Industrial Air Centers Inc
"WennSoft was able to get the lay of the land, see the strengths and weaknesses of our need."
Scott Carpenter
Vice President of Finance for Industrial Air Centers
Industrial Air Centers (IAC) is a leading provider for industrial compressed air equipment, maintenance services and energy management systems. IAC has distinguished itself by approaching compressed air as one of industry's most critical resources. They also see air as a significant cost component which the competitive industrial plant must control. IAC was founded in 1991 by individuals who combined strong backgrounds in the air compressor industry with substantial engineering insight, extensive experience in industrial business operation and strategic planning. IAC has assembled a team of professionals that is unparalleled in the industry, presently offering combined experience in the areas of operations, engineering, service and sales exceeding 100 years in the industrial environment.
Transitioning Software Systems
IAC used to rely on two software packages to manage their business. They used an accounting package to do purchasing, payroll, inventory, sales-order processing, etc. They also created an in-house system for managing their service and job costing needs. Their system was good at reporting and doing the accounting after the work was completed, however, it didn’t provide any information to help IAC’s management team predict, manage, plan and trend actual performance in the service environment. Their old system also didn’t have the functionality to facilitate service-contract work, which had become a bigger part of IAC’s business strategy.
IAC’s president knew there had to be a more effective service solution to enable them to better serve their customers and to have all of their service departments run more professionally and accurately.
“We needed to get away from having a solution that was basically an accounting, invoice and payroll generation system to having a solution that would enable us to proactively manage our service work,” said Scott Carpenter, Vice President of Finance for IAC.
They decided to switch to WennSoft Service Management Series and Equipment Management Series. Service Management Series is a solution that improves organizations’ field service by capturing service calls, dispatching assignments, tracking resolutions and managing contracts. Equipment Management Series is a solution that maximizes the utilization, life and cost of an organization’s equipment and assets by managing all related information including purchasing, selling, rental and maintenance.
IAC worked with Price Data Systems, a Microsoft Dynamics Gold Certified partner, to transition to the WennSoft solution. Price Data Systems specializes in providing accounting and ERP solutions based upon Microsoft Dynamics GP and Dynamics NAV, as well as xRM solutions built on Microsoft Dynamics CRM. Price Data Systems also provides data analysis, design and development services for those businesses which need additional functionality that falls outside of the Dynamics spectrum of solutions.
A Logical, Structured Implementation Approach
On September 25, members of IAC’s implementation team met with representatives of WennSoft to plan the implementation.
“WennSoft’s approach was logical, structured and organized,” said Carpenter. WennSoft gave IAC’s implementation team a thorough understanding of how the WennSoft software solutions function, and also provided advice on configuration and implementation choices. This input was critical, because IAC – like any company implementing new software – wanted to make sure they wouldn’t have to reconfigure six months after going live.
“WennSoft did a nice job explaining the configuration choices we had, which helped us make the right configuration choice,” said Carpenter. “WennSoft was able to get the lay of the land, see the strengths and weaknesses of our implementation team and adjust their normal approach to suit our needs.”
Minimizing the Stress of Implementation
Transitioning to a new software system can be a stressful time for an organization. IAC’s implementation team realized that in order to be successful, they needed an implementation path that was as simple as possible.
The implementation team took several measures to minimize the organization’s stress. Prior to exposing the new software to the user community, they tested and retested the system to ensure they had everything correctly configured.
They also worked hard to create familiarity between the old and new systems. They spent time talking with employees so they could get a firm grasp on common terminology and incorporate it into the new system.
“We went to great lengths to make the data elements look the same as they did in the old system – whether it’s a label on an inventory site or customer number – so people had a familiarity once they started working with the new system,” said Carpenter.
Finally, they worked hard to create a simple transition. During the weekend prior to the go-live date, they populated the new system with inventory, customers, receivables, payroll, work-in-progress, etc. “We made the conversion over the weekend so everything was ready to go on Monday morning,” said Carpenter.
Improving Communication Throughout the Process IAC’s implementation team knew it was essential to find a method for managing all the moving details associated with the project. To help, they built a Microsoft SharePoint site where information and documents could be posted and everyone on the implementation team had access to it. “The SharePoint site prevented any of the implementation activities from falling through the cracks,” said Carpenter.
The SharePoint site had another benefit. It provided general users with a vehicle for communicating information to the implementation team. Employees using the new software were able to post any issues they experienced, and check on status of various changes, fixes and projects. “We wanted to communicate to the users that the individual issues they experienced with the system were being addressed, and our SharePoint system allowed us to do that,” said Carpenter. “People know their thoughts are recorded and can see that they are being acted upon.”
SharePoint has also helped IAC communicate across company offices. Carpenter said that staff members
working remotely or at a branch office don’t always see the progress made at their corporate
headquarters, so it’s important to provide them with visibility on the project.
Effective Go Live
The efforts of IAC’s implementation team paid off as they had a successful go live. In the first 7 business
days after going live, IAC was able to many things including:
- Posted and processed 100% of sales order Invoices for all parts and equipment
that were physically shipped
- Open 100% of service calls
- 90% of their accounting business processes up-and-running
- 75% of their service division processes up-and-running
Carpenter attributes IAC’s successful implementation to three things: understanding the major components of the IAC’s business, the staff member’s positive attitudes and the owner’s patience.
“A combination of good people and a vision that we’re going to succeed really helped create a successful go live. Our entire workforce was open and willing to learn without pushing back on installing a new
system,” said Carpenter. “It’s a credit to them that people were excited, they knew it was going to be a challenge and there would be some difficult times, but they had faith that it was going to be worth it in the long run.”
“Our ownership also deserves a lot of credit as they were supportive through the process,” said Carpenter. “They had the foresight to know that it needed to be done correctly and they gave us the time we needed.”
To learn more about how WennSoft Solutions can have a similar impact on your organization, please contact us at 262-821-4100 or info@wennsoft.com.