FinThrive provides end-to-end revenue management services to healthcare organizations through their leading software platform.

HEADQUARTERS
Plano, TX

INDUSTRY
Technology, Healthcare

CUSTOMERS
4,000+ customers across
the United States

WEBSITE
finthrive.com

Introduction and Challenge

FinThrive’s leading healthcare revenue management SaaS platform assists healthcare organizations to increase revenue, reduce costs, expand cash collections, and ensure regulatory compliance. Their platform provides end-to-end solutions for hospitals to process claims and receive payments.

As FinThrive began to grow they realized their accounting software wasn’t keeping up. “We were using outdated accounting software that was no longer supported and required us to write custom scripts to run specialized reports. This process was time-consuming, and only a couple people had extensive knowledge of the system. We needed a system that could improve our efficiency and minimize the need for customizations. It needed to be easily understood by the entire team, including future employees, and provide real-time access to company data. That’s why we decided to switch to NetSuite,” said Dan Villas, Corporate Controller at FinThrive.

The NetSuite and Strategic Integrated Solution

Acquisitions

In 2021, FinThrive began executing their aggressive growth plan through targeted acquisitions. By being proactive and implementing NetSuite years earlier, they had a better understanding of their financial data and were able to seamlessly integrate the acquired companies, so they could quickly analyze the impact of these acquisitions on the bottom line.

“Strategic Information Group helped us seamlessly integrate newly acquired companies into our NetSuite instance. Even when we acquired a company that was our same size and had custom billing software, Strategic was able to develop an integration solution; so we could replicate their custom pricing and invoicing within NetSuite,” said Dan.

Personalizations

As their company grew and processes got more complicated, FinThrive recognized some areas where personalized solutions could increase their efficiency and productivity. For example, Strrategic developed a entity-wide cash application tool for FinThrive.

“Strategic Information Group has been incredibly helpful in tailoring NetSuite to fit our specific needs. They take the time to understand our unique business and process challenges. With their extensive knowledge of NetSuite, they are aware of its limitations and are able to think outside the box to develop creative solutions through personalizations and Strategic NetSuite Extensions that further enhance its functionality,” said Dan.

NetSuite, unlike FinThrive’s prior financial software, is created for personalization without impacting its core functionality. Personalizations are made only to the interface and do not modify the underlying code. This approach ensures there is no version lock, and users can take advantage of NetSuite’s updates without losing their custom settings.

“Strategic Information Group has been incredibly helpful in tailoring NetSuite to fit our specific needs. They take the time to understand our unique business and process challenges. With their extensive knowledge of NetSuite, they are aware of its limitations and are able to think outside the box to develop creative solutions.”

Dan Villas,
FinThrive

Billing, Invoicing & Asset Management

Billing and invoicing for SaaS companies is often complicated because sales teams want flexibility in how they sell and bill, whereas billing systems want rigid rules. Having a system that can accommodate both is rare, but Strategic rose to the challenge and developed a personalized solution for FInThrive using Billfinity and A/R Toolkit. This solution seamlessly integrates the various products and billing rules from FinThrive’s acquired companies, along with improved invoice distribution. It is robust, yet easy to maintain regularly.

“Strategic’s NetSuite Team was able to personalize Billfinity and A/R Toolkit to handle our complicated overage billing and custom invoicing. Our customers pay monthly subscriptions, but sometimes exceed their monthly usage. With Strategic’s Billfinity overage fees are automatically separated from the subscription fee and listed on the invoice. Additionally, A/R Toolkit allows us to send separate invoices to different contacts within one customer record, which is helpful because many of our customers have multiple subscriptions. Strategic Billfinity correctly calculates and creates invoices while Strategic’s A/R Toolkit distributes the invoices to the correct recipients. These combined automated processes save us so much time each month,” said Dan.

FinThrive also implemented EZ Assets to easily manage their software development costs without having to implement a complicated, expensive solution. “ They tailored EZ Assets to meet our software development needs. They created a personalized solution that allows us to create projects, track developer time, apply standard labor costs, and capitalize software development costs,” added Dan.

