28
Sep 2017
0
doxsteel fasteners joins with encompass for epicor cloud erp deployment

Case Study: Doxsteel Moves to Cloud ERP with Epicor and Encompass

This blog post was written by Steve Brust, VP of Operations, Doxsteel Fasteners. Doxsteel Fasteners of Woodlands Texas

Case Study: Doxsteel Moves to Cloud ERP with Epicor and Encompass

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This blog post was written by Steve Brust, VP of Operations, Doxsteel Fasteners.

Doxsteel Fasteners of Woodlands Texas was founded by industry leaders to bring to market the only no-seize fastener in production. Through continued technological advancement, the Doxsteel team backs every fastener they produce with a five-year warranty.

Doxsteel Fasteners Chooses Epicor Cloud ERP

Choosing Epicor Cloud was easy: We are fastener experts, not IT experts. A cloud-based ERP would mean more resources devoted to our true purpose, and less resources for maintaining servers and keeping IT staff on payroll.

When I arrived at Doxsteel, the company had picked a different software solution that was clearly the wrong choice early on in its implementation. As I said, in our defense, we are fastener experts…

doxsteel fasteners joins with encompass for epicor cloud erp deployment

Since the company was fairly new at handling ERP, Doxsteel were not fully aware of all of the functionality our ERP system would require. The system the previous implementation consultants had installed was basic and it did not cover all of our needs. Changing our ERP was my first goal after I looked into the system and discovered that even going beyond the basic system would not cover our needs. The prior team struggled with understanding the needs of the company, and their out-of-the-box product, combined with customization, still would not deliver.

I had been involved with installing Epicor in the manufacturing industry twice before, so I knew what needed to be done. Epicor had features that were specific to our industry, and Encompass had the ability to take it to the next level with their custom solutions, such as allowing us MTR Material Test Report customization.

Even though the solution seemed as easy as just ‘switching to Epicor,’ it’s still a challenge. In my first install experience the learning curve was two full years, but after that we were able to understand how to use the software so that it worked for the company, instead of forcing the company to bend to fit into the software. My second install at another company was much easier.

Doxsteel is now in the beginning stages of transitioning to Epicor, and I am looking forward to getting up and running faster and better than ever before. Encompass has a great team, they get it, they ask all the right questions until they understand it well enough to make the tool work the way we need it to.

Being based in Houston, Hurricane Harvey highlighted the benefits of a cloud based system to us – Mother Nature might try and get in our way, but the cloud will still work!

That is another reason why using the Cloud works better for us versus having an on-site software system and hardware. If we had all the servers right here and we flooded out it would have shut down our operation not only in the US, but down in Mexico, unless we had the extra cost of a redundant system located there as well. An ERP system leaving us ‘high and dry’ is definitely a good thing in this case!

About Encompass Solutions

Encompass Solutions, Inc. is an ERP consulting firm, NetSuite Solution Provider, Suite Success Partner, and Epicor Gold Partner that offers professional services in business consulting, project management, and software implementation. Whether undertaking full-scale implementation, integration, and renovation of existing systems or addressing the emerging challenges in corporate and operational growth, Encompass provides a specialized approach to every client’s needs. As experts in identifying customer requirements and addressing them with the right solutions, we ensure our clients are equipped to match the pace of Industry.

06
Sep 2017
0
an image of the blue ridge mountains as part of the enterprise software campaign, take a hike.

Take A Hike!

For most of us in the enterprise software industry, we get tripped up a bit when we see

Take A Hike!

Encompass Solutions , , crussell

For most of us in the enterprise software industry, we get tripped up a bit when we see the word ‘expectations.’ We tend to immediately think of them as ‘deliverables’: dashboards, customizations, reports, roadmaps that chart out tasks or future projects. Tied up into those are considerations of expenses, timelines, due dates, and beyond.

an image of the blue ridge mountains as part of the enterprise software campaign, take a hike.

We see those because software engineers are natural problem solvers, and those are the immediate solutions we see. Yet enterprise software ‘expectations’ go beyond these things. Let me explain.

My Hike and How It Relates To The Enterprise Software Experience

Here in the foothills of the Appalachian mountains, last-minute hiking trips seem to happen about every other month; every other weekend if the weather turns especially good. So in prep, I ordered a new pair of boots on a Friday morning. I put my trust in that the two-day priority shipping I had paid. Hopefully, it for would get them to me soon after the weekend ended, and I could leave on Wednesday morning. I was already looking at new places to see–the killer views of Rough Ridge and endless creeks below.

The Prep

So, as Mondays tend to go, I get the bad news first thing in the morning. The company I ordered my boots from sent an email. It read, i so many words, they’d be arriving by the end of the day on Wednesday. Okay, not cool: I paid for two-day shipping which I wouldn’t be getting!

I had a few options. I could shell out more money for overnight shipping or I could repeat the entire process. However, I didn’t have time to find another pair of boots that were of the right style, fit, and capabilities of the terrain I wanted to be on. What’s worse, I couldn’t delay my trip for a day.

Yeah, right.

I contact the company right away and let them know that I was worried about the delivery date, and that we needed to find out the best way to ensure that my boots made it to my doorstep by the end of Tuesday, not Wednesday. The customer service rep told me to call them back if the boots didn’t arrive by Tuesday night, because they couldn’t do anything to help until the order was late.

Last Step? More Like Last Straw!

They failed to offer help by addressing the problem before it occurred. Not only this, but they didn’t seem concerned that something I was depending on would not arrive in time. There was no ownership of the problem, and any urgency to create peace of mind for their customer was nonexistent.

I hung up and sat at my desk, thinking to myself, “I never want to make someone feel the way that customer service rep just made me feel.”

Then I thought, “That’s the very reason why I work here at Encompass, and why I love what I do.”

How I Contribute To The Enterprise Software Journey

My job is to ensure that every one of my customers can make it up their own ‘mountains’. They’ll need more than just the right ‘boots’. They’ll need the right boots at the right time; constant support during the climb; and, once they’ve gotten to the top, they need to know we’ll be there on the way down. That’s when ‘expectations’ goes beyond ‘deliverables’ and becomes ‘trust.’

Recently, I worked with a customer who had several important deadlines to meet and not a lot of time to make them happen. With Encompass’ vast global resources, we were able to pull together the right set of team members to help this company not only meet their urgent goals, but assist them in an implementation and go-live of Epicor 10.

When a client trusts you enough to have expectations that you’ll take them through the roughest terrain their business has ever seen, well, that’s more valuable than a good pair of hiking boots. And that’s worth a lot, take it from me: I never did get those boots on time. Trust me, there’s nothing worse than hiking up a mountain in the wrong pair of shoes.

A well-tuned ERP system delivered on-time is only half of what Encompass has to offer your business. If you’re worried you aren’t on the right ERP path, come meet us at the bottom of the mountain, and come take a hike with us.

About Encompass Solutions

Encompass Solutions is a business and software consulting firm that specializes in ERP systems, EDI, and Managed Services support for Manufacturers and Distributors. Serving small and medium-sized businesses since 2001, Encompass modernizes operations and automates processes for hundreds of customers across the globe. Whether undertaking full-scale implementation, integration, and renovation of existing systems, Encompass provides a specialized approach to every client’s needs. By identifying customer requirements and addressing them with the right solutions, we ensure our clients are equipped to match the pace of Industry.