After ZXP Technology’s new ownership group purchased the 60 year-old business in January 2007, they knew that modernizing the company’s 20-year old, non-integrated and unsupported enterprise software system would be a critical issue.
ZXP customers - major lubricant marketers, like Shell, BP-Castrol, Exxon-Mobile, Valvoline – operate under tremendous pressure from their customers, “big-box” retailers and auto parts chains. They’re expected to fulfill orders rapidly and accurately, minimize inventory and meet stringent reporting standards, and they, in turn, expect the same from ZXP.
ZXP, however, had been grappling with those requirements using a highly manual and antiquated system for data entry, order fulfillment and for managing production, shipping and inventory. It also lacked any electronic interface with ZXP customers’ systems. That need for system-wide integration, along with a real-time ability to process orders and communicate electronically with customers are two major reasons why ZXP selected Solarsoft iVP, according to Ed Davis, ZXP President and CEO.
“We wanted an electronic process through which we would receive orders from our customers, and those orders would automatically flow through our system, allowing us to better plan our raw materials ordering and our finished good production, packaging and shipping,” he said “Then we wanted to be able to communicate the real-time status of each order back to our customers.”
Davis believes Solarsoft iVP’s full array of integrated shop-floor and front-office functionality, including bar-code labelling and tracking and EDI, will enable his company to do just that. “A lot of our orders go out within 24 to 48 hours of receipt, so the real-time inventory and production management capabilities Solarsoft iVP provides will allow us to increase our resource efficiency tremendously and provide superior customer service,” he said.
Davis understandably puts a premium on efficiency and accuracy, given the distinctive set of production and packaging challenges ZXP faces. The company has 18 packaging lines that fill anything from a 4 oz. bottle to a rail car, and each product ZXP produces – from high-end synthetics for transmissions to motor oils for automotive and commercial use - has its own formula and very specific cooking or blending requirements.
The challenges extend to inventory management and billing as well. “We have 40-million-dollars worth of inventory on-site and we own 3 million of it. Our customers own the rest, and it’s in every possible stage of development,” said Davis. “We’re a contract blender and packager, so we work with each customer’s distinct production, inventory and shipping requirements.”
ZXP must track and bill each customer’s raw material and finished goods inventory costs, and must also employ a complex billing method, called “Progress Billing”, to invoice each customer for costs associated with each step in the multi-stage production of their particular finished product. So unique were these billing requirements that Davis could find no ERP system in the market with Progress Billing capabilities, however, Solarsoft mobilized its development department to provide that functionality.
By the end of Q1 2008 - Davis’ goal for having iVP fully implemented - ZXP will be tracking all raw material and finished goods inventory in real time and will have all new orders activated the iVP system. “There’s no doubt that having all that information integrated into our MRP, having an EDI interface with our customers and having the ability to do Progress Billing will make us a stronger and better supplier and a more profitable entity.”
About Solarsoft Business Systems
Solarsoft provides modern enterprise resource planning (ERP) software systems to manufacturers, distributors, wholesalers and merchants, solving problems in accounting, finance, inventory and warehouse management, e-commerce, logistics, manufacturing resource planning (MRP) and management information. Solarsoft helps manufacturers with complex or time-critical supply chains or where agile production and electronic messaging are key to meeting performance and quality targets. In distribution and wholesale we help customers maximize the value of every sale through targeted promotions, sharper buying and automation using barcodes, wireless and RFID. Over 1,500 companies rely on Solarsoft to bring clarity and efficiency to their operations.