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Soft Tech is the leading developer
of generic product configurator software solutions for a wide
range of industries and is a specialist in
applications for window and door manufacturing. |
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| Customer Success Story |
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CUSTOMER
Architectural Profiles Ltd (APL)
INDUSTRIES
Window Extrusions Manufacture
LOCATION
Hamilton, NZ
SOLUTION
V6, Saturn & PALS
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Soft Tech:
20-year experts in improving the supply
systems of NZ’s largest window manufacturer
Fortunately, most of the fashion icons of the 70’s like big hair, platform
heels & hot pants are vague memories, but one revolutionary New Zealand-made
icon caught on – aluminium window framing. Through the years they’ve
progressed from a one colour and style fits all ‘choice’ to any size,
shape and powder-coated colour you like. Chances are the joinery in many of today’s
modern NZ homes was manufactured by APL and supplied and installed by one of
their 80 plus licensed fabricators throughout the country. |
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The business situation
Today, APL currently has about 45% share of NZ’s window systems market
with its Altherm, First, Vantage, Smartwood and Architectural Series range of
window frames and profiles that are distributed via a network of around 80 resellers/manufacturers.
APL also incorporates INEX, an on-site aluminium extrusion plant along-side surface
finishing facilities, FINEX and Colourworks.
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In 1971 when APL started its
joinery business, ordering was done via phone
and fax, pricing and workflow were managed
manually. Over the years, manual systems
and processes struggled to support business
growth and management made the decision to
look for a locally supported and fully integrated
system that would reduce wastage by improving
quoting and pricing accuracy and speeding-up
ordering and assisting with managing |
work flow through the fabricator
business.
APL chose SoftTech over all
other offerings available at that time and
in 1985 a dos-based pricing system known
as Alexsys was introduced. Twenty years on,
Alexsys or V6 (its windows-based successor)
has been installed in all of APL’s
reseller/manufacturing customer sites. |
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“SoftTech’s
V6, Saturn and PALS products are part of
the engine-room of APL’s window fabricator
business – without these applications
it would be difficult for these businesses
to operate successfully.“
Frex Vincent, Fabricator Support Manager at APL
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Improved quoting and ordering
accuracy = many dollars in wastage saved
Back in the old days, estimators used paper, pencil, tape measure, calculator
and memory to provide customers with a quote. Estimators found salvation from
manual quoting, calculators and reliance on memory initially with the installation
of Soft Tech’s Alexsys product which only required estimators to measure
and enter the dimensions of profiles into a vast database containing every conceivable
profile available. Alexsys would automatically calculate the optimum lengths
of profiles required to complete a job and then generate a customer quote with
much improved accuracy. Over the years, Alexsys has been redeveloped into V6,
a windows-based application, which has been continually developed and improved
jointly by APL and Soft |
Tech to ensure that estimators
have the ‘best’ tools available
to them.In an industry where the old
adage “measure twice and cut once” couldn’t
be more applicable, the need to get measurements
and quotes right first time is imperative – the
margin for error is nil and in the event
the window joinery for a job doesn’t
fit, it becomes wastage. Soft Tech’s V6 product
has saved APL and their customers thousands
of dollars in wastage by improving the accuracy
of the quoting, pricing and manufacturing
process.
Electronic importation of orders and automated
scheduling create significant workflow improvements
Once a quote becomes a live order it is then electronically imported from the
customers V6 manufacturing system into APL’s ERP software via SoftTech’s Saturn product.
Saturn can then |
provide online status information
to the fabricator about their order. To further
assist the workflow process orders can also
be imported into the fabricators Production
and Labour Scheduling (PALS) software
which schedules pre-production events and
assists with management of production hours
throughout the production process.
As far as Mr. Craig Vincent, CEO at APL is concerned “Soft Tech is a very
good product” and he’s confident that the continuation of the ongoing
relationship with Soft Tech will produce positive results for NZ’s window
and door manufacturing industry for many more years to come. Soft Tech has accumulated
over 20 years of industry knowledge and expertise and in Craig Vincent’s
view this has been distilled into industry leading software. |
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“PALS and V6 are both leading
edge pieces of software for the Window
and Door industry”
Craig Vincent, CEO
- APL
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| Highlights |
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Summary
APL needed to automate and streamline
previously manual processes and workflows between
their
internal systems and that of their manufacturing
customer’s business. They also needed
to improve the accuracy of quoting and pricing
to reduce wastage and optimise the lengths
of profiles used in jobs.
