Isolofoam, a manufacturer of expanding insulating polystyrene foam, has been in business since 1970. The company has experienced significant growth over the last decade, which has necessitated a refinement of its management processes. Previously, Isolofoam was using two different systems for management, which were plagued with bugs and data corruption issues. This resulted in a lack of available information on the company's activities, hindering effective decision-making and process optimization.

Blue Clover Devices, an international company with offices in China and the United States, faced challenges related to conducting business in multiple languages and currencies. The company's purchase orders and inventory management were being handled by two separate systems that couldn’t even talk to one another. This lack of integration was causing inefficiencies and hindering the company's growth. The company was in need of a solution that could handle their global operations and improve their efficiency.

Northeast Lantern, a manufacturer of handcrafted, solid brass and copper lighting fixtures, was relying on a system of management by spreadsheet. As the company grew, the spreadsheets became more of a problem than a solution. With no formal system for inventory or engineering and no single database, the company was struggling with growth. They had no control over their inventory because they didn’t know at any one time what they had in inventory for a specific part, finished good or subassembly. Reporting was also a manual task that was time-consuming and inefficient. The company knew that further growth would require a modern ERP solution.

Sullivan Construction, a company that handles projects such as the Hewlett-Packard campus in Corvallis, Oregon, and roads, large building pads, and subdivisions around Albany and Oregon’s mid-Willamette Valley, was facing several challenges. The company was initially using Sage DacEasy for its accounts, but as the company grew, it needed a more robust solution. The company was struggling with tracking job cost information on spreadsheets, which was time-consuming. The reporting requirements were hampering federal agency work, and the complex wage structure was difficult to manage. Profits were virtually incalculable due to these challenges. The company also had a sister company, A.J. Crushing, Inc., where Sullivan’s owner is a partner, and a rental subsidiary, both of which needed a robust solution for their operations.

OptoSigma had been using an older version of Sage PFW ERP which was no longer meeting its needs. The company was looking for a powerful, modern ERP solution that could meet all of its requirements. The company needed a solution that was intuitive to use, had strong inventory control capabilities, and bill of materials functionality. The company also wanted a solution that could be easily customized to match its workflow.

Avon Rubber was utilizing eight separate reporting applications to gather, analyze, and distribute its business data. Staff struggled to learn and to use the applications, thereby placing a substantial burden on the company’s resources. Employees were deprived of quick access to the data they needed to perform their tasks, and management to the data to make better, more informed business decisions.

Satellite Industries, Inc., the world’s largest supplier of portable sanitation equipment, was facing significant growth and global expansion which strained their system of disconnected business management applications. Financial reporting was a time-consuming and laborious process, with month-end closing often taking more than 15 days. The company was in need of a powerful, integrated enterprise resource planning (ERP) solution to enable it to better meet the needs of its growing operation. The company also wanted quick access to real-time information, not information that was weeks old. The company’s Sage business partner introduced Babcock to Sage Enterprise Intelligence, a powerful business intelligence tool integrated with Sage ERP X3.

Golden Artist Colors, Inc., a global brand that produces acrylic paint, was operating with several stand-alone packages. The company decided to invest in a true ERP solution to streamline the flow of information, improve inventory management, and enhance customer service levels. A committee of six key personnel was established to manage the selection process. They referenced the APICS buyer’s guide to select possible ERP vendors that appeared to be a good fit based on the industries served, functionality offered, and customer size. The committee came up with 12 candidates and narrowed the list to three–Sage, CSB-System and SSA (now Infor)–that would be more fully examined through formal product demonstrations and customer site visits.

Heresite Protective Coatings, LLC, a company that formulates coating solutions for metal industrial equipment, was operating with an outdated version of Sage Pro ERP that hadn't been updated in years. The company's diverse business model, which includes a manufacturing operation and a job shop, made it difficult to find a suitable modern ERP software. They also lacked an inventory application in their previous software, making it challenging to manage items and bills of materials effectively.

Pumpaction, a leader in the pumping and liquids handling fields, was struggling to find business software that could support its complex business model, which includes distribution, service and repair, and rental divisions. The company was using older, proprietary accounting software that was not internationally capable, robust, or flexible. The company's operations were not integrated, leading to multiple systems, multiple touch points, and duplicate data entry. The company needed a solution that could integrate all its business operations and support its unique processes.

Allied Metals Corporation, a company that provides high purity, low carbon steel and stainless steel melt stock, was in need of a robust solution to replace its old accounting software. The company sought a solution that incorporated accounting, distribution, and manufacturing components and had the capability to support rapid growth and international operations. The company launched a very structured selection process, considering other packages such as Microsoft® Dynamics GP and SysPro. However, these solutions did not meet all the requirements of Allied Metals.

