BizWorks to Enhance Customer Service at Q.E.P. Co.
interBiz, (Islandia, N.Y) the eBusiness applications division of Computer Associates International, Inc., recently announced that Florida based, Q.E.P. Co., Inc., a manufacturer, marketer and distributor of specialty tools and flooring-related products, has licensed BizWorks to enhance its customer service program.
Q.E.P. selected BizWorks, the eBusiness Intelligence Suite, to provide a structure for integration of company information assets from a broad variety of application programs and devices and to leverage that information through analysis, optimization, presentation and prediction capabilities. The interBiz solution will also enable Q.E.P.’s sales force to obtain the most current order and performance information before calling on a customer.
| PRMS gives Q.E.P. control over its material planning, manufacturing and distribution functions at Q.E.P.'s primary locations, providing real-time command and control of backorders at PRMS sites. |
BizWorks will complement Q.E.P.’s existing use of PRMS, an interBiz AS/400-based Enterprise Resource Planning Solution, and other manufacturing and warehouse management systems at acquired locations around the world. PRMS gives Q.E.P. control over its material planning, manufacturing and distribution functions at Q.E.P.’s primary locations, providing real-time command and control of backorders at PRMS sites. With the addition of BizWorks, Q.E.P. will be able to track merchandise across multiple companies and multiple supporting inventory systems, while providing management with a consolidated view of an item’s availability worldwide. “BizWorks will help us maximize the value of the information we have across our organization by presenting it to Q.E.P. management in a consolidated visual format,” says Lewis Gould, Q.E.P.’s CEO. “BizWorks provides a real-time monitor of how well we are meeting the demands of our customers.”
Q.E.P. also licensed BizWorks’ sell-side eCommerce solution, Jasmine Store, and Warehouse BOSS, interBiz’s rules-based warehousing system that the company will implement at a later date. The Web component will enable Q.E.P customers to place orders over the Internet. Warehouse BOSS will enable Q.E.P. to better manage its fulfillment warehouses throughout the U.S.
BizWorks applies a predictive management technology—referred to as Neugents (neural learning agents) -- to the wealth of information customers have already collected, allowing them to learn from the pattern of the past and to predict events that are most likely to happen in the future.
“BizWorks allows customers to add a significant degree of intelligence to integrated data resources so they can apply business rules and view information through Key Performance Indicators,” says Gary Layton, VP of Marketing at interBiz. “This gives senior managers a real-time view of the performance of those metrics --which are increasingly important to the success of their business.”
“Q. E. P. has made a significant investment in their AS/400 and ERP systems,” noted Norm Baran, Divisional VP of the interBiz Supply Chain Group. “They were looking at ways to enhance their current methods; that is, they wanted an evolutionary path, not a revolutionary one.”
Through Bizworks, interBiz is improving Q.E.P’s existing ERP application to bring the information to the right people at the right time. For example, if a Q.E.P. manager has analyzed data coming from the ERP system and determined that a back-order is going to occur, he can immediately begin processing that shortage through a set of rules and identify steps for a resolution. If it is determined that the backorder cannot be fulfilled in time for a new store using traditional methods, Bizworks will notify the appropriate Q.E.P. sales rep through the Command and Control center, via a PalmPilot device. This allows the representative to work directly with the customer to solve problem.
Pricing for interBiz is based on the number and location of servers being accessed. The application typically starts at $125,000 and depends on services selected.
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