On-Going Support

“The Strategic Customer Care Plan is a major improvement from our previous solution support provider. With Strategic, we no longer experience slow response times or deal with a support team located in India. Strategic has SaaS clients like us, so they understand our challenges. Their consultants are excellent at collaborating with us to find solutions for complex problems and how to implement them in NetSuite. We have regular status meetings to discuss ongoing projects, and they provide training for both new and existing employees to fully utilize NetSuite’s capabilities,” said Dan.

Uncommon James provides timeless jewelry, skin care, home goods, apparel and accessories in store locations and online through their website and other retailers.

HEADQUARTERS
Nashville, TN

OTHER LOCATIONS
Chicago, IL
Dallas, TX

INDUSTRIES
Retail

WEBSITE
uncommonjames.com

Introduction and Challenge

Uncommon James is a jewelry retailer with a flagship store in Nashville, brick and mortar locations across the country, and a strong online sales presence. Founded in 2017 by reality star, Kristin Cavallari, the company is internationally recognized and has experienced rapid growth in its first years of business.

With rapid growth comes challenges. Uncommon James grew so quickly that they outgrew their starter systems in record time. Their initial systems couldn’t handle the drastic increase in orders and inventory or the needed integrations with Amazon and other retailers. The systems provided little automation and didn’t have the capability to scale up to the level Uncommon James needed.

“As with any organization that has gone through the level of growth we’ve recently experienced, we had to do a great deal of pivoting and that ultimately led us to signing up for NetSuite,” said Ryan Evans, Director of Finance with Uncommon James.

The Strategic Solution

“When we first jumped into NetSuite, we decided to take more of an independent approach to implementation. That was not the right answer. We found out quickly we needed a partner and thank goodness we found Strategic Information Group. I cannot say enough good things about Strategic. They really understand what the word partner means. This partnership has been one of the best business decisions we’ve made,” Ryan said.

Not realizing the complexity of connecting NetSuite to all of a company’s moving parts, many businesses take an “out-of-the-box” approach, working with a provider who gathers basic setup/config information without taking full end-to-end processes into account (including integrations). Once NetSuite is configured, they turn the customer loose to manage the rest on their own.

In Uncommon James’ case, “We were managing the set-up and relationships with third party partners (add-ons to NetSuite to increase functionality) ourselves, which was difficult since we were new to NetSuite and didn’t know which add-ons would work best for our specific business needs,” Ryan added.

The Strategic True Partner Approach

When Strategic entered the picture, our experienced NetSuite consultants embarked on the Uncommon James project using our true partner approach, essentially becoming an extension of their team.

We worked with Uncommon James to define the optimal end-to-end processes, developed a project plan, and then co-managed the deployment of the plan with them — incorporating both NetSuite and third-party partners. This true partner approach, where we focus on end-to-end process optimization and manage the entire engagement (including third parties and data) as an extension of the customer’s team, ensures alignment with all parties and is what separates Strategic from most other partners.

Customer Care and Ongoing Support

“Strategic helped us streamline our order, inventory, and cash management by implementing NetSuite’s automation tools or by recommending and coordinating third party products that would work better for our unique needs,” Ryan said.

After everything was up and running, Uncommon James transitioned to a Customer Care Plan, which includes an annual system health check and business process review to ensure they are getting the most out of their NetSuite investment and it’s optimized to meet their needs as their business continues to evolve and grow.

“They continue to help us get the most out of NetSuite by advising us on how to increase efficiencies, introducing us to relevant add-ons, or providing education on updates and new features. We know we can count on them to help us if we run into issues with our ERP system and have exhausted all our efforts. It’s been a fantastic experience working with each and every one of their team members,” Ryan added.

“Strategic really understands what the word partner means. It’s been a fantastic experience working with each and every one of their team members. Our partnership with Strategic was one of the best business decisions we’ve made.”

Ryan Evans,
Uncommon James

Waystar's market-leading technology simplifies and unifies healthcare payments.

HEADQUARTERS
Louisville, KY
Atlanta, GA
Salt Lake City, UT

INDUSTRY
Healthcare, Technology

CLIENTS
Waystar serves 500,000 providers, 1,000 health systems and hospitals, and 5,000 payers and health plans.

WEBSITE
waystar.com

Introduction and Challenge

Waystar's cloud-based platform helps healthcare providers across all care settings streamline key administrative workflows, improve financial performance and bring more transparency to the patient financial experience.

