Artromick
Company Overview
Artromick International, Inc. is the leading manufacturer and marketer of medical
carts and medication handling systems to the long-term care, hospital,
government, and assisted living market sectors. Artromick’s significant customer
base includes the largest institutional pharmacies, hospitals, government medical
centers, and nursing care residences throughout the United States and world. The
manufacturer offers a complete line of standard and customizable cart lines that
permit the customer to select from an assortment of product features,
configuration options, and convenience accessories. Artromick's 190-employee facility is
located in Columbus, Ohio.
The Situation
Prior to implementing Infor, Artromick ran its manufacturing processes on a
FoxPro system utilizing custom code. However some activities, such as creating
customer quotes, were still being performed manually. For eight years, Artromick
had been trying to automate processes using the custom-built system but had yet
to fully complete the project. The company considered upgrading the system to
finally automate its operations as necessary, but it became clear that even this
would not meet its need for a fully integrated solution. Artromick needed a system
that could manage its entire sales process—from providing initial quotes to
recording the final sale amount in the general ledger.
In September 1999, the company began looking at approximately 50 solutions
and narrowed down the search to 12 providers. The decision-making team,
comprised of VPs, managers, and an in-house selection consultant, narrowed the
list of providers down to three, and eventually decided that Infor was the best
fit for its needs. Guide Technologies, a member of the Infor global network of
affiliates that is comprised of independent companies licensed to sell, implement
and support Infor solutions, was on hand to assist in the implementation.
It was of significant importance for Artromick to go live on the Infor solution by
Labor Day of 2001, because it had plans to launch a new cart line at that time.
"Without Infor in place, we would not have been able to support its sales or
production using the old system," according to David Ryan, vice president of
information services. After several months of hard work on the part of both
Artromick and Guide Technologies, the company went live on the Infor solution
on September 1, 2001—completing the implementation in less than nine months,
within budget and just in time for its new product launch.
The Solution
With Infor, Artromick was able to completely eliminate its old system and
increase production without adding headcount. The company has also
significantly reduced the number of steps from the 30 it took to move an order
through production and ready it for delivery, down to less than 10. For a small
manufacturer like Artromick, lead time and planning is critical to delivering quality
products on time. With Infor, Artromick has fast access to more in-depth data
and, as a result, can make more informed planning and ordering decisions. For
example, the company now has usage and inventory-turn knowledge at the
specific product level. This provides a better understanding of which components
are being used, as well as when and where, so Artromick can make the
adjustments necessary to keep up with demand.
Real Results
Although Artromick’s new cart line has a lower price point than its other products, it
is able to gain increased margins due to the company’s ability to get the carts to
market faster, with less incurred costs. This is due in part to the Infor solution
reducing the need for costly manual involvement in the production and quoting
processes.
Artromick has also seen dramatic improvement in its return response time. With
Infor, Artromick is able to complete a Return Materials Authorization in three
days, instead of the three weeks or even three months it took before, which allows
the company to provide its customers with better service. With all the
improvements Artromick has made in its processes, the company achieved budget
objectives and anticipates recovering its investment in the Infor solution within
18 months of introducing the product. According to Ryan, "Artromick will definitely
be able to pay for the Infor solution in less than two years."
Artromick plans on upgrading to version 7.0d of the Infor ERP for Extended
Systems solution once it is released. The company is also interested in the
possibilities of .NET and Infor Commerce, so it can have the flexibility to reach
out to a variety of customers and communicate quickly, easily, and at a low cost.
Artromick would like to utilize Web services to further streamline its internal
processes and tighten integration with other applications. It would also like to
extend product configuration capabilities to its customers and/or service
representatives, integrate with UPS services, and add bar coding to obtain real-time
warehouse information.
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At-a-glance
Company name:
Headquarters:
Products manufactured:
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Medication distribution carts,
replacement parts and accessories
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Related download:
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