A case study of how iNTIGRATE MX helped Pacific Sheet & Coil take control.
I can’t sing the praises of iNTIGRATE ™ enough.... Andrew Wiltshire.
Overview
When Andrew Wiltshire, General Manager of Pacific Sheet and Coil (“PSC”) went hunting for a new Enterprise ERP solution for their steel importing company he was in a real hurry. PSC had installed an industry specific product just 3 months earlier, but it failed in the vital area of accurate on-time financials. Not only did PSC have out of balance problems, but the inability to access their true financial position in real-time was causing them a great deal of concern. By the time PSC made the decision to change the system, they were in urgent need of a strong ERP solution. They needed a system that could mould to their complex import and process manufacturing operations, could be deployed super-fast, and be easy to learn for staff both in the New Zealand office and the new Thailand operation. Enter iNTIGRATE MX!
International Business
PSC is a large supplier of steel, which is imported from multiple suppliers in several countries. One of their major customers is Fisher & Paykel who take steel in from PSC for their refrigerator cabinets. As specialist importers and processors of coiled steel, PSC not only need to manage the full range of financial challenges of international trading, but also need to keep track of all the product sold through to customers, even after being cut down and processed into specific shapes and sizes. This “traceability” needs to be managed from the source on the other side of the world, right through to its final destination, with PSC’s clients. The iNTIGRATE MX solution manages all of these complexities and logistics with ease, and serves up accurate accounting data in real-time to boot.
Fast deployment
Being 3 months behind in the financial reporting area, and working with high volumes and low margins, nothing less than knowing precise net financial positions in all transactions is tolerable. PSC needed to rely on both the iNTIGRATE ™ product and the consulting team from Global BizPro to get things done quickly, with very little margin for error. Naturally, there was no room to have a system failure a second time. It was rather risky, and it became a very tense few weeks for the team there - they put a lot of trust in iNTIGRATE ™ and they are very happy that they did.
iNTIGRATE ™was deployed in record time for PSC and as soon as it was it live, the previous 3 months financials were entered in retrospectively. Because of the wonderful data input and processing speeds of iNTIGRATE ™, this exercise was completed with total accuracy and as Andrew reflects, “...before we knew it, we’d caught up and knew our exact margin and profit positions. Plus, we were able to maintain the current 2 months in the system in real-time while still doing business as usual each day. iNTIGRATE’s speed and ability to allow multiple inputs to both the current and previous periods made for a speedy catch-up and we’ve never looked back”.
18 months on, Andrew and owner Craig Corliss say that iNTIGRATE ™ has been a great success for their business and they couldn’t be more pleased with it.
Highly Configurable
iNTIGRATE ™ serves both PSC operations in Thailand and New Zealand. Even though the culture, business environment and compliance requirements differ greatly between the two, iNTIGRATE ™ has been successfully configured to work with the conventions of the two jurisdictions. Although Andrew admits pushing the iNTIGRATE team quite hard for a lot of specific configurations and reporting that the Thailand office insisted on, both the iNTIGRATE team and the product continues to deliver to their exacting needs. This ability to ‘flex’ and meet the specific needs of PSC, or for whomever it is deployed, is one of its great strengths. And although highly configurable to specific company and industry requirements, it is founded on a strong accounting ERP engine that is stable, powerful and capable.
Integrated System with one touch processing
Andrew says that they “take big coils of steel and turn them into little coils of steel” and iNTIGRATE™ handles this seamlessly with one touch processing. That is to say that data entered once, is immediately available for reporting and visibility across the business. This allows for fast processing, no double handling of data and real-time accuracy as they go. Immediate access to yields, true landed and processed costs (allowing management to adjust costings if required), keeps the work-processes ‘flowing’ and with total confidence of accuracy. As Andrew says “once you’ve done a processing entry….it’s done…”.
Agile and accurate inventory control
iNTIGRATE ™ allows PSC to turn inventory “off cuts” into new inventory items quickly and without fuss or imbalances that traditional systems often create, when morphing bulk stock or off-cut product into “other” saleable products. iNTIGRATE ™ had the required agility which was a pre-requisite for being the ERP System to control the fast changing inventory lines for PSC. All newly created inventory is tracked through the plant so that any final product is completely connected to its origin.
Increased Productivity, reduced costs of doing business
Since installing iNTIGRATE ™, the NZ office has been able to operate with just 2 people, when 6 were required for the previous systems. This cost saving and efficiency are in no small part testimony to iNTIGRATE’s power, ease of use and one touch processing. The financials are completed quickly at month end, and no longer do PSC need to wait for months to know where they’re at profit wise.
