Enterprise on tap
Empowering unique e-strategies and e-relationships at Cybex, RAM Aircraft, Custom Edge, HP, and Hydromat
By Mary Stearns Sgarioto, Senior Editor -- Manufacturing Business Technology, 1/1/2001 12:00:00 AM
The stock price on enterprise information seems to go up once it's accessible on-line and its user base expands. Manufacturers today are devising unique strategies to empower customers, employees, and suppliers to take hold of information assets and use them to increase revenue streams. While some manufacturers aren't there yet, many are envisioning their roles in the new economy.
"The value in Web-enablement is the elimination of the special client software, maintenance, and support," says Stan Prescott, project leader, e-commerce, at Frost and Sullivan, an industry research firm in San Antonio, Texas. "Clearly, everyone wants to use a single piece of software-the Web browser-to access information and drive applications over the Internet. This is the Holy Grail for Web-enabled modules and extensions that facilitate collaboration and self-service by customers, suppliers, and employees."
Determining the right strategy is the key. According to Yvonne Genovese, research director, collaborative commerce group at analyst firm Gartner in Stamford, Conn. "The things people are getting excited about right now are the different e-strategies available to them. A lot is available-but you have to choose what's right for your environment. The best [strategy] is the one that you can implement with the greatest return."
Genovese contends that e-strategies basically center on building better relationships through improved information sharing with external customers, suppliers, distribution partners, buyers, and employees. "It's all about the information that's in the enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems-to extend that and optimize how it's used in the supply and demand chain."
Building an e-strategy that works means finding a way to unlock the value of the information in enterprise systems and extend it to customers, suppliers, and employees by using software that maximizes collaboration. Solutions can range from traditional extended ERP solutions to forecasting and decision support, to inventory management.
What works out for Cybex, a fitness manufacturer based in Medway, Mass., is a pure PeopleSoft approach. PeopleSoft, based in Pleasanton, Calif., is a provider of enterprise software, and according to Brian Lyman, e-commerce manager at Cybex, the vendor's customer-facing modules correspond with the way Cybex does business. Cybex uses E-Store, e-commerce software from PeopleSoft, for order entry, order tracking, and sees it as "a quasi-CRM [customer relationship management] package because sales reps can log in on behalf of a customer instead of calling Cybex directly."
Cybex manufactures fitness equipment for high-end consumers and health club chains. "In our business we sell the majority of our products through dealers. They can track all of their orders-equipment or service parts-in real-time." This includes, for example, scheduled shipping dates and carrier information. "We can't tell them anything different than what they can see on the Web site," says Lyman.
Building muscles and relationships
Building relationships with customers is key because sales representatives can check customer requests on-line, then deal directly with the customer. "This makes the sales rep more valuable to the customer," Lyman says. "We are seeing about a 15 percent drop in phone calls to our customer support areas." At the same time, the company sees Web site use increasing at the same trajectory. "It frees up our people to be more proactive," he adds.
Lyman says the important thing is that customers have direct access to information relative to their orders. "Before, a business process required manual intervention. Now, the system lets the customers do their own order entry and have access to inventory status. That way, they can plan their business more efficiently," Lyman says. "The real-time connection is the key. It empowers the customer with the information your own staff has."
Lyman also uses M-Store, a mobile commerce sub-component of the E-Store module. "It allows me to use a Sprint PCS phone with HDML [handheld device markup language] capability. You can log in to order tracking pages and view them on your phone."
Precision on-line
For RAM Aircraft Limited, Waco, Texas, precision is everything. RAM is a precision re-manufacturer of airplane engines and distributes about $6 million in parts. RAM Aircraft chose Axapta from Navision Damgaard in Atlanta, a provider of enterprise software, to enable it to harness its parts distribution business and to look forward to selling accessories and other items relating to aircraft and avionics on-line. Sales force automation was another reason for their purchase of Axapta, considering their plans to automate that process.
According to RAM Aircraft's Brian Adamik, information technology manager, Axapta is flexible and is built on Microsoft's COM [component object model] integration technology. Constructed on object-oriented technology, the software is easy to customize, according to Adamik. "We can sit down at a terminal and make some dramatic customizations within an hour, such as changing the database layout, dropping database fields in different screen layouts and changing operational code." He says most of the ERP systems RAM evaluated are customizable but may have required extra information technology (IT) personnel. In addition, he cited the software's integration with Windows, which makes training easier and more readily accepted by employees.
Axapta will also allow them to go on-line. "We are planning to do an e-commerce rollout so that some of our dealers can order parts on-line," Adamik explains, noting that RAM will create a limited exchange with target dealers and some individual aircraft owners.
"Once data is in a SQL Server database, Axapta has a nice routine that lets us put our catalog on-line and requires very little customization," Adamik says. "With their wizard, you answer a few questions and it populates an e-commerce site for you."
According to Mike Miller, a consultant at Softideas, a Grand Prairie, Texas-based Damgaard reseller, "[RAM Aircraft] will be using the Axapta e-commerce piece to automate the parts portion of the business-selling parts and answering queries for parts for customer self-service applications." In addition, the company plans to expand by offering accessories and items relating to aircraft and avionics.