As a growing SaaS technology and revenue cycle management company for medical providers, Waystar was in need of a more efficient way to manage their accounts receivables and mounting customer requests. With their client base rapidly growing, they knew they needed to look for a system that could handle clients' specialized needs and contracted rates, as well as scale with Waystar as their business continued to grow and evolve. While NetSuite was able to accommodate many of their business and accounting challenges, there was still a gap within A/R and customer support and Waystar knew they needed a more robust solution to automate processes and continue to provide the best service to their clients.

The Strategic Solution

Waystar was looking for a permanent solution, not a band-aid, to their accounting and business challenges. They wanted a product that worked inside of Netsuite, was flexible to address their unique invoice process and customer needs, and lightened the load of their current accounting team.

"We had been handling collections and customer support cases manually for 10 years. With our rapid growth, this no longer worked and things needed to change. We are fanatically focused on a great customer experience at every single touch point - and that's why we wanted to make an investment to improve/optimize this A/R process for our clients." said Jennifer Sciborski, Collections Manager with Waystar.

After deciding to partner with Strategic Information Group to evaluate a solution for their collections and customer support needs, Waystar implemented a bundled solution - the A/R Toolkit and the Customer Portal, both designed to work directly within NetSuite.

Strategic A/R Toolkit

The Strategic A/R Toolkit has improved Waystar's previously manual processes, by customizing their billing and establishing dunning/collections to target clients that are past due on invoices. "Dunning is huge for us because it allows us to process more data and invoices faster and with increased accuracy - all without having to hire additional staff," Jennifer added.

"It's the best implementation I've ever had, with any vendor. It's been a true team effort, and we owe so much to Strategic for improving our efficiency and making us self sufficient."

Jennifer Sciborski
Waystar

Strategic Customer Portal

In addition to increased efficiency with their AR processes, Waystar has also experienced significant improvements with regards to their customer communications and support with the Strategic Customer Portal. "As an accounting team, we have established KPIs set to ensure our customers are receiving the best possible service. As part of these KPIs, our goal is to provide our customers with the ability to self-service their account, and the Strategic Customer Portal is the ideal solution for this," Jennifer said.

According to Jennifer, everything that was previously managed manually is now automated through the Strategic Customer Portal. "When a client needs a copy of an invoice, the Customer Portal gives them everything they need to access their account 24 hours a day, 7 days a week," Jennifer added.

In addition to providing customers with the ability to self-service, the Strategic Customer Portal has also allowed Waystar the ability to streamline and manage customer support cases. "In the past, we were managing one email inbox for all customer requests and knew we needed more efficiency. The Strategic Customer Portal allows us to streamline the support process and also provide more visibility to management through improved reporting from data in the portal. This is a huge win for our team and also our clients," Jennifer said.

Results

Jennifer added that both NetSuite Extenions have helped significantly with staff morale. "The volume of our requests were growing at a pace beyond what the department could handle. Having this technology and automation in place is helpful to everyone in the organization and keeps everyone sane and happy," said Jennifer.

"We've been very pleased with Strategic’s responsiveness. They always address our needs quickly and help us prioritize what is most important. They are great about listening to customer feedback and adding enhancements."

Jennifer Sciborski
Waystar

Strong Systems International is a leading North American systems integrator of security systems and network communications.

HEADQUARTERS
Atlanta, GA

INDUSTRY
Technology

CUSTOMERS
Serves over 2,000 customers and handles approximately 8,500 calls per month with remote technicians.

WEBSITE
strongsystems.com

Introduction and Challenge

Strong Systems International provides system integration services bringing together security and network technologies and ensuring those technologies perform to expectation. They protect businesses by limiting their liability, improving processes and profitability, and enhancing employee and public safety.

For 30+ years, Strong Systems has provided customized technology solutions for clients by listening to their unique business situations and needs. So, it was easy for them to recognize when their own accounting system was no longer working for them. They were using QuickBooks with custom integrations; it was only covering the accounting basics and was holding their business back.

