CompressorWorks,
Inc. Case Study:
Gulfstream Computer Services’s Barcode Gateway
for Microsoft Dynamics
SL
About the Company
CompressorWorks, Inc. is an OEM of automotive
and truck air conditioning compressors located
in
Dallas, Texas. The company produces new
replacement compressors and is a leading
aftermarket distributor of original equipment
replacement fan clutches as well as other
aftermarket climate control and engine-cooling
products for many vehicle makes.
Over the years the company has realized significant
growth from the dozen or so orders it processed
each day when it first opened its doors in
1999. In
April of 2001 CompressorWorks implemented
Microsoft Dynamics SL
application to better assist with the management
of
its accounting and order management functions.
In 2002, CompressorWorks’ business began
to
grow rapidly when its largest customer
initiated a
new supply chain replenishment initiative.
In
addition to the weekly stocking orders
CompressorWorks was already processing
for the
customer’s nine regional distribution centers,
the
customer called on ompressorWorks to fill
a
number of small orders and then drop-ship
those
orders to the customer’s 3,200 retail locations
across the US. And as the business grew,
so did
the retail giant’s fill rate and product
compliance
requirements.
“We realized this significant increase
in orders was
going to place new and difficult demands
on the
way we ran our business, as well as our
ability to
meet the needs of this important customer,”
explains Scott Davis, CompressorWorks’
director
of purchasing. “Basically, we bumped
up against a
ceiling, we needed real-time inventory
information
as we were pulling the orders and receiving
inbound material. Without that, we were
not going
to be able to handle the drop-ship orders
to the
stores.”
CompressorWork’s Goal
The automotive air conditioning business,
as one
would expect, is a seasonal one with
most of the
company’s eight-figure sales coming
in a brief fivemonth
period. “Being a seasonal business,
fast
turnaround is critical for us. We
have to get the
product out to our customers quickly,
and that just
was not happening. We realized we
needed to
quickly move to some sort of barcode
technology,
we just were not sure which one.
We looked at all of
Microsoft Dynamics SL’s third-party
barcode technology providers. After much research, we
determined
Gulfstream to be the best choice,”
Davis said.
The Solution
Gulfstream has developed a product
called The
Barcode Gateway for Microsoft Dynamics
SL. It provides the
interface between the warehouse
floor and a
company’s order management, receiving
and
accounting systems. The product
has been
developed specifically for Microsoft
Dynamics SL
using Microsoft Dynamics
SL’s VBTools, so it
has the look and
feel of Microsoft Dynamics
SL on the desktop.
The Gateway is designed to provide
the efficient
and reliable flow of real-time
information from a
business’s warehouse environment
into Microsoft Dynamics
SL’s
distribution modules. The Gulfstream
system is
completely paperless. It uses
wireless handheld
devices, coupled with barcode
technology, to
optimize warehouse resources
so tasks are
completed more efficiently.
After making the decision to
go with the Gulfstream
product, Davis and his co-workers
had a few
reservations when it came
to the implementation of
this new element of their
warehouse management
system. “Based on past experience,
we were
expecting this implementation
to be very difficult.
But to the contrary, we actually
had the Barcode
Gateway system up and running
the same day we
wired the warehouse with
the radio-frequency
equipment. We started to
immediately realize
gains from dealing with our
customer and inventory transactions in
real-time, and that
was a big plus for us,” said
Davis.
Davis and his CompressorWorks’
co-workers were
also pleased with Gulfstream’s
ability to quickly
customize the Barcode Gateway
to the company’s
specific needs. “At our
request, the Gulfstream
team built a “Container
Builder” feature that allows
us to fulfill another important
customer
requirement. That feature
enables us to report to
our customers exactly what
products are contained
in which box, or on what
pallet, with each box or
pallet receiving its own
unique license tag number. It did not take long for
Gulfstream to get the
Container Builder feature
up and running for us.
