Month: May 2010

Spy Optic

Midsize Business Case Study

Sunglasses Manufacturer Confidently Eyes Global Growth with Resource Planning Solution

Story at a Glance

Spy Optic is a fast-growing manufacturer of action-sports sunglasses and goggles. Eager to expand globally and stay ahead of the competition, Spy Optic replaced an outdated enterprise resource planning system with Microsoft Dynamics® GP business software. With a more robust and flexible financial backbone feeding data to all parts of the company, Spy Optic managers have been able to automate paper-bound processes, reallocate employees to higher-value activities, and steer the company with hard data instead of guesswork. Management has better insight into the financial health of the company, and workers are more productive.

Stodgy Processes

Spy Optic was facing every company’s dream – healthy growth – and every company’s nightmare – processes and systems that couldn’t scale. The Carlsbad, California – based manufacturer of high-performance sunglasses, goggles, and accessories had carved out an enviable position in the dynamic, youth-focused action-sports market. Spy Optic’s products are in more than 5,000 United States retail locations, and the company was poised to expand across Europe and Australia. But old technology and manual business processes threatened to hobble those plans.

Spy Optic’s enterprise resource planning (ERP) system, MAS 200, was never set up correctly, and the company’s IT staff spent hours each day fussing with it. The database had been corrupted so many times that customer, inventory, and sales data were untrustworthy. “We need to be able to show auditors, shareholders, and regulators that our books are in order. We couldn’t trust the numbers our old system provided,” says Jerry Collazo, Chief Financial Officer for Spy Optic.

Financial reporting was limited and time consuming; Collazo’s staff spent hours each month creating and checking financial statements. There was no way to create consolidated financial reports across the business. And visibility into general ledger and cash flow was unsophisticated. The upshot of these limitations was that managers managed by instinct, not facts.

Also, key business processes were manual and involved many people, which meant that they wouldn’t scale. “Because we had no real-time insight into inventory, order fulfillment was cumbersome and slow. Our warehouse staff spent a lot of time running around, searching for product instead of shipping orders,” Collazo says. “We were usually late getting product to customers, which impacted customer satisfaction.”

Integrated Software

Management brought in Erik Quade as Vice President of Information Technologies to bring the company’s technology in line with its cutting-edge business vision and products. The team evaluated a field of ERP systems, including products from Epicor, Full Circle, and SAP, and settled on Microsoft Dynamics® GP business software as its financial backbone.

“Microsoft Dynamics NAV was being implemented in the Italian manufacturer that we had just purchased, and we liked the fact that all the Microsoft Dynamics products integrated easily,” Collazo says. “Microsoft Dynamics GP was also scalable, easy to deploy, and came with the assurance of long-term Microsoft support.”

FMT Consultants, LLC, a Microsoft® Gold Certified Partner, helped with the implementation. “FMT Consultants was critical to our successful deployment,” Collazo says. “They helped us make the transition to the new systems completely seamless.

Unfettered Business Growth

With key business processes supported by Microsoft Dynamics GP, Spy Optic is set for unlimited growth. “We now have the data integrity, integration, and insight needed to manage our business proactively,” Collazo says. “Everyone in the company is looking at the same data, which makes us much more efficient and trustworthy to our customers. And everyone can instantly see what’s going on in every department, which makes for better communication and faster decisions.”

Using standard reports from Microsoft Dynamics GP, Collazo has both broad and deep visibility into the company’s finances. Business users can create their own reports rather than waiting for the IT staff to do it for them. “Reports that took one or two months now take minutes,” Collazo says.

Paperless Processes

By moving to paperless business processes, Spy Optic has been able to reduce its order fulfillment staff from three to one, reduce order processing time and SKU setup time by up to 50 percent, and streamlined purchase order processing from four days to four minutes. New credit card automation may save up to 30 labor hours per month by reducing data entry of cash receipts by 30 percent. Spy Optic is also using the new software in its warehouse, where integration with handheld scanners has increased the same-day shipment rate from 50 to 100 percent. Management and salespeople, too, know precise inventory levels when ordering product and making commitments to customers.

