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| Scenario | ||
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| Software Used | ||
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| Solution Overview |
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| Benefits | ||
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| Company Profile | ||
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Q-Media is a fully integrated 'one-stop' software manufacturer serving an extensive customer base from five manufacturing facilities in the US and Canada. The firm's clients consist of software publishers, hardware manufacturers, major corporations and government institutions. The following services are deployed on a "just in time" basis:
Since initiating an aggressive expansion plan in 1994, Q-Media has acquired and successfully integrated seven operations in four regions. With average revenue growth exceeding 116% per year, the firm is on track to exceed $65 million in 1999. The packaged software market is now growing at a healthy 16% per year, and the firm's rapid growth has resulted in the addition of new services as well as a dramatically increased customer base. E.g. Due to an increase in demand for CD-ROM replication alone, Q-Media has completed installation of three new CD-ROM facilities in '97 and '98, bringing annual capacity to 27 million units. |
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Growing Pains |
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In July 1998, Q·Media acquired a fifth site in Irvine, CA, which provided product assembly and finished goods fulfillment. New customers included A Better Way of Learning Corp., Toshiba Inc., Wonderware Inc., and others. The acquisition effectively doubled the size of the company and brought on the challenge of reengineering the existing infrastructure. |
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| The Problem |
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Clearly some changes had to be made. In mid November 1998, (remember this date) a decision was reached to change the fulfillment system. Guidelines were simple: Choose a qualified solution provider with the expertise and proven ability to select and fully implement a system to go live within an extremely limited timeframe. The application had to be easy to implement, customizable, and built on industry standard tools and open architecture. |
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| The Solution |
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After an exhaustive review of the major applications and numerous solutions providers throughout the nation, Q·Media selected Stevens Group to install and optimize Solomon Software written in Microsoft Visual Basic, running on Windows NT and Microsoft SQL Server. |
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| The Constraints |
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Everything had to be deployed in a well-tested environment that would not affect Q·Media's customers. Paul Fernandez put it this way: "We had no margin for error since we had to get off the existing systems by January and had to successfully implement the new system without impacting our daily operations in any way. The new system went in quite smoothly and we were very pleased with the support and technical expertise we received from Stevens Group" Stevens Group organized individual and group training sessions on the Solomon, Aristo, Exchange, and NT packages. Training ranged from product functions, troubleshooting, and daily processes. One of the more immediate benefits of the implementation resulted from the setup of MS Exchange to handle Q·Media's electronic mail system. According to Jeff Dalton, the Project Manager, "The most exciting part of training for me, was setting up Exchange Server and providing real-time access to e-mail. Users loved it since they had been using an antiquated messaging system." In addition to the base Solomon product, Stevens Group used Solomon's Visual Basic tools to develop a sophisticated error checking process that pre-qualified all orders for accuracy before they were accepted into the system. "This development work lowered the risk associated with the high transaction volumes Q·Media receives every day", said SG's President, Ed Pauley, Jr. "We significantly improved the previous process which was labor intensive and prone to error." Prior to implementation, Q·Media and Stevens Group tested a variety of operating scenarios. Customers were asked to send orders through the system with the worst possible combination of problems. Despite their most devious efforts, the system performed flawlessly. Having successfully achieved the "go-live" target date of January 4, 1999, key personnel from Solomon and Stevens Group were on-hand to observe the process and make sure there were no problems. |
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| The Results |
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Cost Reductions - Paul Fernandez: "We realized an immediate benefit by eliminating the need for a large MIS support staff. With the new system we have been able to support our operation in Irvine with only 1 MIS member. This alone resulted in savings estimated at $200,000 per year." Enhanced Productivity - "We replaced a system that had been in place for 4 years with a new system that has been in for 4 months, and we are producing the same output with the same number of people", said Fernandez. " We expect to improve productivity by 20% within the next three months, and are already taking on more business without increasing our headcount. In addition, the new system allows better reporting and controls than ever before." Specifically, new inventory reports have been generated which show shipments, RMA's, credits, and other pertinent information that allow Q·Media to bill customers more accurately. |
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| Summary |
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"Our implementation experience was relatively painless. In all, the system was delivered on time and within the budget. We have spent the last few months perfecting our process and are now ready to take on new customers and expand our range of services." |
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| Additional Services |
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In May 1999, Q·Media plans to go live with Microsoft Site Server Commerce Edition 3.0ä. This provides Q·Media enormous potential for expanded services. As an outsourced provider of inventory and fulfillment services, the need to allow real-time access to sales orders, inventory quantity, and availability is essential. Paul Fernandez: "Q·Media expects the integration of Solomon IV® with Site Server to fundamentally change the way we do business. It provides us the capability of allowing our customers on-line access to key business information. Initially, we expect this to increase our customer satisfaction ratings by 25%. However the full impact of this solution to our organization will be the additional services and markets we expect to serve. All told, the Microsoft and Solomon solution will assist us in our goal of continued rapid growth." |
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Stevens Group Delivers More than Off-the-Shelf Application |
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As part of the normal purchase cycle, Q·Media receives orders from
their customers electronically. The following illustrates several
key technical challenges that surfaced due to the nature of their
operation, and describes the solution ("SG Processor") with which
Stevens Group addressed those challenges: Integration of Customer Order Files to the New System Adherence to Company Business Rules Communication with Remote Warehouses Accessing Historical Data (This is currently under development) To address these technical challenges, Stevens Group developed a custom solution ("SG Processor") consisting of a 4-Step Process which concludes with the customer's receipt of shipping confirmation files. The basic process can be summarized as follows: The Order file is picked up from the FTP site on a timer. At this
point, Stevens Group developed a custom process ("SG Processor") that
effectively checks for errors (E.g. duplicate numbers and missing
data) before creating a Sales Order in Solomon Order Management. Updated
Inventory information can then be analyzed. Each order is checked for errors in the order information. For instance, customer errors such as UPS shipments to PO Boxes are automatically checked and a log created. A remote warehouse is identified and orders are sent to this warehouse via the FTP site and Microsoft Internet Information Server. Auto-checking procedures are required to ensure that all products
shipped out of the warehouse are scanned correctly. Under the old
system, a 2-stage scanning process was required. The new system now
scans pallets once at the shipping area only, significantly improving
workflow of the warehouse staff. Once products are verified, the next
process begins. Shipping information is updated in Solomon with tracking numbers
from shippers such as FEDEX, UPS and other common carriers. Once orders
are shipped and information updated, the last process begins. |
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| Error Detection |
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| The Engagement Process |
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With so much riding on the success of this project, Q·Media and Stevens Group each applied detailed step-by-step processes to ensure complete success of the engagement. |
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