Only a month after going live on Infor ERP Ln, Imperial Auto Parts is already enjoying tremendous integration and forecasting benefits, as well as increased customer service and improved visibility across its supply chain.

Sean McQuade, Auto Parts division: IT executive, explains that after many years of operating off an existing legacy system which was not fully integrated, it was recognised that the needs of the business had outgrown this system and that it had, in fact, become unstable and unreliable. It was determined that the company needed to invest in an enterprise business solution that can provide industry best practices in financial, procurement, sales and warehousing processes.
“There are diverse processes and policy applications across Imperial Auto Parts Division’s various companies. After an in-depth analysis of the business, we identified that there was, in fact, no single view of processes across these platforms. A fragmented and inconsistent IT architecture made it difficult to exercise the necessary control over the many business areas, inefficiencies had crept in due to manual processes being used to fill gaps, and data integrity had become a very real problem.
"In addition, the existing system did not comply with Standard Open Architecture (SOA) and was, therefore, not able to allow open access and/or compatibility with new technologies.”
With the problems identified, the search began for a world-class solution which would meet the following Key Performance Indicators:
s Increase stock accuracy to 95%.
s Increase the accuracy of financial reporting to 99%.
s Increase the reliability of financial data to 99%.
s Finalise month-end reporting in five working days.
s Deliver sales quotations customers in 48 hours.
s Reduce lost sales by 10%.
s Increase sales output and efficiency by 20%.
Designed around the latest technology platforms that allow for flexibility of interfaces, as well as deployment across a wide area network, Infor ERP Ln proved a perfect fit for Imperial Auto Parts, says Jane Thomson, MD of Softworx.
“The WebTop module was of particular interest to this client because it gives them the ability to create a landing page that displays meaningful statistics and measurements for each staff member to keep on top of their workload. They also get all the required modules in a single, integrated solution – this was said to be the biggest factor in their selection of Infor ERP Ln.”
Being an integrated solution, each department can now easily identify work that needs to be undertaken. This allows for more effective inter-departmental interactions and enhanced service delivery to customers. The workflow module also allows electronic communication between departments.
“The selection of Infor ERP Ln, which is considered a Tier One ERP solution, brings with it inherent best practice methodologies. This, coupled with the support of a professional ERP vendor such as Softworx, has enabled us to establish a solid foundation for future growth. We plan to implement Infor ERP Ln at two other companies within the Imperial Auto Parts Division over the next two years,” McQuade concludes.