Tectura and Microsoft Dynamics enable hot progress in a cold business

Manufacturing software should streamline processes, leading to less manual effort, and an agile enterprise.

That particular realization prompted Hansen Technologies—a Burr Ridge, Ill.-based manufacturer of parts and components for industrial refrigeration systems—to evaluate its options.

To begin, the complaints list against Hansen's five-year old Unix-based ERP system was extensive.

“It was difficult to get data out of the system,” says Brad Bremer, IT special projects manager. “There was a lot of functionality we needed that it didn't provide, and any time we needed to change the system, we spent buckets of money. It also took a lot of manual effort to slam in sales orders, where at the end of the day, we always had orders yet to enter.”

And if you've got cold storage warehousing that's breaking down—and heating up—you want the parts you ordered to come as fast as possible.

Hansen Technologies turned to Tectura, a Microsoft Gold Certified Partner, for a Microsoft Dynamics GP Windows-based ERP system.

“We evaluated a lot of software and Microsoft Dynamics had the functionality we needed,” says Bremer. “It is incredibly flexible in terms of getting data out of the system. It also provides us with greatly improved planning and forecasting. We enhanced customer satisfaction by 15 percent due to better visibility right out of the box.”

With better planning and forecasting, Hansen also reduced inventory without compromising customer service. “With more accurate planning and vendor deliveries, we need less buffer,” explains Bremer, adding that since system go-live in 2003, the company trimmed inventory from $8.5 million to $5.5 million.

At each point in the supply chain—from customer quote to sales order, production order, and shipment—all the information is in one place, and easy to view. That means order processing is up as well.

“The information is available to our customers, vendors, and outside sales reps,” says Bremer. “If they want to know the status of shipped orders, they can hit the link on our Web page and go directly to the UPS tracking site.”