“Our accounting was accurate, but we didn’t have access to financial details in a timely manner, so we couldn’t make informed business decisions quickly. Anytime we needed more insight or functionality from QuickBooks we built a solution ourselves, which cost us time and money — resources that would have been better spent on running our business. We realized we needed a more comprehensive financial management solution that didn’t require custom work for every issue we encountered,” said Chris Verch, President of Strong Systems.

The NetSuite and Strategic Integrated Solution

NetSuite’s cloud-based, comprehensive financial and business management platform was a perfect fit for Strong Systems. With all the features they needed already built into NetSuite, they no longer had to write code for workarounds. “NetSuite’s built in functionality has saved our team tremendous time. By automating many functions through NetSuite, we’ve experienced increased efficiencies in our financial processes, allowing us more time to focus on the business,” said Chris.

Like Strong Systems, Strategic Information Group specializes in helping companies improve processes and profitability through integrated technology solutions, but on the financial management side of the business. “Having similar philosophies, we felt Strategic was the best firm to implement NetSuite for our business. The Strategic NetSuite team has been a great partner — not only do they understand NetSuite, but they have strong backgrounds in accounting and business fundamentals,” Chris added.

“Working with Strategic was an easy decision because they clearly communicated the benefits of NetSuite. They listened to us explain our pain points, provided valuable best practice insights, and developed a comprehensive solution to address our unique requirements.”

Richard Verch,
Strong Systems

Company Impact

Access to Real-Time Data

Because NetSuite provides real-time data across the entire business, Strong Systems is able to make informed business decisions faster. “Now that our financial information is tightly integrated across all company disciplines, we can trust the data is accurate, giving us better insight into our company results and allowing us to react faster. We can see which areas of our company are the most profitable and maximize those areas, and on the filp side, make informed decisions about areas that aren’t performing as well,“ said Chris.

Increased Efficiencies Through Automation

To extend NetSuite’s functionality, Strong Systems implemented A/R Toolkit and Billfinity. Through Billfinity, Strong Systems now fully automates their monthly subscription invoicing process and automatically amortizes the related revenue. This process was previously done manually, and it was prone to error.

The A/R Toolkit allows Strong Systems to create consolidated invoices for some customers, automate invoice delivery, and automatically follow up on outstanding invoices. A/R Toolkit has helped Strong Systems decrease the time invoices remain unpaid and has removed many previously manual processes.

Cloud-Based Benefits

NetSuite’s cloud-based infrastructure allows Strong Systems’ project managers, who are located across the U.S., to access real-time client account information from any computer at any location. “With 2,000 clients, our project managers need to be able to access specific project related information while in the field to effectively manage their client load. Through NetSuite permissions, we can give our employees access to the information they need while keeping confidential company data private,” said Chris.

On-Going Support

“NetSuite is a robust software, and after implementation, Strategic was always there to guide us through our challenges and provide quick solutions and training when we needed it. Now that we’ve used NetSuite for several years, we are more comfortable with the day-to-day, but we still rely on Strategic for help with advanced tasks and special projects. We appreciate the long-term relationship we’ve built with their experienced and knowledgeable team,” said Chris.

Mental Health Cooperative supports adults with serious mental illnesses and children struggling with emotional or behavioral challenges to live quality lives in their community through state-of-the-art treatment and support.

HEADQUARTERS
Nashville, TN

OTHER LOCATIONS
13 locations across Tennessee

INDUSTRY
Healthcare, Nonprofit

WEBSITE
mhc-tn.org

Introduction and Challenge

Mental Health Cooperative (MHC) is a Tennessee-based healthcare provider that offers innovative, trauma informed, and person-centered behavioral health services for children, adolescents, and adults. In addition, they operate a primary care clinic and a representative payee program.

Growing Pains

“As we started to grow and expand our services, it became clear very quickly that inefficient processes and a lack of visibility into the organization were holding us back in several key areas of the business. When we started to see stuck batches and data loss, it was a sign that we needed to modernize our business as quickly as possible,” said Jenifer Felts, MHC’s Controller.

MHC was experiencing significant system limitations while operating their business on an outdated version of Microsoft Dynamics GP and knew it was time for a change. “When faced with the decision to upgrade our Microsoft GP to a current version or migrate to a true-cloud ERP system, it was an easy decision. Upgrading to a newer version of Microsoft GP wasn’t going to accomplish much because we would still lack the robust functionality that we needed to operate our business efficiently. And, the complexity of involving IT in daily tasks would still be there,” said Jenifer.

