It takes hard work to complete ten successful years in this industry. We have put a lot into developing the solutions and services that help power your businesses, we know that there’s one reason we’re doing as well as we are.

You.

This newsletter, the first for PICS, features just a few of your successes. We are recognizing the people who have worked with our consultants, our programmers, and Terry and me to build better businesses. Although many of our customers are different – and have different goals and business models – they have one thing in common: they are willing to embrace technology to improve their businesses.

In this issue read how Bill Soule, IT Director at Schefenacker Vision Systems, has worked with PICS consultants to increase delivery ratings by an amazing 30 percent. Hear about Scott Sangster’s story, a financial analyst at Medtronic ERS, who partnered with Cindy Allred and other PICS consultants to correctly post revenue of $500,000 that was previously missed...

Executive Spotlight on Bill Soule, IT Director, Schefenacker Vision Systems

In any business, quality and reliability are vital to maintain a competitive advantage, a good reputation, and a loyal customer base.

Bill Soule, IT Director at Schefenacker Vision Systems, knows this firsthand. When service levels at his company suffered because of the complexities arising from an increasingly diverse customer base, he contacted PICS for help. “We needed help managing the technology we had in place,” he said.

The challenge: Tweaking customer ship-delivery schedules. Some customers wanted goods delivered on a requirement basis, others asked for parts to ship based on cumulative orders, and still others wanted different types of delivery schedules. Because Schefenacker had never before managed such a wide range of delivery models, the company often had trouble getting the right parts to customers at the right time.

Read more about how PICS helped Schefenacker deliver on expectations.

Want to know which options and reports are most helpful? Or, interested in learning more about what your users are using – and doing – on a daily basis? SysTrak maintains a customizable system-wide audit trail of all user actions
Read more about SysTrak.

SysTrak helps Senior Unix DBA Unlock Resources, Save Time, and Increase Productivity

Getting to the bottom of system performance issues can be frustrating and time-consuming. Just ask Nick D’Angelo.

When he took over as Senior Unix DBA at i-STAT, a Canadian medical device manufacturer with headquarters in the Princeton, NJ area, he inherited more than 300 MFG/PRO system customizations. About 75 percent of these were undocumented, and many others were out-of-date or unnecessary.

“It was a big problem,” he admits. The system was often slow and sluggish, and upgrades were painful. “It could take several hours to move a single customization from one version of the software to the next,” he says.

Luckily, he discovered SysTrak, PICS’ total monitoring solution for MFG/PRO. SysTrak offered D’Angelo immediate visibility into what was happening within MFG/PRO – and what was causing problems.

Read more about SysTrak.

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...

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.

Read more about Medtronics success with MFG/PRO.

PICS Consultant Applies Hands-On Experience to Help Customers Achieve ROI

Working with a seasoned professional can simplify even the most difficult task. And when it’s time to implement, develop, or manage the technology that powers your business, an expert can help you finish any project more efficiently and easily – saving you time and money.

With this in mind, PICS has a team of consultants available to help you build, improve, and enhance your technology infrastructure. Each PICS consultant is an expert in his or her field, and carries a wide breadth of industry experience. In addition, because each consultant has worked with many other companies, he or she carries vast knowledge of different processes and procedures, and knows what will work best in your business.

Read more about Cindy Allred and PICS consulting team.

Users expect to access a site that is easy to use and provides a pleasant shopping experience.

Updated Web Site Helps Business Project Professional Image and Increase Hit-to-Order Ratio

A Web site is often the first – and sometimes only – channel through which your customers work with your company. Therefore, it's especially important to project a professional, modern image.

Barry Dinetz, president and owner of KIT Industries, recognizes this. For years, his company's Web-based storefront, www.porc-a-fix.net, was outdated and hard to navigate. "It just didn't flow,” Dinetz says. "It was something we put together ourselves," So, when he realized that a user-friendly, easily-navigable site would greatly benefit his business, he asked PICS for help.

PICS offers businesses a full suite of Web services, from design and development to Internet marketing and Web hosting. “We deliver e-commerce solutions that work, so our customers can focus on their businesses instead of building Web sites,” says Terry Rossi, PICS co-founder and CTO.

Dinetz agrees. “PICS was able to develop solutions we might not have even considered,” he says. “They know about the technology behind our business system.”

Read more about KIT Industries.