Client Situation
This leading international manufacturer of capital medical equipment was facing significant issues with integrating the sales, service, and distribution organizations of four separate, fully autonomous businesses into one unified environment in response to changing market conditions. The company was also faced with eroding market share, rising operational costs, outdated technology, and the need to improve account closure while providing a single face to the customer.
Solution
A E78 partner, as Vice President, Corporate Information Systems (CIO), established a strategic vision and direction for application solutions, including an “umbrella” strategy that maintained the four separate manufacturing environments while integrating them into one unified sales, service and distribution solution. As part of the strategy, he performed the following:
- Installed a production planning system and sales, service, materials, and financial management solutions to implement a major update of the technology crucial to continued growth of the business
- Implemented a leading-edge sales automation system that was tailored to individual sales capabilities
- Implemented a business intelligence solution that enabled hospital providers to project market share and financial results from the implementation of new imaging equipment
- Unified the Information Technology team while improving service levels and delivery performance
Results
The company was able to consolidate four previously separate companies into one unified environment; replace 70% of the technology that was previously running the business; and implement leading edge sales, service, distribution, and business intelligence solutions. As a result:
- Sales increased $70 million in the next fiscal year
- Over $1 billion of sales opportunities were captured in the first 90 days after implementation of a strategic sales automation system
- Inventories were reduced by $25 million while fill rates achieved record highs
- The company achieved $13 million savings through vendor negotiations
- Increased morale and productivity spread across the now unified Information Technology organization
