Double maintenance and resulting errors have been eliminated at Workgroup, since the implementation of Ability`s eCommerce Fulfillment and Financial Management solutions. The specialist software distribution company in the Siltek IT Supply Chain group, and SA`s top Microsoft distributor, now runs a fully integrated financial and distribution system. Online ordering speed has also been drastically improved.
Previously Workgroup was running separate distribution and financial packages. One program ran the general ledger, accounts payable and other financial aspects, while the distribution system ran the operational side. At month-end, the reports generated in the legacy distribution program were used as the basis for journal postings that needed to take place in the financial system. This meant the income statement and balance sheet were not available and accurate until month-end.
Implementation of Ability Solutions` systems began at Workgroup in January 2000 and was completed in April of the same year. All five branches countrywide went live at the same time. There were two phases to the implementation process:
General ledger and cash book, with a `go-live` date of February 1.
Distribution, accounts payable and receivable, scheduled for April 1.
During February and March, Workgroup ran three systems simultaneously: Ability - Financial Management for the general ledger and cashbook, the previous financial program for accounts receivable and payable and the legacy distribution package. The only additional work involved producing journals from both the legacy distribution system and the previous financial program to reflect in the Ability - Financial Management package.
For the April `go-live`, all debtor and creditor account movements since April 1999 were provided in the form of spreadsheets and a file transfer tool called AdaptAbility was used to transfer this external data.
Says Shoaib Patel, managing director of Ability Solutions, "The product master transaction history had to be taken on. This involved an upgrade from the legacy distribution system to Ability - eCommerce Fulfillment, a relatively easy process because, in this case, the database rules were the same; we merely had to copy the records across.
Only those products that had shown movement within the past six months were copied. All others were, and still are, accessed via the legacy distribution system. This decision resulted in the original database of 25 000 products being reduced to 4 500, "a useful streamlining process in itself", says Vaughn Parkin, managing director of Workgroup.
However, product managers were not satisfied with the products being taken across and also input lines that did not exist, so these were automatically placed in a default category. Eventually another 4 000 products were added and categorisations were changed until product managers were satisfied.
Similar challenges were faced with the debtors` master, after which the time window for active dealers was extended to 18 months.
The major advantage for Workgroup, following the Ability implementation, is it now runs a fully integrated financial and distribution system, which cuts out double maintenance and the resultant opportunity for error. It also has real time, anytime income statements and balance sheets accurate to the last transaction.
Now, if a debtor is on hold, the operations system will prevent an invoice from being processed. The same applies to credit limits, which cannot be exceeded. Manual inputting has been done away with: AdaptAbility allows for the automatic processing of spreadsheet format documents in a matter of minutes. In addition, an integrated customer loyalty programme is running according to Workgroup`s specifications.
Parkin says, "The key to the success of the implementation is we maintained all dealings with our customers during this period. We process up to 1 000 invoices a day, so if anything had gone wrong with the system it could have been very detrimental to the business."
After implementation, Workgroup`s website was redesigned to link to the Ability back-end. Now stock availability is reflected in real time and goods are picked and shipped automatically as soon as an order is placed online.
Speed was drastically improved on the site by using Visual Basic Web class technology as opposed to Active Server Pages and HTML. Store procedures and codes were optimised to speed the loading of the price list.
Each customer has a unique login, so the system now automatically identifies pricing parameters per client and which elements of the loyalty programme each user is eligible for.
Says Parkin, "Ongoing development is occurring on the e-commerce system. Some of the new features include online dealer cards and payments, which will allow smaller customers who do not qualify for credit to still be able to do business with us. It`s a flexible system that is customisable and allows us to further develop it as our needs change and our business grows."
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Ability Solutions
Ability Solutions, a subsidiary company of JSE-listed Ixchange, is a leading provider of supply chain optimisation solutions. We help companies accelerate their profitability by providing specialist solutions that address the dynamic needs of businesses in the New Economy. Ability`s flexible, scaleable and robust solutions address the complex problems distributors face as they seek to drive profitable growth. Ability`s solution set includes the Ability - eCommerce Fulfillment, Ability - Inventory Optimization and Ability - Financial Management solutions.
Ability provides targeted solutions intended to guarantee its customers` ability to realise a rapid return on investment as a result of streamlining their supply chain process, improving their operational efficiencies, effectively managing their suppliers and increasing customer satisfaction. Ability has offices worldwide, with headquarters in Atlanta, GA., USA.