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| Communication is Key |
According to Cindy Allred, one of the PICS consultants who worked with Medtronic ERS, good communication between her and the customer helped expedite a solution: “It allowed us to completely understand the issues, as well as the business reasons for why they were using the system as they were. This enabled PICS to propose solutions that worked for all of the departments involved.”
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What PICS Consultants Offer |
PICS provides comprehensive consulting services, including:
- Project management
- Upgrades
- Software development
- Technical Consulting
- Application Support
- Training
- Implementation
- Application Integration
- Remote Database
Administration
- Application Consulting
- Business Process
Re-engineering
- Remote DBA Service
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| The Total Package |
PICS Consultants Help Revamp Technology, Business Processes – and Find $500,000 Along the Way
As the country’s leading provider of external defibrillators, Medtronic ERS does much more than manufacture and sell lifesaving devices. They are also committed to providing total service and support.
But, when the numbers in Medtronic ERS’ general ledger weren’t adding up because of discrepancies between sales and service invoices, leadership at the company knew they had to contact someone who understood their business system and the processes behind it.
They called PICS. “We needed help from someone specializing in MFG/PRO and really familiar with how our system crunched numbers,” says Scott Sangster, a financial analyst at Medtronic ERS.
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| The Challenge |
| When PICS consultants started working with Medtronic ERS, they developed a list of several challenges to tackle. Among them: determining methods of calculation within the MFG/PRO system, and investigating processes to understand rationale behind how contracts and sales were invoiced. They also needed to work with Sangster to determine what revenue should have been recognized prior to the consulting engagement.
The consultants combed through the system to determine which areas of MFG/PRO impacted the faulty figures. They worked with Medtronic ERS employees to understand how they used the system, and to develop better, more efficient processes.
Sangster was pleased with the PICS consultants’ approach. “They looked at code, figured out the logic behind the problem, and customized it to better suit the new processes we developed,” he says. “I was surprised that they’d go to such lengths to figure things out.” |
| The Results |
| According to Sangster, the consulting engagement made a “huge” difference in Medtronic ERS’ processes and its bottom line.
As a result of the engagement, consultants “found” roughly $500,000 in service order revenue that was collected but never reflected in the general ledger. This money was sitting in the bank, unspent. “Now we’re putting it to better use,” says Sangster. Employees at the company also enter sales and service orders into the system more logically and efficiently, resulting in increased productivity and a more accurate GL.
Sangster says he would recommend PICS consulting to another MFG/PRO user looking for better ways to use his or her solution. “The consultants were friendly and knowledgeable, and knew better ways to handle the technology and business processes,” he says. “The engagement more than paid for itself.” |
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