Quality Assurance at leading clothing retailer Edcon (Edgars, CNA, Boardmans, Jet, Jetmart) has taken on a whole new dimension with the implementation of a sophisticated workflow and business intelligence solution that was developed by Edcon's Microsoft applications development partner 3fifteen.
The Horizon system was developed specifically to deliver a host of productivity enhancing solutions to the Edcon Group. 3fifteen recently upgraded Edcon's legacy QA system onto its Microsoft.Net platform.
According to 3fifteen programme manager Esme Alberts, the system was designed to enable managers to evaluate and track the quality of merchandise to be sold in stores countrywide. "For example, each product type is subjected to a rigorous quality evaluation for a host of factors ranging from colourfastness and shrinkage, product construction and how well clothing fits the body, to testing the functionality of products such as electrical goods."
As thousands of fabric samples and products are evaluated monthly, the system is required to track these evaluations and be readily accessible for comparative purposes should a problem be found at a later date.
Horizon also serves as a problem-logging repository. Complaints from customers can be evaluated to determine the type of issue raised, whether it relates to a specific manufacturer or a specific fabric type. This is one of a number of ways that Horizon enables Edcon Quality Assurance Department to quickly detect whether quality from a specific supplier is declining.
Edcon Quality assurance executive manager No"el Paulson says the Business Intelligence capabilities of the system have been sharpened in this phase of the project. "We are delighted with the ease-of-use of Horizon. It has not only provided us with increased quality assurance processes on line, but we now have a valuable management tool in terms of the extensive amount of information captured and stored in the Horizon database."
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3fifteen is a 100% focused Microsoft applications solutions development company in which Dimension Data SA, through Protocol, has taken a 45% stake.
3fifteen is one of the first Microsoft partners in South Africa to achieve Microsoft Gold Certified Partner status in two competencies, Integrated E-Business Solutions and Information Worker Solutions. 3fifteen has met the rigorous new conditions introduced as part of the global software vendor's revamped partner certification programme.
3fifteen has been awarded the 'Integrated e-Business Solutions Partner of the Year 2005 Award' by Microsoft. 3fifteen was also nominated in three other categories including the Customer Experience Award, the Winning Customers Award and the Information Worker Solutions Award.
Key to its success, 3fifteen believes companies with niche market needs are often not satisfied with packaged products because desired specifications are rarely met. Therefore, at the heart of 3fifteen's offering is the ability to deliver customised application developments, tailored solutions that add value throughout the customer's core business and provide companies with a crucial competitive advantage.
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