Time for a New ERP

With their complexity of service offerings, it was critical that the new system could accommodate the unique requirements within each of those areas.

“We have a reputation for being one of the most flexible payee programs in the state and we needed a system to help us maintain and even exceed that level of service to our clients and patients”, said Jimmy Johnson, MHC’s Representative Payee Manager. “With Microsoft Dynamics GP, reporting had become cumbersome and there was a lot of room for inaccuracy due to disconnected systems. We needed an efficient way to provide solid financials to our team so that we could better plan for future growth and serve our patients,” Jimmy added. In addition to internal reporting, MHC also needed to better track expenses and provide accurate Social Security reporting related to their representative payee program.

The need for system flexibility, robust functionality, increased efficiency, improved business processes, and easy version updates led MHC to NetSuite. “Having worked with Strategic before, we knew they had extensive accounting and business knowledge in addition to NetSuite expertise, so it was an easy decision for us to partner with them again,” said Jenifer.

The Strategic Partnership Approach to NetSuite

NetSuite Implementation

MHC was impressed with how Strategic made NetSuite work for their business as opposed to manipulating MHC processes to make them fit the software. “They went above and beyond to understand our business needs to make sure the software aligned with those needs and made several out-of-the box suggestions to address our unique challenges. Having the right partner on your side will not only make your life easier during implementation, but will also position your business for long-term success. That kind of partnership is invaluable,” said Jimmy.

Post Go-Live and Training

MHC knew it was critical to have a post go-live plan in place. “It was important to us that we have a partner who was not only committed during implementation, but that would also remain dedicated post go-live. From experience, I know it’s inevitable that issues arise during post go-live, and having a proactive partner can make all the difference. Strategic was aware of our big milestones as a business and they were very intentional about alerting us to any potential issues,” said Jenifer.

Transition to Strategic Customer Care Plan (a.k.a. “The Easy Button”)

After immediate post go-live assistance, MHC transition to a Strategic Customer Care Plan to ensure the long-term health of their NetSuite software and business. “We knew from the beginning that if we were going to invest in NetSuite, we wanted to do everything we could to make sure it was operating as efficiently as possible. We love the convenience of having Strategic as the NetSuite experts while we do our day jobs. The Customer Care Plan is our “easy button” and it is worth it,” said Jenifer.

Client Success

It’s been several years since MHC implemented NetSuite, and they are continuing to realize the tremendous benefits. “In addition to decreased operating costs, our need to hire additional staff went away because our improved business processes replaced previously manual tasks. The ability to increase our client base without additional hiring expenses is a big win for a service-based organization,” said Jenifer.

According to Jimmy, the efficiencies gained are not limited to their internal processes. Clients are much happier with the turnaround time on checks being issued. The time consuming process of fixing errors and voiding checks has been eliminated, and clients now have more visibility into the status of their finances. “This increased client satisfaction is more than I could have hoped for. When a client is happy with our services and it makes their life easier, all of the hard work becomes worth it,” said Jimmy.

“Having the right partner on your side will not only make your life easier during implementation, but will also position your business for long-term success. That kind of partnership is invaluable.”

Jimmy Johnson,
Mental Health Cooperative

ABS signed up for Strategic’s Customer Care Starter Plan. Strategic started by conducting a NetSuite Health Check and Business Process Review for ABS to determine if their NetSuite software was optimized to operate as efficiently as possible. After reporting on their results, ABS signed up for a full Customer Care Plan and Strategic/ABS together embarked on a project to ensure they were getting the most out of their NetSuite investment.

“Strategic has helped us in many ways to achieve efficient workflows in NetSuite that we never knew could be possible. An entire shift in process improvement has been achieved. Strategic has a great amount of technical knowledge of NetSuite as well as creative problem-solving abilities. We have had an excellent experience working with Strategic, and they always provide outstanding client service to our team,” said Cheri Miller, Vice President of Business Development and Operations
with Analytical Biological Services.