Reinhart Foods had been relying on a legacy accounting system and spreadsheets for its operations. The lack of an integrated solution made access to actionable data difficult, and inefficiencies were hampering the company’s growth trajectory. The company was only using the old software for general ledger transactions, with everything else being accomplished with spreadsheets. This situation was not sustainable for a company looking to grow and improve its operations. The company needed a modern business management application that could integrate its entire operation and support its growth trajectory.

Pacific Coast Door and Millwork, a company that manufactures indoor and outdoor doors, as well as window trim, sills, crown molding, closets, and shelving, was facing challenges with its existing accounting system. The company was using a vertical application designed for contractors, which was inadequate for the needs of a manufacturer. Purchasing, inventory, and sales order management all had to be tracked manually, leading to a significant amount of paperwork. The company was also experiencing issues with large orders, often resulting in duplicate orders due to confusing records. Additionally, the company was unable to compare purchase order prices against actual invoices, leading to discrepancies in billing.

Belmont Meats Ltd., a manufacturer, processor, and distributor of quality meat products, was running its operations on an aging AS/400 system. The system was no longer sufficient for the company's needs as it lacked robustness and was not designed for the food industry. The company needed an ERP system that was easy to use, fast to implement, cost-effective, and had local support. The company also required a system that could support its unique manufacturing activities, which included process manufacturing and yield-based manufacturing. The company also needed a system that could provide complete forward and backward lot traceability for each ingredient and finished item, as well as shelf-life management with expiration date control.

Sweater.com, a rapidly growing apparel company, was facing inefficiencies due to the lack of integration between QuickBooks and vertical software for apparel industry management. The company was using QuickBooks for its financial management and a separate software for apparel management. This lack of integration was causing inefficiencies across the company. The company needed a solution that could integrate financial management with apparel industry management to improve efficiency and accuracy in financial statements. Additionally, the company required a robust allocation module for both inventory and product costing, which were considered essential for its operations.

Ganong Bros. Limited (Ganong) has been producing some of the finest chocolate and confectioneries in Canada for the past 140 years. The company operates from three locations across the country and ships its chocolates to various mass merchandisers, drug stores, and grocery chains. Despite its long history and tradition, Ganong's operations are decidedly twenty-first century, with the company continually investing in tools and technology that enable it to run in a lean and efficient manner. However, Ganong was facing a challenge with its complex financial statements, which include more than nine million entries. The company was using Sage ERP X3 as its financial, manufacturing, and distribution solution, but it lacked a more efficient way to produce its complex financial statements.

UreSil, LLC, a leading manufacturer of products for interventional radiology and vascular surgery, was operating on an MRP system that was becoming increasingly unsupportable due to the number of third-party customizations it had undergone. The limitations in planning and flexibility were hindering the company’s ability to run an efficient business. Moreover, complying with FDA regulations and maintaining the required documentation was proving to be a significant challenge. The company needed a solution that could handle their growing needs and ensure compliance with regulatory standards.

Yamada America, a U.S. subsidiary of a Japanese heavy industrial pump manufacturer, was experiencing rapid growth, with an annual increase of 25-30 percent for three consecutive years. To manage this growth, the company decided to switch from Sage 100 ERP for DOS to a Windows-based system in 1998. However, the new software promised by a salesman turned out to be a disaster. The installation process took over four months and disrupted all aspects of the company's operations, including accounts payable, advanced consolidation, general ledger, and inventory. Even after the installation, the system problems persisted, with hardware breaking down and computer screens freezing multiple times a day. The situation was so bad that two employees quit due to the excessive overtime caused by the computer problems.

KUKA Robotics Corp. was in need of a state-of-the-art ERP system to serve as the backbone of their MIS. They were struggling with cumbersome paper-based processes in logistics, product assembly, and accounting. Additionally, they needed to comply with international reporting requirements. The challenge was to introduce an ERP system that could streamline these processes, improve interdepartmental coordination and responsiveness, and enhance profitability and corporate maneuverability.

QesTec, a provider of computer options such as upgrades for servers, workstations, personal computers, laptops, notebooks, and printers, was experiencing booming demand for its high-tech products. This led to a situation where the business was doubling every year, and the company’s computer system simply couldn’t keep up with it. Inventory was turning at least 25 times a year. The time had come to replace standalone PCs with a robust network, including software that would provide manufacturing and inventory management systems plus wider access to customer information. In other words, it was time to migrate up from Sage 50—U.S. Edition, the accounting package that had worked so well during QesTec’s earlier days.