Over a number of
years Soft Tech and APL have worked together
on the development of Soft Tech’s
V6 software which has effectively automated the
quotation, pricing and manufacturing process.
Saturn and PALS combine to automate electronic
importing of orders and scheduling of workflow
within their customer’s business.
Of most
business value
- V6 – Automated Quoting, Pricing & Manufacturing
system
- Saturn – Electronic Ordering
system between APL & fabricator
customers
- PALS – Automated Scheduling
of workflow within the fabricator’s
business
Key
outcomes
- The automatic calculation
of optimum profile requirements has meant
greater accuracy and less wastage
- The electronic importation
of orders and scheduling has created workflow
efficiencies
- APL and Soft Tech have worked
together to develop and improve systems and
processes in NZ’s window manufacture
and fabrication industry
About
Architectural Profiles Ltd (APL)
APL is a private company which started operating
in 1971 and has grown to become New
Zealand’s
leading window systems supplier of Altherm,
First, Vantage, Smartwood and the Architectural
Series of exterior joinery. APL incorporates
an on-site aluminium extrusion plant (INEX)
and surface finishing facilities (FINEX and
Colourworks). The company’s own distribution
fleet services its network of over 80 fabricators
nationwide. APL branch offices are maintained
in Auckland and Christchurch. APL has also
expanded into the Australian window and door
industry under the Architectural Window Systems
(AWS) and Vantage brands and has a network
of over 125 manufacturers in that market
who are also using Soft Tech’s
product offerings. |
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CUSTOMER
G. James Glass & Aluminium
INDUSTRIES
Construction: Commercial & Residential- Glass & Aluminium manufacturer
LOCATION
Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria, West Australia, New Zealand
SOLUTION
V6
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Australia’s
leading glass and aluminium manufacturer
streamlines pricing and production processes
using best-of-breed solution from Soft
Tech
Telling people you’re in ‘fenestration’ may have
those unfamiliar with the term thinking you’re frustrated with
not finishing anything which sounds plausible but not even close.
In fact, it’s all about windows as described in the Concise
Oxford dictionary:
fĕnėstrā́’tion n. an architectural
term meaning the arrangement of windows in a building
G. James Glass & Aluminium
is the industry leader in fenestration and has been for over 90
years and the company plans to continue
being the leader for at least another 90 years or more using software
from Soft Tech. |
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The business situation
G. James Glass & Aluminium is a group of vertically integrated
companies with a core competency in the design and manufacture of
a broad range of aluminium and glass products distributed and installed
in commercial and residential buildings throughout Australia and
New Zealand. The need to maintain its competitive position in the
market place was the key driver behind the decision to go looking
for a
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pricing and production tool
that would enable the company to streamline
key business processes, more efficiently
disseminate knowledge and information to
staff, and ultimately improve responsiveness
to customers.
Mr. Lewis Saragossi, Managing Director, recalls the good old, bad old character-based
dos system G. James had been using for 10 – 15 years which was struggling
to accommodate |
business growth with limited
flexibility, limited enhancements and a
distributor whose relationship with the
software owner was indifferent at best.
G. James had extended the old system’s
useful life by “pushing it to the
limits of its functional capacity” and
with no clear development path the decision
was made to replace it about 8 years ago
with v1.5 of Soft
Tech’s PC-based system which, would later be known as V6. |
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Soft Tech development
and upgrade path protects long-term investment
Over the next 8 years or so, G. James would make the quantum leap
from the old text/character based estimating system through several
version upgrades and milestones to the drafting/drawing system V6
has become today and Mr. Saragossi notes the significance of several
milestones.
