to build a trusting relationship.  People do business with people they know and trust and who know them.   People do not care until they know you care about them.  This means of course that you need to be honest too.  It cannot be a one-way street or exchange of information.

Dolvin Consulting is different in our approach.  We care.  We may not have a solution for you and we will be the first to tell you that.  We cannot promise anything, except to be honest.  If we cannot help you, then we will do our best to refer you to someone who can.  Contact us today to see if our solutions are a good match for your challenges.

You deserve a competitive edge in today’s business world.  A new ERP solution fully integrating all aspects of your business in one of the wisest decisions you can make.  Let us help you make it a good one.


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