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DELTA SHELVING SYSTEMSIntuitive ERP enables future growth for Delta Shelving Systems

CASE STUDY

CASE STUDY DELTA SHELVING SYSTEMS 2

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CUSTOMER DETAILS

Founded in 1984

MTO

Serving warehousing, logistics industries

Manufacturing facilities in Australia and

China

INDUSTRY

Industrial Equipment

APTEAN SOLUTION

Intuitive

CHALLENGES

• Laboriousandtime-consumingengineeringandquotingprocessthat

impactedspeed-to-marketandresponsivenesstocustomers.

• Informationhadtobere-enteredintobillsofmaterial,routingsandwork

orders,causingdata-entryerrorsanddelays.

• Nolinkswereavailabletocheckinventoryorvalidatelabor.

• Thereforeinventorystockswerehighandphysicalcountsalwaysrequired

significant adjustments.

BENEFITS

• Significantsalesandengineeringtimesavings,resultingina50percent

reduction in sales administration and processing overhead, as well as a

dramaticincreaseinquoteturn-aroundtime.

• Increaseininventoryvisibilityandaccuracy,alongwith:

o Inventoryreductionof48percent.

o Currentliabilitiesreductionof18percent.

o Stocktakevariancereductionof83percent.

• Improvedproductionplanningandscheduling,resultingin10percent

reductioninindirectlaborand61percentreductionindirectlabor.

• Significantreductioninoverheadforquotationandorderingprocessesasa

resultofDelta’sEXPRESSITportal,usedformorethan70percentoforder

intake.

• Increasedcustomersatisfactionduetoimprovedproductionandshipping

processes(consistentlydelivering100percentinfull,ontimecompared

withpreviousaverageof80percent).

CASE STUDY DELTA SHELVING SYSTEMS 3

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CHALLENGE: HIGH-DEGREE OF CUSTOMIZATION REQUIRES ADDITIONAL FUNCTIONALITY DeltaShelvingSystems(Delta)isaprivatelyownedmanufacturer

ofshelvingsystemsandwireproductsbasedinSydney.

Foundedin1984,Deltahasbecomeagloballeader,providing

innovative solutions for integrators of warehouse and storage

systems.ProductsaredesignedandengineeredinAustraliaand

manufactured in Australia or China, depending on the customer’s

geographic location.

Delta’sshelvingsystemsaretypicallycustom-madetofitvarying

spaces, needs and characteristics—weight, volume, size and

shape—oftheitemsthatwillbestored.Eachorder,therefore,is

likelytorequireadditionaltimeinquoting,designandengineering

duetoitsuniquespecifications.Priorto2009,Delta’sconfiguration

wascompletedthroughalaboriousandtime-consuming

engineeringandquotingprocessthatimpactedspeed-to-market

and responsiveness to customers.

Because the configuration process was separate from Delta’s

manufacturingandaccountingsystems,informationhadtobe

re-enteredintobillsofmaterial,routingsandworkorders,causing

headacheswithdata-entryerrorsanddelays.Inaddition,nolinks

wereavailabletocheckinventoryorvalidatelabor.Theresulting

lackofvisibilityandpoorinventoryrecordkeepingmeantinventory

stockswerehighandphysicalcountsalwaysrequiredsignificant

adjustments. The Delta team sought an ERP solution that would

notonlymanageDelta’snormalmanufacturingactivities,butalso

handleitsuniqueandhighlycustomizableproducts.

SOLUTION: INTEGRATED CONFIGURATION SAVES TIME Intheend,IntuitiveERPsystemwasselectedasthebestfit

forDelta,particularlywhenitcametoIntuitiveAdvanced

Configurator.“WhileIntuitiveERPwasfoundtobeastrong

solutionoverall,”saidStephenFriend,GroupSystemsIntegration

Manager at Delta, “it was the strength of the Intuitive Advanced

Configuratorproductandtheabilitytomeetourrequirementsfor

highproductcustomizationthatwasakeydriverintheselectionof

Intuitive ERP.”

UsingIntuitiveAdvancedConfiguratortobuildtheengineering

description,billsofmaterial,androutingsforquotesandorders

greatlyenhancedtheprocessinbothspeedandaccuracy.And,

becauseIntuitiveAdvancedConfiguratorisintegratedwiththe

IntuitiveERPsystem,costing,inventoryandschedulingareall

greatlyimproved.TheIntuitiveAdvancedConfiguratorfreed

Delta’sengineersfromtherequirementtobuildandcheckevery

order. In fact, the engineering overhead required to manage

thesetaskshasbeencutinhalf,allowingengineerstospendtheir

timeonmorecomplexengineeringtasksfocusedaroundproduct

development and innovation.

DeltaShelvingtooktheconfigurationprocessastepfurther

byattachingittothecompany’sreal-timewebinterface,

“EXPRESSIT,” for the design and configuration of optimized,

compliantwiredecking.WithEXPRESSIT,customersconfigure

theirownwiredeckingsolutionsthroughtheIntuitiveAdvanced

Configurator,whichthencreatesavisualizationofthewiredeck

as the user inputs data, and provides instant confirmation of order

details,includingpricingandspecifications.“Itusedtotakethree

to four hours to create a drawing from the design parameters,”

Friendsaid.“Nowthesystemcreatesthedrawingdirectlyfromthe

configuration parameters in just a few minutes.” Another level of

time savings lies within the Intuitive Advanced Configurator’s direct

integration with Intuitive ERP.

WhileIntuitiveERPwasfoundtobea strong solution overall, it was the strength of the Intuitive Advanced Configuratorproductanditsabilitytomeetourrequirementsforhigh-productcustomizationthatwasakeydriver in the selection of Intuitive ERP.

Stephen Friend GroupSystemsIntegrationManager, DeltaShelvingSystems

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CASE STUDY DELTA SHELVING SYSTEMS

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Morethan9,000customersaroundtheworldrelyonustogivethemacompetitiveedge.Byprovidinginnovative,industry-drivenenterpriseapplicationsoftware,Apteanhelpsbusinessestosatisfytheircustomers,operatemostefficiently,andstayattheforefrontoftheirindustry.

Formoreinformation,visit: www.aptean.com

RESULTS: INCREASED VISIBILITY LEADS TO GROWTH IncreasedinventoryvisibilityhasenabledDeltatoreduceinventories

significantly.Inaddition,thetightintegrationbetweenIntuitive

Advanced Configurator and Intuitive ERP provide advantages

in planning, costing, engineering and management. These

advantagesenableDeltatoquicklyaddresscustomerinquiries

andorderswithproperlyconfiguredandpricedproducts.Better

reportingviaIntuitiveAdvancedReportingandbettervisibility

ofalloperationshasalsoresultedinamorenimbleorganization

thatisabletoreadilyadapttoproductchange,competitive

requirements and the challenges of a changing economic climate.

“HighlyconfigurableproductsdeliveredthroughaWebexperience

andintegratedintoourback-officesystemshavebecomeakey

differentiatorandhavepositionedthebusinessforgrowthin

additionalmarketswithnewandexistingproducts,”Friendsaid.