With the ability of Epicor Prophet 21 to work inside Microsoft SQL Server, the company has been able to write auto production orders, even sending hydraulic hose cutoff criteria to their hose cutter to automate that process. And because Prophet 21 can demand-forecast the hose needs, DeeTag can stay on top of the hoses that need to be assembled.
According to Gordon, "In our first year on Prophet 21, our sales rose 34 percent, while our staff grew by only five percent." Along with that jump in sales came a dramatic drop in merchandise returns-over 40 percent fewer returns than prior to implementation. Gordon attributes this to the capabilities and ease of use of Epicor Prophet 21 and the wireless solution.
Providing Intuitive Support for Orders and Transfers
"Wireless Warehouse is a critical tool we get good value from," Gordon observes, "For example, we hire students over the summer, and they can start pulling orders with the Wireless Warehouse system right from day one. There is a fast learning curve for younger associates who come into the company knowing Windows®."
Inter-warehouse transfers are also much easier. Notes Gordon, "When one of our four branches requested another branch's surplus stock, we used to do it as a vendor purchase by the receiving branch. But Prophet 21 has auto-generation of surplus transfer from one branch to another-you just set it up, and off you go."
Recently, with guidance from an Epicor Senior Professional Services Consultant, DeeTag has restaged the Wireless Warehouse System, setting the warehouse to a better pick sequence. This saves time during the picking process. "We are no longer going from shelf to shelf to pick, but pick in an organized, efficient manner," Gordon says.
Embracing New Technology
While Gordon cites better inventory control as the biggest benefit DeeTag has gotten from implementing the Epicor Prophet 21 solution, he also appreciates the features that are continually being added to make it even more useful for fluid power distributors. "The kitting and hose decoder features are very powerful. We've also adopted new signature capture technologies, both at our sales counter and via PDAs for deliveries," he states. "Having customers in the U.S. and Canada and vendors all over the world makes the multi-currency and container receipts functionalities very convenient for our business."
And DeeTag has experienced consistent, steady gains in efficiency across the board every year since going live. "The ease of getting information to measure our stock and performance is something we've embraced-we've been able to pull a lot more information out of Prophet 21 to serve our customers better," says Gordon.
"With Epicor Trading Partner Connect, we offer full EDI (Electronic Data Interchange) capabilities, and can go head-to-head with large international companies on a technology and product performance basis," he notes. The company is now moving to EDI 830s, which will create a year's worth of items forecast from a customer, to better predict and address their needs.
"We have also added the light manufacturing module for our hose assembly facilities, and are seeing improved efficiencies within the production queue. Prophet 21 allows us easy access to production orders ready for build, by many different sort features," Gordon concludes. "Overall, our partnership with Epicor brings us the tools we need to compete globally."