Worldwide Innovations and Technologies (WIT) is a US-based medium-size medical device manufacturer specializing in radiation protection gear used by doctors during procedures where scatter radiation is present. Its flagship product, RADPAD, is sold worldwide through a network of distributors and has earned an industry leadership position over the last 20 years. When WIT needed help choosing and implementing its new ERP, it turned to Strategic’s expert consultants to guide them through the process. To learn more about the Strategic and WIT’s partnership, click the button to view the case study pdf, or download the case study infographic.

CHALLENGE

To keep pace with an extended period of rapid growth, WIT realized it needed to modernize its internal systems with an ERP. The company was using disparate accounting and manufacturing systems and found it was having problems with data integrity. Having recently experienced a failed ERP implementation, WIT turned to Strategic to help both choose a solution and work side-by-side throughout the implementation to ensure success.

SOLUTION

Strategic first introduced WIT to QAD, whom they had not come across previously in their search. Given QAD’s extensive experience in the medical device field, WIT became interested, and Strategic scheduled a site visit to a QAD customer. Impressed with what they saw, WIT dug into the due diligence process, and from there, Strategic guided them through a timely and successful implementation.

RESULT

From launch day forward, WIT has been delighted with the results. As their use of QAD grows and evolves, Strategic provides ongoing support and acts as a liaison between QAD and WIT to quickly resolve issues. As they bring new departments to further growth, WIT looks to Strategic’s SMEs to ensure they gain the most value from their ERP investment with expert consulting, training, and guidance. Especially valuable to WIT is Strategic’s extensive ERP and software validation expertise.  As performance and functional requirements change, WIT relies on Strategic to identify any gaps and mitigate risks going forward.

Detroit Chassis, based in Detroit, Michigan, is a US assembler of niche vehicles and RV and commercial truck chassis for Ford Motor Company. A certified minority-owned business, Detroit Chassis manufactures products to OEM standards and incorporates the latest lean manufacturing strategies with flexible manufacturing systems. To learn more about the Strategic and Detroit Chassis partnership, click the button to view the case study pdf, or download the case study infographic by clicking below.

CHALLENGE

Like any lean manufacturer, Detroit Chassis is always seeking new ways to improve operational efficiencies. Although Detroit Chassis has relied on its QAD 2007 SE ERP system for many years, its reporting capabilities were coming up short, requiring staff to run QAD’s standard reports, then entering the data into Excel to enable a satisfactory reporting format for management.

SOLUTION

Detroit Chassis partnered with Strategic Information Group to assist in the implementation of Phocas Analytics which delivers multiple layers of reporting, KPI tracking, ad hoc business intelligence, and do it yourself administration. The addition of Strategic’s Phocas Adaptor ensures timely synchronization between QAD and Phocas, enabling the Detroit Chassis team to readily deliver monthly reports in the formats required by management.

RESULT

Strategic only needed a few weeks to complete the implementation, and after a few hours of training time, the Detroit Chassis team was off and running with the solution. The time and costs savings to the Detroit Chassis team are impressive: 60 hour per month time savings—saving the company about $40,000 in labor costs annually.

Endura Products is a US manufacturer of quality components for entry door systems, designed to enhance performance, save time, eliminate service calls, and cut costs. Distributing throughout the United States and Canada, Endura leads the industry in delivering the highest level of component performance, always innovating ways to make doors work not just better—but smarter. To learn more about the Strategic and Endura partnership, click the button to view the case study pdf, or download the case study infographic.

CHALLENGE

Like most successful companies, Endura Products is always seeking ways to best use company talent to drive growth. But when running a lean manufacturing organization, that can be difficult. Over time, it became clear that Endura’s small IT team needed to offload system administration, database administration, and QAD ERP administration to enable it to focus on higher-value work.  

SOLUTION

Endura Products partnered with the Strategic Information Group’s Managed Services team and signed up for MSERV. Strategic’s expert team quickly became an extension of the Endura Products IT organization, taking over 24/7 system maintenance and oversight of Endura’s QAD ERP environment, ensuring it was always one hundred percent available for all integrated systems. 

RESULT

The Strategic MSERV team delivered Endura Products a dedicated team of experts and peace of mind. Now when a system incident happens, the MSERV team has it covered. This frees Endura’s IT leadership to focus on coordinating with internal departments to keep business moving. Strategic also meets monthly with Endura to review metrics and discuss opportunities to optimize system performance—and company success. 

