subject: Case Study: A Leading It Outsourcing Company Provides An Erp Outsourcing Solution [print this page] The following case study depicts how a leading supplier of mobile computing cases and accessories with 45 worldwide offices and multiple disparate systems becomes a world-class operation through IT outsourcing.
The Challenge
In 1997, a leading supplier of mobile computing cases and accessories was making critical decisions about the future of its business. Executives needed to eliminate its paper and manual processing systems, tighten visibility to and management of its supply chain, create a communications environment that extended beyond employees' personal AOL e-mail accounts and centralize three separate applications to truly globalize its systems. The Company also wanted to shorten the time to close its monthly financials.
This particular company had no IT department. Plus, regionalized deployment and management of the company's IT environment created inefficiencies that were costing precious time and critical human and financial resources. They knew they could not fully realize the growth initiatives and strategic plan to become a true global player with decentralized technology infrastructure, systems and support. The Company decided that it needed to select and implement an ERP solution as a means of fixing the identified problems.
They wanted to centralize their IT environment without creating a traditional IT department. This goal was critical since the Company could not realize its globalization strategy without core systems and centralized management and support of its IT environment. They needed an IT outsourcing company and technology partner that not only understood ERP software and implementation, but had significant business process experience. In addition, the partner had to be skilled at effectively bringing disparate technology and systems together. They considered many providers, but selected one in particular because of its middle-market focus and its ERP implementation and IT outsourcing experience.
The Solution
A leading IT outsourcing company was chosen to assist the Company with the selection and implementation of its ERP system with contract commencement in December 1997. They traveled the globe with the Company's executives, visiting each site and assessing the existing technology infrastructure, user requirements and business objectives specific to those regions. Once the IT outsourcing company completed its assessment, it quickly went to work establishing The Company's global technical environment. They developed and deployed a centralized technical environment including a global WAN as a backbone for a corporate-wide e-mail system. The new environment improved communications among the Company's employees, partners and associates.
Several months later, the IT outsourcing company configured and implemented Baan finance at company headquarters. Shortly thereafter, the partner brought Baan distribution/logistics online. An important component of this was the integration of two significant add-ons to the Baan implementation. The first focused on streamlining supply chain management. At the time, trading partners were using a manual-entry EDI system. Roughly 10% of sales volume was entered this way. The IT outsourcing company implemented a Baan-integrated EDI translator to reduce human error via the manual EDI input system and to increase efficiency.
For the next add-on, the IT outsourcing company tackled the automation of the package rating and shipping process. They implemented a freight management solution, integrated it with Baan, and developed and implemented a new Baan module to manage the process. These systems were first launched in the U.S., followed by Canada and then the rest of the world.
The Benefits
The Company has realized significant benefits since the IT outsourcing company became its outsourcing partner. Within 20 months of contract commencement, they successfully centralized and globalized their entire IT environment. As a result of the implementation of Baan and business process expertise, EDI systems now effectively manage 50 trading partners and require no manual intervention. Thanks to the IT outsourcing company's early focus on Baan finance, The Company closes each month in a more timely fashion and with significantly more accurate financials.
Today, the Company also enjoys visibility to its inventory and master production scheduling worldwide. Due to the automation and optimization of its logistics' systems, they have been able to scale their business without a commensurate increase in logistics headcount. Today, , the same IT outsourcing company remains the Company's IT outsourcing partner and continues to help their IT environment support its growth and expansion efforts.