Digital Signal Corporation, a worldwide leader in the research and development of three-dimensional facial recognition systems, was using QuickBooks as their accounting software. However, as the company grew, the entry-level software did not have the depth and breadth Digital Signal Corporation required. The company passed the Defense Contract Audit Agency (DCAA) audit by the skin of their teeth, only because they were able to produce paper records to supplement what they couldn’t get from QuickBooks. The company needed a more robust accounting system that could meet governmental requirements and provide comprehensive job costing data to better estimate future jobs.

T&J Furniture Manufacturing Ltd., a family-owned furniture manufacturing company based in Ontario, Canada, was facing challenges with its original UNIX-based accounting package. The company had outgrown this system, resulting in data integrity issues and difficulty in accessing information. The standalone systems used for manufacturing and distribution were not Windows®-based, making data integration difficult. Field representatives did not have easy access to order information, making it challenging to answer customer queries. The company decided it was time to update its business systems to match its high-tech manufacturing processes.

Recording for the Blind & Dyslexic (RFB&D) was facing a significant challenge with their existing Blackbaud and RaisersEdge software. The software could not support sophisticated manufacturing processes, coordinate multi-location recording schedules, or manage finances. The organization, which operates like a major corporate manufacturer, was relying on an antiquated accounts payable system, a financial package designed for small nonprofits doing donor management, and scheduling processes. The organization needed a solution that could manage everything from sales and inventory to back-end financials and scheduling.

Andex Industries, a manufacturer of consumer product packaging, was looking to replace its old AS/400 platform with a flexible, integrated ERP solution that could adapt to its manufacturing model. The company had been using a mix of custom programs, legacy applications, and industry-specific software, which was not efficient. The company hired an independent consultant to help them find a new solution. They evaluated five packages and arranged demonstrations of Sage 500 ERP and Made2Manage. They needed a solution that incorporated all the functionality they needed, including planning and scheduling, credit card processing, business monitoring and alerts, core accounting, plus payroll and human resource management.

Screwmatics of South Carolina Inc. was using JobBoss as their ERP system. However, they were unable to see costs and profits because they couldn’t run any relevant reports in JobBoss. It was too hard for them to keep track of everything in that system, and when they called support they couldn’t get a reply for a week. They had a large quantity of handwritten information and it used to take a long time to pull up an order because Screwmatics makes so many different parts with thousands of different part numbers. They had trouble in the past keeping track of the actual costs and sales of just the plating division.

Eagle Grinding and Plating, a long-time user of the E2 shop system, faced a situation where a customer needed repairs done quickly. However, the person who handled the order had passed away and their records were incomplete. The customer was hoping that Eagle Grinding had the necessary information on the job. This was not an isolated incident, and similar situations had occurred on several occasions.

The challenge was to provide an easy way for audio professionals to integrate Dolby Atmos into their projects without changing their existing workflows. Dolby Atmos, a new sound format, needed to be introduced in a manner that would allow sound experts to creatively place and move sound anywhere. The integration had to be seamless and compatible with Pro Tools and Apple products, which are widely used by content creators globally. The solution had to be simple enough to enable rapid adoption among stakeholders in the cinema industry.

Jack Victor, an international men's fashion company, faced the challenge of maintaining high-quality production while managing costs and meeting growing demand. The company was committed to keeping its operations in Canada, which necessitated upgrading to advanced technology to stay competitive. The management team sought a technological partner that could provide solutions to enhance their manufacturing process, ensuring product quality and customer service while respecting the company's traditional values.

Ese.Y, a leading manufacturer in the women's pants category in China, faced the challenge of adapting to the rapidly growing consumer demand for fashion and the rise of e-commerce. The company needed to transition to intelligent manufacturing to create a more agile supply chain and handle small-batch production orders. The unpredictable peaks in demand and the millennial preference for personalized products required a more flexible setup than traditional, order-based production. During the 'Double 11' festival in 2016, Ese.Y's Tmall.com store clocked RMB 10 million in sales in just 20 minutes, highlighting the need for an agile production setup to handle such spikes in orders.

Providing high-quality products to the at-home baker and the industrial baking industry involved complex processes that didn’t match current software features. Using discrete manufacturing software was causing production delays and limiting their ability to use batch manufacturing, or formula manufacturing, to satisfy customer needs. Tracking ingredients, multiple packaging options, and configuring production schedules based on formulas was a challenge. Controlled material requirement planning was difficult, there were multiple users entering transactions that generated volumes of data, and there was no consistent way to collect and store component attributes. Clabber Girl’s business was growing, and operations were becoming more complex. With an aggressive business plan, Clabber Girl needed real-time data to make the crucial decisions to drive growth.