Getting Results While Getting Things Done

The advantages of cognitive ERP

Graeme Evans

Regional Vice President, AU/NZ

What do a top-quality safety work boot manufacturer and a leading electrical wholesale network have in common? Both of these established Australian businesses faced challenges in maximising efficiency, managing operations across the supply chain, and optimising software solutions to stay one step ahead of market demands.

Their stories are just a few examples of how the right ERP solutions can play a critical role in business success, saving you resources, money, and time while exceeding customer expectations.

Based in Western Australia, Steel Blue was formed by five people in a garage with a passion for footwear and over 100 years’ experience of daily hard work. They saw an important gap in the Australian market: premium safety work boots that were not only durable but also truly comfortable.

Over a quarter of a century later, Steel Blue had sold over 11 million pairs of boots across 40 different countries while staying true to their Aussie heritage.

As the business continued to grow, their success was indeed something to celebrate — but it also came with very clear hurdles. They found themselves struggling to manage the shipping and receiving functions across multiple warehouses, and lacked access to essential, real-time data and statistics.

If Steel Blue wanted to continue thriving, they needed flexible, innovative software to support their notable growth.

This was where Epicor ERP solutions helped make a difference. By using the system’s capabilities that met their specific needs, Steel Blue saw measurable improvements:

•  Dashboards configured to reveal key analytics helped the company reduce order preparation time by 10-15%.
• The unified tools allowed them to implement distribution best practices, delivering easily accessible productivity data for managers within each warehouse.

While Steel Blue was using their new ERP system to keep the world’s hardest working professionals protected and secure in their boots, down in the southern regions P&R Electrical was continuing the family tradition begun in 1977.

As one of the largest independent electrical wholesale networks in Australia, P&R operates 12 branches across South Australia, servicing more than 3,000 customers. With over 30,000 products on offer and access to 1,000 leading national and international suppliers of trade electrical products, P&R Electrical is able to service the needs of all Australian commercial operations.

But along with building a lasting legacy came the mandate to adapt and change. As time went on, P&R’s older software and hardware was no longer able to match the demands of their growing organisation.

They required detailed, timely, accurate, and diverse data to support increasingly complex daily operations, business strategy, and future growth plans. Epicor solutions provided the real-time data they needed to immediately see the exact position of the business, at any given moment:

• This increased visibility cleared the way for better decision-making.
• Big-picture insights and reporting supported P&R’s steady business growth, without the need to bring on additional administrative staff.

Every day, businesses that get things done, like the success stories outlined above, are using automated solutions to absorb risk and deliver business results. At Epicor, we’ve instilled over 50 years of learned industry expertise and technology partnerships into our cognitive ERP, a system of insights and action that customers around the globe depend on for outcomes that matter.

Learn more about how Epicor manufacturing and distribution solutions can help your business thrive.

Come see us at Booth IT 28 or the Coffee Lounge! We’d love to hear about what’s working in your organisation.