From the humble beginnings of the PC-based version 1.5
with just 6 users to version 2.0 which introduced G. James to networked
computing
in a server based environment and accommodated 100 users. Version
2.0 effectively centralised the management of the database which
was rolled out to the production and pricing parts of the business
and connected 25 dispersed branches from Perth to Cairns. Database
development and training
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moved in-house effectively
giving G. James more control over how the
product was developed to support the business.
Version 3.0 delivered more flexibility and more options to around 150 users and
managers within a very stable environment. Users are well pleased with a GUI
front end which is easy to navigate with options that are easy to understand.
The decision to purchase a particular software system is as much about the sustainability
of the relationship between the business and software vendor as it is about cost
and functionality – if the relationship isn’t progressive the rest
becomes irrelevant. The progressive relationship between G. James and Soft Tech
has enabled both organisations to move |
through various stages of
step-by-step development and the roll-out
of continually enhanced versions of the
software over many years. The nature of
that relationship has protected G. James
investment
in Soft Tech’s V6 product and Mr. Saragossi confidently says that as far
as he’s concerned,
“The V6 product is best-of-breed and Soft Tech has a good understanding
of our needs so we’re happy to keep using V6 as our pricing and
production tool.”
Lewis Saragossi, Managing Director – G. James
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V6 – excellent training
tool
The codifying of business knowledge and information into an electronically
available information source has enabled the dissemination of more knowledge
and information about products to more users and customers than has been
possible in the past. V6 has proven to be an excellent training tool.
The ‘holy grail’ in process automation - porting cutting
sizes from V6 to equipment
Each version of V6 has incrementally |
streamlined workflows and assisted
critical business processes throughout the
pre-production process which is demonstrable
evidence of the V6 product’s capacity to scale to the growth needs of the
business. Mr. Saragossi is enthusiastic about the next phase in the automation
process – porting cutting sizes from V6 directly to production equipment
and the functionality already exists in V6 to do this.
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“The move to V6 which is a
drafting/drawing backed system has
helped us improve responsiveness
to customer needs and maintain our
competitive position in the market
place.”
Lewis Saragossi,
Managing Director – G. James
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| Highlights |
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Summary
Of most business value
- V6 – Quoting,
Pricing & Manufacturing system
- Progressive and
sustainable relationship with Soft Tech
- Soft Tech’s
collaborative meetings with users
- In-house database
development and training
Key outcomes
- Roll-out of enhanced version
upgrades with features of value to users
- V6 enabled conversion
from paper-based to electronic information
source for training and dissemination of
information
- Streamlining of workflows
and pre-production processes
- Protection of long-term
investment in the development of V6
- G. James has control of
future database development
About G. James Australia
Today, G. James Australia Pty Ltd is a group
of vertically integrated companies specialising in the design and
manufacture of a broad range of aluminium and glass products installed
in commercial and residential buildings. The original business
was started by the late George James in 1917 in Brisbane and has
grown to become the most prominent business in the aluminium and
glass industry with an extensive branch network across four states.
For more information visit the website at www.gjames.com.au
Written by Sheridan Hornsby-Hunt – Freelance Writer to software
companies
For more information visit www.writerfind.com/shornsby-hunt.htm |
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CUSTOMER
Alumax Bath Enclosures by Sapa Fabricated Products
INDUSTRIES
Manufacturing & Construction: Bath & Shower
Enclosures
LOCATION
Arkansas, USA
SOLUTION
Shower Pro (Prism)
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Development partnership
produces industry-leading configuration
software for bath & shower enclosure
manufacturers
Taking the customer out for a few rounds of golf or a day out fishing
might work for many companies when it comes to ‘understanding
the customer’s business needs’ but for others, this falls
into the social networking category and is simply good PR. Soft Tech
decided that in order to gain a substantive understanding of its
customer’s needs, they needed to do more than choose the right
golf club or bait hooks.
Opting to go down the path less traveled,
Soft Tech took the unusual step of inviting one of the world’s leading bath & shower
enclosure manufacturers to enter into a development partnership.