Mobile Efficiencies

Soon, Spy Optic will give field representatives handheld devices that they can use to input orders directly into Microsoft Dynamics GP, scan inventory, and replace nonstarters with hot sellers. “We’re using software to speed up all of our business processes, work more efficiently, and provide better customer service,” Collazo says. “We can now grow as much as we want.”

Lessons Learned

-Select software that will flex to meet your business needs.
-Choose a solution that can be easily customized.

Many vehicle owners are turning towards a GPS tracking device to keep themselves aware about their vehicles at all time. It is a very simple way of keeping track of exact location and position of your assets. You need to install a small device on the vehicle which acts as a hardware data mapping control. It uses satellite based global positioning system or GPS to execute current co ordinates and send them to a central server. You can view the entire database on the server itself, or using electronic maps on the internet. The device is easy to install and provides accurate data to help owners and authorities all over the world. If you want to be updated constantly, GPS is the best solution to your needs.

There are active and passive modes based on your choice. You can either set the device to feed information upto a certain location or send continuously. For passive tracking, the recorded data is taken off from the device after a certain point. The data is transferred to the server and the device is again reset to perform its next operation. Active tracking involves continuous sending of data to a cell phone network or a satellite server. It is a complex process, but the GPS tracking devices handle it quite well. The software part communicates in a simple manner with the end user. The final details are placed in front of you in an easy to understand way. Anyone without high technical skill can still operate the software and stay connected.

If you want frame by frame details of your vehicle or fleet, the system can update you co ordinates at different times of the day using time stamps. You can even by guided to the exact location if your car has a breakdown or meets with an unfortunate accident. The GPS Tracking Software would provide you the speeds, trigger actions and the closest landmarks to the exact spot. You can use all the information to determine the cause of damage. If your vehicle has to travel for long distances everyday, you can keep a track to see the time and pace maintained in the journey. This would help you calculate alternate routes to chart your progress better.

The device is used by everyone, from parents keeping a track of their kids on the street, to the authorities to stop rash drivers. The devices have also become affordable reaching out to more people. The bundled software is compatible with most computing devices and works flawlessly. It has a simple approach and is extremely easy to install and maintain. There are very few technical glitches, reducing the cost of repairs to a great extent. If you are planning to buy a device for yourself, go with one that can provide both active and passive tracking abilities. You can also choose the means of sending information and the storage server. It is wise to select known brands that have all the required certification and licenses. Install a GPS tracking device and never lose touch with your vehicle again.

Sony Ericsson Vivaz is gaining popularity these days among different mobile users throughout the world because of its trendy look and special features. This phone has the best modern features and is eco friendly.  The body of this handset is made up of recycled plastic material.

Important Features of Sony Ericsson Vivaz are:

Colors and Camera

This gadget comes in very attractive colors, including Silver moon, Cosmic Black, Galaxy Blue and Venus Ruby. Customers have different options to select any one according to taste or to match their personality.It has a camera of 8.1 mega pixel autofocus with 720p HD video recording, image stabilization, face detection and smile detection. This handset provides an option to record video clips in High Definition quality, with a resolution of 1280 by 720 and the video recorder supports continuous auto focus for the perfect video clips all the time.

Size/Display/Weight

The size of this new gadget is very compact and a person can easily put it in the pocket of a jacket or shirt. It has a 3.2 inches WVGA touch screen with Wi-Fi, 3G, and A-GPS system. It is short, slim and narrow to carry very comfortably. This device has measures 107 by 52 by 12.5mm and its weight is only 97 grams.

Connectivity

This gadget has the best connectivity features that are very helpful for businessmen to stay in touch with every one from every corner of the world. It has a Quad band GSM phone for full roaming coverage in all GSM countries of the world. For the storage of data it uses HSPA with a function of uploads at up to 2Mbps and down loads at up to 10.2 Mbps. This hand set has features that offer support for social networking and imaging web sites suck as Face book, Twitter, My Space, You Tube, Flickers, Picasa and many others of this kind.

