Industrial Revolution Case Study
Bringing power and flexibility out of doors.
Industrial Revolution manufactures and distributes an innovative line of outdoor products, including the enormously popular Candle Lantern. Its latest success is the Play and Freeze Ice Cream Maker, a colorful sphere which produces a delicious batch of ice cream when rolled and tossed among a group of friends. Industrial Revolution distributes its products through outdoor retailers such as REI and L.L. Bean.
Growing Pains
“We are growing fast and had maxed out our old software, MYOB,” recalls Keith Jackson, president of Industrial Revolution. “MYOB is an entry level product, and with our transaction volume, multi-currency issues, and growing EDI requirements, we need a grown-up solution.” In addition, Jackson found it difficult to draw data from MYOB into reports to help him make strategic business decisions. “Reporting was inflexible,” he notes. “I relied on Excel spreadsheets and a lot of data entry.”
Revolutionary Solution
Jackson hired an independent consultant to help him select a new business management solution. After a thorough needs assessment, the consultant returned three contenders: Microsoft Dynamics NAV, Microsoft Dynamics GP, and Sage Accpac ERP. Jackson and his team viewed presentations by vendors representing each product, but one stood out as the best - Microsoft Dynamics NAV, represented by Integrated Computer Systems Support.
“I saw Microsoft Dynamics NAV as the gold-plated solution,” recalls Jackson. “It had the most capabilities, was the most scalable, the most flexible, and the most powerful. I’m the kind of person who’s willing to pay more to get more, and I think Microsoft Dynamics NAV is worth more.” Jackson says that he also had an instant comfort level with ICS Support. “They know their stuff, and they’re positive and hardworking,” he says.
Power and Flexibility
A hands-on president, Jackson appreciates the customization and configuration capabilities of Microsoft Dynamics NAV. Without extensive programming knowledge, Jackson is able to add new data tables, add fields to existing tables, and change the layout of screens and forms. He also values the quick access Microsoft Dynamics NAV provides to core financial data such as profit and loss, balance sheet, and cash on hand. “These are the numbers I look at on a daily basis, so it’s important that they are easy to access,” he says.
As the company grows, the ability to process orders and invoices using EDI (electronic data interchange) is becoming increasingly important. Jackson says the order volume the company receives electronically now is small enough to make it practical simply to print and enter the orders. However, Jackson is relieved to know that when the company’s order volume increases, integrated EDI processing is available for Microsoft Dynamics NAV - and is straightforward to implement. “It’s reassuring to have a software solution that has so much available capacity and capability,” Jackson notes.
Industrial Revolution has customer-specific pricing, a feature Microsoft Dynamics NAV handles easily. “In our old software, our customer service staff had to manually look up the pricing from our price lists during order entry,” Jackson recalls, “now the correct price is used automatically as the items are entered.”
Forecasting Tool
Industrial Revolution strives to ensure it maintains adequate stock on hand to meet demand, without costly overstocking. Microsoft Dynamics NAV and ICS Support help the company achieve this goal. ICS Support worked with Industrial Revolution to develop a custom planning reporting tool that uses real-time data from Microsoft Dynamics NAV such as on-hand quantities, open purchase orders, and open sales orders. The data is brought into Excel using Jet Reports - a complete reporting package for Microsoft Dynamics NAV that is built right into Excel. Within Excel, sales projections are added and forecasts fine tuned. As a result, Jackson has the data he needs to make accurate buying and production decisions. “I love that I’m able to use Excel, a tool I’m familiar with, to access the accounting data and build the reports I need,” says Jackson.
Shipping Solution
ICS Support and Navision have streamlined operations in Industrial Revolution’s busy shipping department. The company must produce a shipping label for each box in a format required by its customers. Under the company’s old system, a separate software program was needed to produce the labels, which required staff to maintain customer address information both in the accounting software and in the label printing software.
ICS Support developed a custom report within Microsoft Dynamics NAV, precisely matching the required label format. “We’ve completely eliminated the other software, and the additional data entry associated with it,” explains Jackson. “We now produce the labels right from Microsoft Dynamics NAV, using data that’s already on file in the system.”
Long-Term Solution
“Microsoft Dynamics NAV provides us with enormous growth capabilities,” concludes Jackson. “We were using MYOB at 95 percent capacity and there was no room for growth left. I’d say we are only using 5 percent of Microsoft Dynamics NAV’s capacity - we won’t outgrow it anytime soon.”
“I saw Microsoft Dynamics NAV as the gold-plated solution. It had the most capabilities, was the most scalable, the most flexible, and the most powerful. I’m the kind of person who’s willing to pay more to get more, and I think Microsoft Dynamics NAV is worth more. I also had an instant comfort level with Integrated Computer Systems Support. They know their stuff, and they’re positive and hardworking.”
- Keith Jackson, President, Industrial Revolution