The outcome says Mike Gee, Design Engineer at Alumax Bath Enclosures
has made “a world of difference” to business processes
and the convergence of knowledge and expertise has resulted in
the creation of a world-class system for the shower industry. |
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The business situation
Mike says the old software system was “horribly, horribly
out-of-date, time-consuming and heavily reliant on a stack of error-prone
spreadsheets” which the company had been using for 20 years
or more. What Alumax needed was a configuration tool with unique
relevance to bath & shower enclosure manufacturers and what Soft
Tech needed was input to the development path of its Saturn product.
Development partnership a win-win scenario for Soft Tech & Alumax
Specifically, Soft Tech needed help to develop the functionality within Saturn’s |
Shower Pro module for configuring bath
and shower enclosures. Alumax wanted more
autonomy, accuracy and
much greater visibility of the business
and particularly,
a more efficient quoting and ordering process which needed to handle around 20,000
quotes per summer quarter from its vast dealer network and 9 service centers.
It also needed to access product information, which Soft Tech would help Alumax
build into a customized knowledge database.
Once development of Shower Pro for
the industry at large was complete, Alumax further developed it into Prism
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for its own in-house use.
One of the most valuable business gains
says Mike, is that Alumax have
the autonomy of developing and maintaining
the database in-house. Whilst Soft Tech
have a world class product developed with
the help of the industry’s leading
manufacturer.
By all accounts, entering into a partnership with a customer is a courageous
step for a software company but for Soft Tech and Alumax, the value of identifying
the needs of industry users with pinpoint accuracy, has proved to be a win-win
situation for both parties. |
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Complex configuration & quote
over-the-phone
Mike explains how Prism enables Customer Service Representatives
(CSR’s) to generate a complex configuration and price quote
for customers, whilst they’re on the phone. Without the highly
customized engineering that went into the development of Prism, Alumax
simply couldn’t handle the volume of quotes the business prepares
which is why “Prism is an absolutely integral part of the business” says
Mike.
Previously, quoting involved multiple methods of measurement
and calculation using spreadsheets which consumed huge amounts of
time
and was an inherently error-prone process.
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Today, the amount of time
saved, reduction in errors and wastage
has put a smile back on the faces of the
money people.
Built-in knowledge base reduces CSR training time
Because Prism has a built-in knowledge base and presents users with a visual
view of what they’re doing, they don’t need weeks of in-depth product
knowledge training and Mike says this means “CSR’s get up-to-speed
quickly and can be relatively productive much quicker than would otherwise be
the case.” Prism effectively traps errors and prevents orders being configured
which are outside the company’s specification or orders which appear to
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incorrectly measured by customers. “Prism
helps CSR’s immensely” says
Mike and without it, Alumax simply couldn’t
sustain its competitive position within
the market
The future looks good
The development partnership between Alumax and Soft Tech has been an entirely
reciprocal arrangement with each partner achieving the outcomes that were promised.
Mike says they have a good open and ongoing business relationship with Soft Tech
and whilst the competitive environment might experience its up’s and down’s,
he’s confident the working relationship with Soft Tech will remain stable
and dependable. |
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| Highlights |
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Summary
Of most business value
- Prism (ShowerPro) – graphical
configuration, quoting and ordering system
- Joint development
partnership with Soft Tech
- Highly customized
engineering of Prism around the complexities
of the business
- Built-in knowledge
database
- In-house database development
and maintenance
Key outcomes
- Prism’s built-in
knowledge database has reduced training
times for frontline staff
- Reduction in wastage
due to improvements in quote accuracy
- Trapping of configuration
errors before they reach production or
drawing stage
- Autonomy over future
development path of in-house system
- Improved levels
of order accuracy
- Reduction in time-consuming
manual calculations and measurements related
to quotes
About Alumax Bath Enclosures by Sapa Fabricated
Products
Alumax has been one of
the world's leading bath enclosure and shower
door manufacturers since 1949. With nine service
centers, a national sales team and thousands
of distributing dealers coast-to-coast, we
are committed to total customer satisfaction
as well as the production and on-time delivery
of the highest quality shower door products
in the industry.
For more information visit the website at www.alumaxbath.com
Written by Sheridan Hornsby-Hunt – Freelance Writer to software
companies
For more information visit www.writerfind.com/shornsby-hunt.htm |
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Soft Tech, All Rights Reserved |
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