As the summer comes to a close for many school-age children, busy parents are challenged to guide them back into a more structured rhythm. Oftentimes we choose convenience over quality and, due to our often perceived lack of time, we spend more than we should on back to school items. Going back to school doesn’t have to break the bank if you follow a few guidelines:

• Monitor your Sunday circulars for sales on school supplies. You needn’t rush out to the mega office supply store at the mall for items you might get cheaper at your local drugstore.

• Sit down with your child to discuss a clothing budget for the school year. Give him or her jobs around the house to compensate for more expensive attire he or she may really need. Compare prices for particularly expensive items such as sports equipment and must-have technical gadgets by visiting http://www.TheFind.com.

• Prepare yourself mentally for the coming school year by gathering information on topics you know your child might face such as bullying, being the new kid on the block, or teen issues. http://www.back2school2007.com is a fabulous resource for parents and children alike as they enter the new year.

• Start early. Consult your school’s Web site for school supply lists, if they offer them, to avoid unnecessary purchases.

• Ask your child what new goals they’d like to set for the pending year. Perhaps your child would like to learn a new instrument or try out a new sport. Determine whether you can rent instead of buy the necessary equipment before committing to something your child may not continue throughout the school year.

Back to school can be a tense time, especially if facing an entirely new situation such as a new school or set of friends. It can also be fun for everyone with a little preparation in anticipation of a whole new year of possibilities and learning.

Christine Louise Hohlbaum, author of Diary of a Mother: Parenting Stories and Other Stuff, is also a freelance writer and PR consultant for clients who make a difference. Subscribe to her parenting newsletter at http://www.diaryofamother.com.

Individuals, of all different ages, enjoy meeting and communicating with other internet users. Despite the fact that individuals of all ages use the internet to socialize, there are certain groups of individuals that do more than others. Those groups of individuals include students, both high school students and college students. For that reason, it is only fitting that there should be a social networking website that has a focus on these particular individuals. That networking website is known as Facebook http://www.filmss.info

Facebook may not be as well known as other popular social networking websites, such as Yahoo! 360 or MySpace, but it is still popular. That popularity is mostly among high school students and college students, mostly because Facebook focuses on these individuals in particular. With Facebook, you are required to register for a specific network. That network can either include the high school or college which you attended or are currently attending. Once you have joined the website, you should easily be able to make contact with others who are in the same network.

The network in which you join can be considered an advantage of Facebook, as well as a disadvantage. See, Facebook does not work like most other social networking websites. Instead of being able to communicate with all site members, you are limited to contact with those that are in your particular network, the high school or college you that selected. The creators of Facebook state that this is for your own safety. Although it is safer for your profile and personal information to be viewed by a small number of individuals, you may not necessity want it to be that way.

Although a large amount of focus is placed on high school students and college students, Facebook has added another popular feature to their website. That feature is workplace networks. By joining a specific workplace network, you will be granted access to other community members who work for the same company as you. This feature is nice, especially since many companies have become large corporations or expanded across the country. You may be able to make contact and become friends with a long-distance coworker that you never knew you had.

Another aspect of Facebook that you may find inconvenient is their lack of available information, before you decide to become a community member. When viewing their online website, which can be found at http://www.facebook.com, it is hard to tell whether or not the site is free to use. Most online social networking sites will make this known right upfront, but Facebook does not. Aside from the price, you should easily be able to obtain additional information on Facebook, before making the decision to become a member. This additional information may include how Facebook works, why you should become a member, how the invite process works, and general rules and restrictions that are in place.

If you are interested in joining the Facebook community, you should do what you should do with all other social networking websites, research. By taking the time to research and examine everything that Facebook has to offer, you should be able to decide whether or not this popular networking community is what you were looking for. There is a good chance that it will be, but if not, do not worry. There are literally an unlimited number of other social networking websites that you can join.