m-Power Case Study: Renzi Foodservice

The Challenges

Renzi faced a common challenge. They relied on multiple systems—not all of which communicated with each other.

Renzi ran their business on a Retalix ERP system—a system designed for the foodservices industry. But, besides their ERP system, they also relied on a few other software packages, such as:

• Powernet—software that lets their customers place orders online.
• Powersell—software that lets their salespeople place orders while in the field.
• Trackmax—software that lets them track manufacturer rebates.
• BFC—software that lets them manage their warehouse.

While these systems helped Renzi run their business, they didn’t offer complete integration. As a result, Renzi faced a few challenges:

1. They had difficulty tracking "True Profit"

Each of their systems helped Renzi meet a specific need. But not all of them communicated with each other. They had difficulty integrating data from every source and delivering a clear view of their business.

Most importantly, tracking “True Profit” presented a challenge. In the foodservice industry, “True Profit Analysis” is a critical statistic. The “True Profit” of an item includes all costs and profits associated with each product, such as:

• unit cost,
• manufacturer rebates,
• shelter income,
• handling costs,
• warehouse labor,
• company overhead,
• and more.

Without factoring in every cost/income associated with each product, determining profitability is impossible. With data points residing in different systems, tracking "True Profitability" was a difficult task.

2. Their reporting process wasted time

Reporting was also a time-consuming process. It required that they pull data from different systems and format/manipulate the data in Excel. Then, they emailed reports to users.

“Our reporting process easily required 8 hours a week, across multiple people,” says Paul Millard, Renzi’s IT Manager. “And that’s an underestimate.”

This time-consuming reporting process created another problem: It didn’t produce real-time reports. By the time they had pulled the data out of their systems and created the necessary reports, they were stuck with day-old or week-old data.

Millard wanted to automate their reporting process. “What I’m trying to do is provide timely, accurate, consistent reports and stop having users ask for a custom ad-hoc report every 5 minutes,” says Millard. “I want to provide them with the right set of information that they need in one spot.”

3. Budgeting was a month-long process

Renzi’s unique budgeting process is unlike other companies in the foodservice distribution industry. But, it’s effective, and it fits their business.

The problem with a unique budgeting process: They couldn’t buy an off-the-shelf budgeting solution. Renzi needed a way to create custom budgets that pulled data from many sources and tied into their ERP system.

However, Renzi’s current BI software provided “read-only” data access. It didn’t allow write-backs to the database. This meant they couldn’t create budgets through their system. The result: Budgeting was a manual, month-long process.

4. They had no mobile access to their data

Mobile data access was a growing need. Renzi’s sales team wanted access to real-time product data while on the road. Renzi’s executives also wanted access to reporting and budgeting data on their smartphones.

But, mobility wasn’t a built-in feature with their current ERP system. While their ERP provider offered a separate mobile module, it came with a $75,000 price tag.

Even if they did license the mobile module, it wouldn’t completely fix the problem. While it would provide mobile access to the ERP data, it wouldn’t give mobile access to their other systems. They needed a way to integrate data from different systems and make it accessible across any mobile device.

Value

Renzi licensed m-Power, and began building solutions to meet their needs. In just a few months (with two employees, working part-time on the projects), they delivered a wide range of solutions. Most notably, Renzi:

Streamlined reporting, saving 8 hours every week

Renzi’s manual reporting process formerly required 8 hours of work every week. Using m-Power, Renzi created a wide variety of BI and reporting applications for their users. They placed these applications in a company-wide, employee portal.

Now, users no longer request reports from the IT department. They log in to the employee portal and access the reports and budgets they need. These applications pull data from multiple systems, and are available on-demand—whenever employees need them.

The portal includes role-based, and application-level security—just two of the security options that come with m-Power. This means that users from different departments can log in, but only see the data they’re authorized to view.

Automated their budgeting process

With m-Power, Renzi finally had the tool they needed for their custom budgeting needs. Because it let them pull data from disparate systems, they can create budgets to their exact requirements.

The best part: Budgeting is now automatic. They transformed budgeting from a month-long project into on-demand applications. Whenever executives need to access the budget, they login through the portal.

Delivered “True Profit Analysis”

Because m-Power lets Renzi connect data from many systems, they now have a complete view of their financial data. For Renzi, this meant they can track one elusive statistic: “True Profit Analysis.”

Now, they can instantly view the true profitability of their products, routes, and customers. This gives them a clear view of their business, and helps them make fast, informed decisions.

Provided mobile ERP data access, avoiding the $75,000 module fee

Using m-Power, Renzi created mobile web applications for their sales team and executives. Users now access real-time data and analytics straight from their ERP, using any mobile device.

Now, executives can access reports and budgets from their phones. Because m-Power creates mobile web apps, they work across any smartphone or tablet. The best part: Mobile capabilities come standard with m-Power. This let them avoid the $75,000 cost for their ERP’s mobile module.

Extended the life of their ERP system, delaying a $250,000 upgrade

Using m-Power, Renzi breathed new life into their existing ERP system—allowing them to delay an expensive ERP upgrade. Now, they can augment their ERP with new applications and features, without altering the system at all.

Why is this important? Because m-Power doesn’t change the ERP system itself, it won’t keep them from taking future upgrades. Applications created over one ERP version will work with a new one.

The Value: Renzi’s cost/time savings with m-Power

Before	After
8 hours/week in manual reporting	m-Power automated Renzi’s reporting process
1 month in time spent on budgeting	m-Power eliminated Renzi’s month-long budgeting process
$75,000 mobile module fee	m-Power let Renzi avoid a $75,000 fee for a mobile module
$250,000 ERP upgrade fee	m-Power let Renzi delay an expensive ERP upgrade