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"This project will allow us to meet our growth objectives in an efficient and cost-effective manner." - CIO

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This company is a $700 million manufacturer and distributor of healthcare supplies. Though the Illinois-based company was experiencing tremendous revenue growth, their systems infrastructure could not keep pace.
Executive Summary

Business Strategy

To solve this problem, the company needed a system which integrated logistics control, sales, marketing, and financials. But with so many ERP systems on the market, selecting the one that fit the way they do business was no small task.

The company called on Waterstone Consulting's healthcare industry experience, pricing expertise, and Packaged System Implementation Methodology to ensure a successful initiative.

Focusing first on the revenue cycle, the consulting firm identified the specific business goals they desired:

• Improve effectiveness of Sales and Marketing divisions
• Reduce operational overhead
• Improve accessibility to critical information
• Ensure flexibility to adapt to changing market conditions

Waterstone Consulting then translated the business goals into specific technology initiatives.

To improve the effectiveness of Sales and Marketing personnel, an integrated ERP system with an intuitive user-interface was required. Because of constant market changes and the company's growth expectations, tight functional integration could not limit the flexibility of the system.

Project Approach

Using their Packaged System Implementation methodology, Waterstone Consulting teamed with the company to analyze the existing business processes. After streamlining these processes, the team identified the functional requirements of each.

Next, the team performed extensive product and vendor analysis in selecting the hardware and software. After a rigorous selection process, the firm began an iterative configuration and implementation of the SAP/R3 system.

Waterstone Consulting's structured methodology helped guide the implementation. With the needs of over 500 salespeople and 2000 office users at stake, the decisions made at each step of the project were critical.

Project Success

With streamlined sales and marketing processes in place and a system to support them, company personnel can more efficiently perform their jobs.

This result, however, could not have been attained without the thorough evaluation of the leading software packages. By analyzing vendor stability, software functionality, integration into the business, proper configuration, and user training and support needs, Waterstone Consulting positioned the company for future success.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Industry: Healthcare Products Distribution	Benefit: Reduced operational overhead Flexibility to adapt to changing market Improved visibility to critical data
Solution: Pricing & Contract Process Redesign ERP System Implementation	Technology: SAP R/3 Oracle Sun OS Windows NT