It
is our understanding the
feature is now standard
in
the Barcode Gateway product,”
Davis added.
Customization
Gulfstream also helped the company link
Gulfstream’s new WMS with CompressorWorks’
Microsoft Dynamics
SL EDI module. “All of the information
we
receive from our customers in an inbound EDI
purchase order must be transmitted back to
the
customer in an outbound advanced shipping notice
and/or invoice document. CompressorWorks’
largest customer transmits inbound purchase
orders 24/7. Per our vendor agreement with
the
customer, CompressorWorks is required to pull,
pack and ship the order the same day it arrives,
as
long as the order is received by 4:00 PM,”
said
Davis.
According to Davis, the new system has
significantly streamlined CompressorWorks’
entire materials handling process, thereby
allowing the
company to meet these tight deadlines. “With
the
Gulfstream system, at 3:50 PM, we can now
receive an EDI order for 40 compressors going
to
20 different ship-to addresses and have the
license
tag and waybill numbers recorded with 100
percent
accuracy and have the product loaded on the
courier’s truck by 4:30 PM.”
CompressorWorks now routinely ships 200-300
orders per day, with possibly 200-300 different
shipto
addresses. Davis claims the company could
not
have possibly achieved that feat without
the use of
Gulfstream’s warehouse management technology.
Furthermore, CompressorWorks would not
have
been able to make the commitment to its
largest
customer if CompressorWorks was not confident
in
the capabilities of the Gulfstream product.
By using
the Barcode Gateway, the company is now
positioned to ensure the prompt delivery
of all of
their goods to all of their customers around
the
world.
Shipping accurate, on-time orders is only
one area
in which the Barcode Gateway has played
an
important role. Another area is inventory
management. With several thousand raw
material
and finished goods parts, managing that
inventory
had become a challenge using the limited
native
functionality in Microsoft Dynamics
SL.
“Previously, we used paper tags to record
and track
inventory. The tags were not always
accurate, and
sometimes were lost or misplaced, or
maybe they
were just not keyed into Microsoft Dynamics
SL. In
addition, we
had a person stuck for hours in front
of a computer
entering the data from these tags.
“Being able to do it right on the spot using this
new wireless handheld technology has
substantially increased our inventory
accuracy,” stated Davis.
“Using the new system all of our transactions,
including our parts inventory, now occur in
realtime,
so transactions are not piling up for someone
else to enter into the system later in the
day,” Davis
stated. Not only has the new system eliminated
redundant data entry, but it has also helped
increase overall warehouse productivity and
accuracy, which in turn has increased customer
service and the company’s profitability.
There is no doubt at CompressorWorks many of
the company’s newly acquired competitive
advantages would not have been possible prior
to
the installation of Gulfstream’s wireless
bar-coding
solution. The company has gone from processing
a
dozen orders a day to processing hundreds
of
orders a day and sees no limits in sight
for its new
WMS.
About Gulfstream
Gulfstream Computer Services has been a reseller
of Microsoft Dynamics
SL since 1984. Development on the
Barcode Gateway began in 1999 when the
distribution modules for Microsoft Dynamics
SL
software became a dynamic offering in the
Supply
Chain/Distribution software market.
Gulfstream’s commitment is to provide
a software
package that is seamlessly integrated
with
Microsoft Dynamics
SL’s Inventory, Purchasing and
Order
Management modules. Since it’s inception,
the
Barcode Gateway has been integrated
to the Work
Order and Service Series modules as
well. To
enhance the product further, integration
to Sandler
Kahne’s Project Work Order and Shop
Floor
Control have become a standard part
of the
Barcode Gateway software offering.
Gulfstream works closely with the Microsoft Dynamics
SL
resellers to ensure smooth setup,
implementation
and training for the client. We are
happy to provide
customization quotes for specific
requests. Please
contact us for further information.
Gulfstream Computer Services Ltd.
Toll Free: 877.377.6604
sales@gulfstream.ca
Printable Version
