d/EPM improves operational efficiency at T. Hasegawa USA

Cipher Business Solutions (Cipher) is Infor’s d/EPM North American cross sell partner. Cipher is recognized worldwide as one of the leading experts in dynamic Enterprise Performance Management (d/EPM).

In May 2017, Cipher implemented d/EPM for an American company – T. Hasegawa USA  It is part of one of the world’s top ten flavor and fragrance companies. Many food and beverage manufacturers rely on their expertise in creating high quality flavors with unmatched customer service.

The implementation team consisted of a senior d/EPM consultant and a reporting consultant. The team deployed the system in the departments of sales, finance and production. It currently serves a total of 20 users.

The implementation:

  • allowed easy and fast access to data
  • delivered a reporting system that supports the decision-making process
  • increased collaboration amongst Sales, Production and Receiving – resulting in cost savings and increased efficiency, (and)
  • increased product gross margins

The project was delivered on time and within budget, which exceeded the client’s highest expectations.

Challenges

Before the d/EPM implementation, the company relied on an ERP system for order tracking –using it for reporting, e-mails and phone calls. Reporting from the ERP system was slow and time consuming. Reports would take hours to be generated. Additionally, e-mails and phone calls were not the best tools to support their complex processes, which range from customer orders to production and delivery.

Furthermore, some other challenges that the company faced included:

  • Sales teams spending too much time in reporting for sales analysis
  • Reports taking too much time
  • Sales teams not able to track performance based on annual forecast
  • Lack of KPIs
  • Use of e-mails and phone calls for order tracking and status inquire
  • No visibility by the sales team on when orders are placed
  • Inability to execute critical financial reports in real-time with up-to-date data
  • Limited visibility and access to operational and financial data
  • Too much time to get data from the ERP
  • Receiving has no visibility on the up-coming orders
  • Inability to look ahead incoming shop orders
  • Excessive manual activities to support core business processes

Cipher’s d/EPM implementation addressed these challenges.

The implementation covered areas such as finance, receiving, quality control (QC), purchasing and production. The positive impact on these areas can be noted in terms of increased operational efficiency, cost reduction, improved decision making, and increased collaboration amongst organizations.

Results

Here is a breakdown by area of the results and benefits brought by d/EPM. The information contained was provided by the VP of Information Technology of T. Hasegawa.

Production

Increased efficiency.
This was achieved through the incorporation of the shop orders report. With this tool the Production Planner identifies problematic shop orders in advance, proactively correcting errors and solving potential problems.

 Sales

Improved agility and effectiveness of the sales team.
In the past, the sales team spent too much time preoccupied with reporting activities. This is due to report complexity and long processing times. Reports that previously took hours to produce (i.e. the sales aging report), can now be generated within 5 to 10 seconds. This tool enables sales employees to dedicate more time to sales related activities – for example, more interaction with customers. Moreover, they can run the Sales Gross Margin report and get sales comparisons against the forecast. In the past, they had to wait until the end of the month to get this information. Now, they can get it anytime of the month including real-time information.

Receiving

Increased effectiveness.
This team had no visibility on the number of items externally sent to the company. Since they now have a report that allows them to see what is in the queue, they can schedule their daily activities and prioritize the reception of items based on their urgency. This drastically reduced the number of emails and phone calls to and from the receiving department.

Purchasing

Increased gross product margins.
Now, this team has visibility over the upcoming orders and has time to adjust order quantities. That translates into cost reductions, as the company saves money on freight charges. Also, the company is in a position to negotiate better prices with suppliers based on quantities. This has increased the company’s gross margins significantly.

Quotes

“One of the things that it did for us is increase efficiency in our operations - that is a game changer.”
“The company’s executive team, including the CEO are constantly using d/EPM.”
“d/EPM increased the visibility of business data across departments identifying opportunities and mitigating risk”
“d/EPM is the easiest software we have rolled out which would not be possible without the assistance of Cipher…”

 Nasser Dastmalchi
Vice President of Information Technology