| CALLEN
CORP.
LIPPER ANALYTICAL SERVICES, INC.
SOHO PUBLISHING
CALLEN
CORP. (New Jersey manufacturer)
The Problem
In 2002, Callen Corporation, a manufacturer of photo mounts,
was stretching to meet the requirements of clients like
Wal-Mart and Michaels.
According
to operations manager Dennis Callen:
“While
we had some systems in place, the amount of ‘human
touch’ required to make these processes happen made
our systems anything but automated.
That’s
the point at which we looked for help from a new source.”
The
Solution
Many
of Callen's existing technology components which used AccountMate
were able to be modified and integrated with new capabilities
thanks to Digital Strategies experience with that accounting
package.
The
EDI process (mission-critical when selling to large retailers)
was enhanced. Links to A/R were improved. Customized exception
reports were made available on the fly. Customer Service
was given the ability to track the lifecycle of every sales
order, able to quickly resolve problems and spot unshipped
items.
The
suite of tools developed and installed to better manage
Callen's sales order process became known as VisualOrderTrak
by Digital Strategies.
The
Result
Callen
Corp. is now a stronger competitor, with a dynamic customer
service interface and control over its sales order processing.
Owner
Bernie Callen's summary:
“What
used to take days to accomplish now can be done in less
than a minute. Digital Strategies has delivered a total
business management and manufacturing/distribution solution
that has allowed us to reduce headcount and sleep much easier
at night.”
LIPPER
ANALYTICAL SERVICES, INC.
The Problem
The Wall Street Journal, an important client for Lipper
Analytical, was planning to expand its "Money &
Investing" section, and decided to publish the daily
investment performance of mutual funds.
Simultaneously
Lipper was in the early stages of migrating to a new platform
and database structure for its extensive mutual fund data
banks; thus its technical resources were stretched.
The
Solution
Under Digital Strategies direction and execution, a proprietary
calculation and publishing system was implemented, feeding
pricing data from transfer agents and other financial institutions
and assembling daily dividend factors before updating the
previous day's database. Rigorous Quality Assurance capabilities
were built into the system despite time constraints created
by the tight deadline.
The
Result
At its next shareholder meeting, the CEO of Dow Jones (the
publisher of the Wall Street Journal) stated that the mutual
fund expansion was the newspaper's most visible improvement
of the year.
SOHO PUBLISHING
The
Problem
Soho Publishing sells craft books to over 1000 JoAnn stores
nation-wide. Soho needed a better way to manage its inventory
and shipments.
The Solution
Using AccountMate, and its Inventory Control Modules, Digital
Strategies developed a system which reviews an EDI transmission
reflecting daily sales, updates Soho's inventory, calculates
the book needs for each store, then ships replacement units
as defined by a formula tracking previous sales.
The daily accounting interface between Soho
and JoAnn, enabling speedy payment is an important benefit
to Soho, which uses a consignment business model in this
relationship.
The
Result
A vital client's needs were met, improving operations and
billing in the process.
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