Qualitel
Corporation
Updating technology results in big payoff for turnkey
electronics
manufacturer
Overview
In 1999, Qualitel Corporation, a Redmond, Washington-based contract
electronics manufacturer, earned $2.85 million in revenue. Just one year
later, after implementing a new business model and the Intuitive ERP
system, Qualitel's revenue exploded 471 percent to $12.89 million, earning
them a #6 ranking in the Puget Sound Business Journal's "100
Fastest-Growing Private Companies" in Washington State.
The Challenge
Before that 10 million-dollar increase in revenue, Qualitel's revenues
had been growing 30 to 40 percent a year, but their current systems (which
consisted of QuickBooks accounting and a homemade Microsoft Access order
entry system) weren't expandable or comprehensive enough to support new
business strategies, and as a result, Qualitel couldn't keep up with
growing demand.
The Solution
After considering several mid-range ERP packages, Qualitel selected
Intuitive ERP from Intuitive Manufacturing Systems.
Intuitive ERP's one hundred percent Microsoft technology infrastructure
initially prompted Qualitel's decision to implement Intuitive ERP. The
benefits of Intuitive ERP's Microsoft-standardized architecture include an
extremely flexible and easy to use interface and integration with other
Microsoft programs. Also important to Qualitel was Intuitive ERP's high
level of configurability and ease of modification. Combined, these factors
ensure efficient implementation and on-going management of Qualitel's
Intuitive ERP system.
Other contributing factors included Intuitive's low total cost of
ownership, planning and procurement features, and the functionality to
enable a turnkey business strategy. "Our goal was to get a system that
works, is easily implemented, expandable, and easily modified…and that was
met," said Tuanhai Hoang, Qualitel's president.
Qualitel's Results
Implementing Intuitive ERP was a significant step in Qualitel's
strategy to modernize their operations.
In October 2000, Qualitel attended the Intuitive training class. By
November, they had learned and implemented the Intuitive ERP system.
"Every time I show someone how to use the system, I say, 'isn't that
intuitive?'" commented David North, Qualitel's vice-president of business
development, on Intuitive ERP's ease of use. "It helps keep the data
clean. Flow is logical. Every module is consistent and once you know how
to use a portion of the forms, you can use the rest seamlessly."
Implementing Intuitive ERP enabled Qualitel to make a dramatic change
to their business model. In January of 2001, they began entering one
million dollars' worth of turnkey orders. And, instead of relying on
customers to supply materials (as they had done in the past), Qualitel
began to procure and manage their own materials with the planning and
purchasing features of Intuitive ERP, in addition to assembling the
products.
With the infrastructure in place to keep up with new demand, Qualitel
has been able to reduce costs, increase customer satisfaction, shorten
cycle times, and is experiencing faster inventory turns. They can now
forecast demand to suppliers, and even send suppliers forecasts out to a
year. They have dramatically decreased lead times, and increased on-time
delivery to ninety percent, up from thirty percent beforehand. These kinds
of benefits have resulted in increased profitability and have allowed
Qualitel to provide more competitive services to their customers.
Intuitive ERP provided new ways for Qualitel to improve their business
processes. Qualitel can now use multi-level bills of material, something
they weren't able to do before. They implemented Intuitive's Shop Floor
Control module and now utilize bar coding in their operations. Qualitel
was also pleased with how smoothly Intuitive ERP data could be exported to
Microsoft Excel or Word.
Qualitel's Reaction
In addition to the operational and procedural benefits provided by
Intuitive ERP, the most significant measure of Qualitel's success with
their new system was the quadrupling of Qualitel's revenue in just one
year. "A critical part of our goal was to enable ten million in revenue
almost instantaneously, and that was met," said North.
For Qualitel, however, implementing Intuitive ERP was more than just a
way to increase revenue. Enabling new business and growth strategies,
enhancing their technology infrastructure, and integrating their
operations all equals one thing for Qualitel: increasing the value of
their business. "We received a great value from it," said North. "And we
get a lot of value out of the system. The ROI is very high." |
Challenges