HOW MM Electrical Merchandising makes progress Managing a Distributed Business MM Electrical Merchandising (MMEM) is a major operator in the electrical wholesaling industry in Australia. By implementing an enterprise resource planning (ERP) system based on Progress technology, MMEM has been able to integrate online and offline sales, better serve its customers, improve inventory utilization, and drive revenue growth. With 163 branches throughout Australia, MMEM carries over 130,000 products that it supplies to electrical contractors, data communications installers, industrial maintenance providers, builders, and commercial contractors. MMEM products are available at branch locations and via a Web-based catalog that allows thousands of MMEM key customers and contractors to gain secure access to pricing information and to place orders online. challenge Integrate online and offline sales, better serve customers, improve inventory utilization, and drive revenue growth solution ERP and e-commerce applications based on Progress OpenEdge with Progress SonicMQ as the communications interface between branch servers and the centralized e-commerce environment BeneFIT Efficient management of its distributed enterprise; continuous additions of new e-commerce features without increasing IT staff
2 REPLACING AGING LEGACY SYsteMS Several years ago, MMEM management recognized the need to replace a legacy ERP application that was not meeting MMEM s evolving needs. According to Trevor Batten, MMEM s IT Manager, Our ERP system at the time was difficult to maintain and offered limited scalability potential. We felt that if we didn t move to a new system soon, we would not be able to maintain our installed ERP application much longer. MMEM executives defined the company s ERP requirements and evaluated several ERP applications. We needed a system that matched our internal culture of the distribution of responsibility throughout the organization, and it needed to be able to support the growth of our business, explained Batten. Reliability was a major concern, and MMEM sought to select an ERP application that would minimize the risk of downtime. Because MMEM s branches are located throughout Australia, the ability to control communications costs was also a major priority. SWIFT IMpleMentatiON OF A DistributeD ERP SOlutiON These applications have proved most reliable, and we have successfully implemented the catalog and other e-commerce initiatives without increasing IT headcount. Trevor Batten IT Manager MM Electrical Merchandising After narrowing the choice down to three vendors, management selected the Unibis suite of fully integrated software modules from Progress Partner ComOps. Unibis is ideally suited for medium-to-large organizations with multiple locations. It provides the performance necessary to support high transaction levels, and the flexibility and scalability MMEM needs to support sales growth. The Unibis ERP system runs on the Progress OpenEdge database, which provides around-the-clock reliability. OpenEdge serves as the business processing engine for managing transactions throughout the enterprise. We deployed Unibis on time and within budget, and our installation could serve as a model for how to select and deploy an ERP system, commented Batten. Unibis is now successfully running on 163 branch servers across Australia. This ERP system allows MMEM to
3 efficiently manage its business, control costs, and continuously analyze and improve business operations. DriVing CATALOG SALES MMEM also turned to ComOps to develop its online sales channel, selecting the ComOps e-com product suite to enable effective, efficient, and secure transactions over the Web. ComOps e-com provides MMEM with an e-commerce solution that embraces and builds upon Unibis. MMEM s Webbased catalog is named Catalist, and it includes robust search capability that helps customers quickly and easily find the products they need. Since the underlying e-com application is written using Progress WebSpeed, the catalog can continue to evolve to support additional users and offer enhanced functionality. The flexibility of the catalog has allowed Catalist to appeal to a broad range of MMEM customers. This Web-based catalog is available to all customers, ranging from the small self-employed contractor to the company s largest accounts. According to Batten, The flexibility and extensibility of the application design are key elements of MMEM s success with major contracts because they enable close integration of our catalog with the procurement systems of our customers. These customers can even access price lists that are automatically customized to reflect our business arrangements and reflect any volume discounts or preferred pricing levels these customers may have earned. This integration has enabled MMEM to maintain local inventory support whilst meeting the e-commerce needs of our customers. MMEM is a leader in the industry and provides a service that is not available from other catalog suppliers. Due to the flexibility of design, the catalog can be used for basic price checks, and customers can also use a shopping basket and have their orders sent directly to the closest MMEM branch location. The catalog also allows new customers to apply for accounts online, with each application routed to the appropriate branch manager to review the application and optionally approve it and establish a credit limit.
4 Both the e-com and Unibis applications rely on the OpenEdge repository, and both applications have been successfully implemented without the need for a database administrator. A key element of our IT strategy is to ensure that we contain internal administration costs, said Batten. These applications have proved most reliable, and we have successfully implemented the catalog and other e-commerce initiatives without increasing IT headcount. We continue to work closely with ComOps on evolving the applications to meet our needs, and MMEM and ComOps have always had a strong team spirit. The Progress WebSpeed toolset allows MMEM and ComOps to evolve Catalist product codes and description structures on an ongoing basis to optimize search capabilities. MMEM continually improves the content of the product catalog because quality content is vital to the accuracy and success of the search capabilities, stated Batten. In the MMEM marketplace, high-quality, text-based content is seen as being very valuable because product searches are implemented using product keywords and attributes. MMEM also has plans to provide product images and specifications, which will either be stored on in-house servers or delivered through links to the Web sites of the product manufacturers. There are now approximately 130,000 items in the Catalist catalog, with about 5,000 additional products expected to be added each year. The flexibility and scalability of OpenEdge allow MMEM to scale the ERP and catalog applications to accommodate evolving business demands. INTEGRATING BRANCH OFFice AND CENTRALIZED INFORMatiON Catalist is fully integrated with Unibis, and orders placed via the catalog are transferred to the appropriate branch office sites via messaging solutions offered by Progress Software. Progress SonicMQ is used as the key communications interface between our branch servers and the centralized e-commerce environment, said Batten. We have designed and implemented a highly distributed IT infrastructure. Each branch has an OpenEdge database and runs the Unibis
5 ERP software to manage procurement, warehousing, and sales operations. We rely on SonicMQ to serve as the transport layer for reliably and cost-effectively moving high-volumes of electronic data from these distributed servers to our centralized ERP and e-commerce applications, he concluded. Progress Software Progress Software Corporation (NASDAQ: PRGS) is a global software company that enables enterprises to be operationally responsive to changing conditions and customer interactions as they occur. Our goal is to enable our customers to capitalize on new opportunities, drive greater efficiencies, and reduce risk. Progress offers a comprehensive portfolio of best-in-class infrastructure software spanning event-driven visibility and real-time response, open integration, data access and integration, and application development and management all supporting on-premises and SaaS/cloud deployments. Progress maximizes the benefits of operational responsiveness while minimizing IT complexity and total cost of ownership. WorlDWide Headquarters Progress Software Corporation, 14 Oak Park, Bedford, MA 01730 USA Tel: +1 781 280-4000 Fax: +1 781 280-4095 On the Web at: For regional international office locations and contact information, please refer to the Web page below: /worldwide Progress, WebSpeed, OpenEdge, SonicMQ, and Business Making Progress are trademarks or registered trademarks of Progress Software Corporation or one of its affiliates or subsidiaries in the U.S. and other countries. Any other trademarks contained herein are the property of their respective owners. Specifications subject to change without notice. 2007, 2010 Progress Software Corporation and/or its subsidiaries or affiliates. All rights reserved. Rev. 08/10 6525-128499