The RAM Aircraft sales force needs to get to ERP data by accessing applications remotely. "They can pull up inventory over the Internet," says Miller. "With Damgaard, you can execute as a Windows client or through a Web browser. It's MS [Microsoft] COM technology."
Miller says bar coding is key to automating their production process. "You can literally share business logic with handheld units-Palm Pilots that double as bar code readers. You'll be able to share business logic between these Palms and the business application itself." The customer has the advantage of using self-service and seeing real-time inventory stocking levels, Miller says. "This is because the e-commerce functionality is completely integrated and shares the same database as the application itself."
Web-based forecasting
Mass customization is another area that calls for collaborative capabilities. Forecasting software that promotes collaboration and is Web-accessible is the solution for Custom Edge, a Compaq company, based in Omaha, Neb. A player in the IT procurement industry, the company manufactures and customizes computers, mostly for large customers, and can mass customize up to 18,000 units per day. The Custom Edge sales force and purchasing staff have up-to-date, Web-based information available for accurately forecasting manufacturing and distribution requirements. Via an intranet, the company's central sales group uses ALT-C Time Trends Forecast Warehouse software to enter forecasts for customers in weekly increments. Forecast planners then check and approve those forecasts.
ALT-C, based in Montreal, Quebec, automates the forecasting and planning process for manufacturing and distribution environments and allows collaboration in the forecasting process via a browser interface. Windows-based, the software is used by approximately 600 members of the Custom Edge sales force. About half of the company's buyers are using it now-with more to follow.
Rob King, forecast manager at Custom Edge, explains that for their largest customers, the software gives them a baseline figure for forecasting. "The software analyzes past sales to give salespeople six weeks worth of data from which to forecast. We look at sales and what Time Trends is telling us," says King. Previously, they used a homegrown solution. The company has worked with ALT-C to customize the software to provide access reports for client services.
ERP to e-storefront
Another manufacturer scheduled to open an e-storefront later in 2001 is Hydromat, a manufacturer of rotary transfer precision machine tools based in St. Louis, Mo. This effort follows a successful implementation of Vantage software, the e-manufacturing solution from Irvine, Calif.-based Epicor Software.
Mark Engemann, business applications manager at Hydromat, says they're going to be pioneers for Epicor's Vantage e-storefront software. The storefront Hydromat will launch, says, Engemann "will be mainly a B2B site-only our customer base will be able to use it." Hydromat's intention is to "support our customers 24x7 without adding on extra resources and telephone lines and supply customer with help they cannot get during business hours." Customers include companies such as Ford, General Motors, and Delta Faucet.
As Hydromat moves toward e-Business, Engemann advises manufacturers to collaborate with customers. "Take small steps. Realize what customers are asking for now-allow customers to drive it a bit instead of telling them what they need. Really think about that and ask customers for feedback and let it live and evolve. Don't make decisions for your customers."
Accessing ERP data and beyond
Clearly, ERP information will also be tapped through corporate portals-sometimes called enterprise application portals. "ERP is coming out of the back office," says Larry Hawes, senior analyst with Boston-Mass.-based Delphi Group. Many portals integrate with ERP systems, says Hawes. "Portals can be the way to easily access ERP data rather than through ERP interfaces which Hawes says "can be clunky and aren't intuitive. With portals, you don't have to use heavy-duty mining products to get information." An additional benefit, Hawes says, is that "Most e-Business done through a Web business portal can be personalized for each employee or role in company."
Hawes appreciates the portals that originate from vendors with business intelligence backgrounds, such as San Jose, Calif.-based Top Tier; Toronto, Canada-based Hummingbird; Mountain View, Calif-based Viador; and Brio, based in Santa Clara, Calif. "These companies were some of the first to work with structured data sources, one of which could be ERP information. Now, in the last year or so, vendors have been working to integrate all of a company's information, not just ERP and structured data-but also e-mail systems, content repositories from document management systems, and information outside the company such as Internet-based content."
According to Hawes, "Some ERP vendors such as Oracle, JD Edwards, SAP, and Microsoft offer Web-based interfaces into their products but he doesn't consider them to be true portals, even though some of these vendors see themselves as selling within the corporate portal or enterprise portal space.
An important issue for manufacturers assessing portal technology, says Hawes, is bi-directional or bi-interactive connectivity with underlying applications-the ability to write information back to the ERP system from the portal itself, for example.
Portal Wave, based in Mountain View, Calif., is a provider of an enterprise application portals (EAP) that includes bi-directional functionality. Its Application Portal Server is described by the company as a turnkey, vendor-neutral EAP solution that integrates enterprise applications and processes that is preconfigured, yet customizable. "They can enable users to write information into the backend system," Hawes says. "Very few have been able to allow users to enter information. This means you don't have to enter the ERP system to add data."
Closing remarks
As enterprise systems vendors and others augment their product footprints in unique ways to enhance e-Business, manufacturers receive the new technology and adapt it to meet the needs of their business plans.
Web-enablement is the bedrock for improved e-strategies, collaborative relationships, self-service by customers, suppliers, and employees-no matter the industry.
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