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The
following is an article featured on IBM's "Global Small and
Medium Business" intranet site:
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BFRich,
a manufacturer of custom window and door systems, converted its
antiquated Wang accounting system to a new, streamlined system in
order to gain access to more timely order and billing information.
It got just what it needed from Friedman Corp., an independent
software vendor (ISV) and long-time IBM business partner.
BFRich
wanted a solution that offered speed, simplicity and ease of use
for both its employees and dealers, said Clay Chianese, BFRich director
of information systems. BFRich, with 250 employees, evaluated
several enterpise resource planning packages (ERP) and hardware
computer systems in 1997 before making its choice.
The
Newark, DE-based company ultimately selected the IBM iSeries server,
running DB2 and a software solution, called Frontier ERP, the flagship
product from Friedman Corp., of Deerfield, IL.
"We
were jumping through hoops with the old system," said Chianese.
Order processing was done in batches and could take overnight. With
Friedman's ERP software solution, orders can be processed within
seconds; and the building of orders can now be scheduled within
minutes. "We have a fairly quick turnaround time now without
impacting the business," he said.
Friedman
Corp. awarded BFRich the Pursuit of Excellence Award for its software
implementation. Chianese is pleased with the service from Friedman
Corp. and his IBM reseller servicing the IBM iSeries. "I
am the IS department," Chianese noted. "We deliver on
what is promised. The same
thing
we deliver to our customers is what I expect from our vendors."
Chianese
is seeing the payback with Friedman's ERP solution in better employee
productivity. With the old system, three people were needed to
process orders. Now, with the Friedman Frontier ERP solution,
85 percent of the orders are processed by one person, freeing other
employees to provide better customer service. "The system
has also paid for itself in intangibles,
with the ability to respond to our customers quickly," Chianese
said. "We now have a system that will support growth."
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i
Series is a trademark of International Business Machines Corporation.
DB2 is a registered trademark of International Business Machines
Corporation. All others are trademarks or registered trademarks
of their respective companies.
Jennifer
Kinsmann
Developer
Relations Communications
IBM
Software Group
Route
100 - Somers, NY 10589
Phone:
(914) 766-1021/ tie-line 826-1021
E-mail:
kinsmann@us.ibm.com
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