Second Sight designs, manufactures, and sells a retinal prosthesis that restores vision. The company was founded in 1998 with the engineering goal of providing sight to subjects blinded from outer retinal degenerations, such as retinitis pigmentosa. The company began by creating a first generation product to prove feasibility of the concept. The second generation device, which would later be commercialized, was created and went into clinical trials in 2006. Commercialization began in Europe in 2011 and the U.S. and Canada in 2014.

CHALLENGE

Second Sight first installed QAD Enterprise Applications Standard Edition (SE) in 2007 and upgraded to the 2009 SE version. In 2014, several company employees attended a QAD user group meeting and realized it would be very beneficial to modernize their system.

Second Sight has also been using Strategic Information Group (Strategic), a QAD consulting and channel partner, since 2007 and after the team returned from the user group, they requested Strategic do an assessment of their QAD.

SOLUTION

Second Sight’s decision to upgrade to EE was made quickly and preparations for the upgrade began. Pre-conversion work was done by using the detailed instructions in QAD documentation. A collection of tools and utilities was supplied by QAD and checks were done to identify items that might cause problems with the conversion.

RESULTS

Strategic conducted on-site training using a demo database with a focus on financials. QAD supplied training guides and user guides and the training was as hands-on as possible.

Second Sight has realized many benefits from the new functionalities that EE provides. “In many respects, our business needs haven’t changed, but with the EE platform, we are discovering new ways to do things that increase our operational efficiency,” states Little.

Large equipment manufacturer, Art’s Way Manufacturing, relies critically on their QAD ERP system to keep costs down, push productivity up, and continue to deliver the high quality machinery to which its customers have become accustomed since 1953.  When they began to see gaps in efficiency and un-leveraged functionality, it became necessary to put a more comprehensive ERP service agreement into place.

CHALLENGE

Art’s Way Manufacturing’s internal IT person, whose job was supposed to be improving the solutions that the manufacturer leveraged and cutting down on wasted resources, seemed to be lacking in knowledge. There were frequent obstacles presented by the company’s usage of QAD ERP, that were not easily navigated due to the resource’s unfamiliarity with the system.

SOLUTION

Once a network health check was performed, Strategic began to manage the all-important QAD system for Art’s Way. And to help keep these critical QAD databases safe, Strategic implemented after-imaging, which improved backup and ensured data recovery if needed. Under this strategy, Strategic focuses on monitoring the QAD solution, ensuring that Art’s Way Manufacturing can make the most of its use.

RESULTS

With the help of Strategic, Art’s Way Manufacturing has been able to keep their critical solutions maintained and well-managed, catching and resolving potential issues before they can manifest into real problems. Furthermore, the director of manufacturing at Art’s Way, Gene Tonne, was very impressed by the professionalism that was exhibited throughout the business relationship.

Safecor Health is the leading provider of unit-dose medication repackaging services and pharmaceutical products to hospitals and health systems and is a trusted supplier to more than 75% of the U.S. News and World Report “Honor Roll” Hospitals. Safecor Health is a FDA registered pharmaceutical manufacturer and repackager.

CHALLENGE

To meet new FDA regulatory requirements and strict enforcement dates, Safecor Health was facing a capital-intensive project that was not only slated to take nearly 2 years to complete, but would also require standalone applications to run outside of the company’s QAD ERP solution, adding risk, complexity and additional costs to maintain.

SOLUTION

The Strategic Information Group (Strategic) team helped migrate Safecor to its new EDI provider and implemented SIG EDI for inbound and outbound data translation. Strategic then leveraged QAD’s Automation Solutions to configure a complex set of scanning and label-printing transactions capable of generating labels and logging serial data every few seconds.

RESULT

The cost-effective, efficient and integrated solution developed and implemented by Strategic enabled Safecor Health to address a very complex system challenge and meet the government’s Drug Supply Chain Security Act (DSCSA) requirements by the designated deadline. Because the Strategic team configured the solution to consider Safecor Health’s future needs, the company has been able to leverage the solution for other customers it serves in the pharmaceutical contract packaging space.