Handles complex Foreign Exchange environments
“Accuracy of financials is perfect, and we’re buying in four currencies, from many plants around the world and also selling in four different currencies” says Andrew. iNTIGRATE ™ has no issues around the management of exchange rates, it handles all of this complexity seamlessly and quickly. Complexities include buying in Yen and selling in US$, with all margin management taken care of (in spite of volatile exchange rates). In addition to this being able to sell in different currencies [per product line] on the same invoice is a lifesaver. Conversions to NZ$ on any consignment or forex transaction is always available at the press of a key.
User Friendly System
User friendliness is one of iNTIGRATE’s strengths and while users need some computer skills and initial guidance, they become proficient very quickly, as it is really straight forward for them. The staff in the plant find it easy because iNTIGRATE ™ has a ‘stepped’ sequence for process work which is intuitive for the user. This makes it easy for the team to get their processes right and in order every time.
“Another great thing is that we can enter an order and sell it, even when the inwards goods/receipting processes are yet to occur” Andrew relates. This means that iNTIGRATE ™ has a true advantage over traditional accounting systems, which usually insist on items being received, with supplier invoicing and inwards transactions, costings, before it will allow any sales transactions to occur.
This is not an ordinary accounting system
Andrew then goes on to explain, “iNTIGRATE ™is able to allow these sales to be processed and even dispatched, while logistics and inward processing is pending. iNTIGRATE ™ has the ability to then ‘unite’ both ends of the data flow, as and when processing is completed. This is a key benefit to us at PSC. Essentially because we know what’s arriving, and subject to some physical checks, we can get well ahead of the work with our documentation and processing and when it arrives. It’s a slick through flow of inventory, through to processing and out to client, with the system tracking it all with total ease”.
Amazing remote online access capability
Andrew admits that “….based on our previous experiences with remote access to accounting systems, they were initially worried that online access from the Thailand office to Auckland or vice versa was going to be painfully slow and unusable via VPN. But, to our surprise, the iNTIGRATE ™ system was totally usable online, and even with close to dial-up speeds at times, the system’s performance for the user is almost the same as being in the Auckland office. We are very happy with the speed that iNTIGRATE ™ can achieve remotely. Fortunately our decision to have the Thailand operation running on the Auckland based server has caused no problems at all and the Thailand based staff would hardly know the server’s not in the same room as them. I can dial in from anywhere and use the system without those painful delays and slow refresh rates….”
Great reporting
"Understanding our sales, customer purchases, margins, trends and volumes is really easy with iNTIGRATE’s sales pivot utility. I can get any information about all products, sales to customers by product, margins, period reports by category and almost any combination you can think of to see what’s happening in all corners of the sales matrix. “…..From a total, I can drill down to specific product size, a specific colour, down as far to the most detailed level of the product for full sales analysis. This provides great customer service because we can tell a customer exactly how much they took of a certain product or range of products with extreme accuracy. We find this tool invaluable in the work we do, what margins we achieve in real details, but most importantly as a great customer service weapon….” enthuses Andrew.
Accurate billing, even in complex environments
Andrew goes on to explain “As we create an invoice for a consignment, we can print a costing sheet which will detail all the information relating to the product on the consignment, the quantities on the order, full costings of the processing and the margin on sales including foreign exchange rate conversions, etc. We can identify very quickly, exactly where all the specific costs are and with such small margins, this detail is crucial for management and control. This is great for checking before an invoice is posted; because we can be 100% confident that it is spot on each time”.
Excellent Purchase Order control and ease of use
Purchase Orders are used extensively by PSC and iNTIGRATE ™ allows PSC to quickly copy a previous order, update the costs & foreign exchange rates, (as of the day or as advised), and then issue the order. This means that we can anchor repeating orders quickly. Once confirmed, we can see & maintain all the details and costing around the consignment, so that by the time the order arrives, all of the necessary processing is virtually done and costed.
Purchase orders often contain half a page of text and being able to copy this order going forward, retaining all the necessary details each time, is very handy. When receiving the goods, the full visibility of the order detail allows for fast processing and accurate auditing against each order in our goods received bay, so all staff can maintain full control throughout the process.
Shipping documentation from around the world is contained in each consignment, and available at all times.
PDA and Bar code friendly gives more productivity gains
Dispatch documents including pick-lists are used in the Thailand plant in conjunction with PDA’s and this is also a key benefit. The speed and accuracy of processing jobs using the bar code scanners on the factory floor has really delivered real productivity increases and a happy team.
I can’t sing the praises of iNTIGRATE ™ enough
Finally Andrew states, “Having used several packages over the years, I would have to say that the user friendliness of iNTIGRATE ™ is better than any other system I’ve used. It’s obvious that the iNTIGRATE ™ team are true to their commitment to providing systems that work intuitively for the people using it. We had to be up to speed very quickly and we achieved this with accuracy and total control. I can’t sing the praises of iNTIGRATE ™ enough”.
To find out more or to arrange a demonstration, please contact us now.
