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BIO® Streamlines Reporting and Provides On-Demand Access to Key Data For Leading Resins Supplier
OverviewCountry: United StatesIndustry: Manufacturing |
"The BIO solution enables us to deliver an unprecedented level of reporting and analysis capabilities to our managers and sales force allowing us to focus our attention where it’s needed most"
Sean Williams, Director of Operations, |
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Key Benefits
Entec Polymers, Inc (Entec) began serving the engineering resins community in 1985. Its mission is to offer cost effective material alternatives to the plastics processing industry by providing distribution services for a variety of products from industry-leading manufacturers. Entec’s ongoing commitment to provide quality service and products to its customers means having key data available to its mangers and sales professionals whenever and wherever they need it. This was a formidable task due to a highly mobile sales force with diverse levels of reporting sophistication, managers who require a wide range of reporting capabilities and an accounting system that was often cumbersome and difficult to extract information from. |
Customer Summary:Entec has grown to become one of America’s leading resins suppliers. Its Manchester, TN facility provides a strategic location for production and custom compounding of resins, while its 17 warehouses across the country provide for same or next day service to nearly every location in the U.S.Business Needs:Entec needed to unlock valuable data housed in its Solomon system to provide managers and sales professionals with accurate and timely data for reporting and analysis. In addition the company sought to increase operational efficiencies to keep pace with rapidly growing volume of business. |
Business Impact:
Technology SolutionsEntec partnered with Stanley Stuart Yoffee & Hendrix, Inc. (SSYH), a leading systems software consulting firm to implement NexVue BIO (Business Information Optimization) software that leverages Microsoft’s Business Intelligence platform to deliver self-service business interactive analytics. BIO delivers an easy-to-use and deploy solution that enables non-technical users to analyze, understand and act upon previously inaccessible operational and financial information derived from multiple software applications throughout and external to the enterprise. |
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"The BIO software proved to be a very good fit for Entec. Its ease of use, rapid implementation and low-cost deployment allowed us to deliver a superior business solution to help Entec achieve it goals for better reporting, improved analysis and enhanced operational performance in record time.
David Yoffee, CFO, SSYH |
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Bringing Business Information to the Next LevelEntec, like many mid-size companies, relies on one system (Solomon) for accounting and another for report writing—in this case Crystal Report Writer. And like many organizations today, Entec struggled with lots of data from various sources. In addition, the need for timely analysis and reporting and the growing demands of its varied users for speedy delivery of accurate information drove the organization to seek new ways to optimize and manage key financial and operational data. David Yoffee of SSYH worked with Entec to provide a solution that would deliver faster reporting analysis capabilities while improving operational performance and provide immediate access to the valuable information housed in its Solomon system.One of the primary goals of the BIO implementation was to reduce the time and expense involved in producing and delivering information to Entec’s sales team who are often on the road and not able to sift through mountains of reports and data points. In addition, Entec’s Director of Operations Sean Williams wanted a solution that would enable users to have immediate access in real-time to the information they needed— with the ability to make minor changes—all without impacting the integrity of the data. Plus, Williams wanted a solution that did not require a long ramp up time or extensive training. "The ability to pump out meaningful information to all our satellite offices and facilities across the country will be a real boost to productivity and overall business performance." Looking AheadNow that the BIO solution is providing Entec’s sales team and logistics managers with on-demand Web access to key financial and operational data, Williams and his team are looking forward to publishing all financial reports online, thereby replacing all paper-based reporting. This will provide major time and cost savings to the organization and allow a more collaborative environment across the board. BIO has already significantly reduced time-consuming reporting tasks freeing staff for important analysis and strategic planning. And future operational goals for Entec include further reduction in costs and resources to produce and deliver information whenever and wherever needed. |
Up And RunningBefore BIO the process of creating meaningful reports and distributing to Entec management and sales was time-consuming and costly. Changes were difficult to address quickly and user requests for new and expanded reporting further slowed the process. Distribution of reports was challenging because sales staff rarely is in one place long enough to receive and act on information that reflects present conditions. In-depth analysis that provides insight and a clearer understanding of business performance was also difficult to achieve since data was not easy to pull from Solomon in a straightforward way.Entec had two distinct user needs. Sales needed quick, reliable access to information while on the road and logistics mangers and other key staff required the ability to slice and dice financial and operational information in a variety of scenarios and views. To that end, Yoffee was able to build a test system for Entec using BIO in just one day. And with the BIO solution Entec delivers updates to its warehouse data twice a day, providing a new level of access to managers starved for accurate, timely information. What’s more the information is now centralized and secure so everyone in the organization is working from a “single truth.” "We have always had the data, BIO lets us take this raw data and turn it into content-rich information providing a much deeper understanding of the business." |
"BIO lets us deliver information based on each of our users’ needs and level of sophistication. Our more sophisticated users have the deep analysis capabilities they need to easily manipulate data into meaningful dimensions while our less technical users have access to basic reporting capabilities and on the fly analysis with just a few clicks." Transforming Data into Actionable KnowledgeSSYH helped create four distinct cubes utilizing BIO to provide Entec with the flexibility to look at their business from several critical perspectives: The Sales Cube delivers slice and dice functionality to view sales by product, region, etc.; The Logistics Cube contains products distribution information along the supply chain; The Inventory Cube aids analysis of turnover, profitability of each product, cost to store, and stocking levels; and the Financial Cube includes profit and loss and balance sheet data. The BIO VIEWER allows Entec to control the data while delivering the flexibility to meet individual reporting and analysis requirements. Williams is very pleased with the level of security and controls the BIO solutions provides—especially with information flowing over the Web.About BIO Analytics Corp.BIO Analytics Corp. specializes in developing affordable, state-of-the- art, Business-Ready BI solutions. BIO for Microsoft Dynamics reduces the cost, complexity and technology required to implement a Microsoft BI platform. BIO’s Business-Ready framework is the most complete and adaptable business translation of Microsoft Dynamics. It is the only BI solution that includes an enterprise class visualization layer, BIO Vue, and 60 out-of-the-box operational, strategic and financial views. Start with Microsoft Dynamics and extend BIO to other corporate data sources.ContactBIO Analytics Corp.65 Broad Street Stamford, CT 06901 (203) 327-0800 www.BusinessReady.com |