Tracking sales and managing budgets and forecasts is no longer a chore at Charles Parson Group, New Zealand’s largest group of fabric wholesalers, now that they have installed iQ4bis Business Intelligence Solutions.

“In the past,” says Robin Ade, IT Manager of Business Information Services at Charles Parsons, “we would extract rows and columns of numbers from our IBM i5-based MOVEX ERP system, print out multi-page spread sheets and deliver them to management. The process worked, but it was slow, labour-intensive and not very flexible. Now, after installing iQ4bis Business Intelligence Solution, our sales representatives and managers, as well as upper level management, can access the latest figures from an internet browser, ‘slice and dice’ them to their heart’s content and then make the fast decisions that need to be made to stay ahead of the game.”

The key benefit for Charles Parsons has been the seamless integration of iQ4bis into their organisation. “We have been especially pleased on how easy it has been to incorporate a data warehouse using iQ4bis Business Intelligence Solutions,” says Ade.

“iQ4bis has provided us with a complete data warehousing and analytical reporting solution, not just a set of tools. And we’ve been able to accomplish everything we’ve set out to do with a minimum of training or disruption to our day-to-day operations. And, of course, the ability to interface directly with our ERP system has allowed us to leverage our extensive database holdings to their maximum extent.”

“Installing iQ4bis Business Intelligence Solutions at Charles Parsons has helped them extend the life of their ERP system,” says Trevor Middleton of Cosyn, ERP consultants to Charles Parsons. “The ability to unlock the secrets held in their IBM i5 databases has given them a powerful capability to leverage their existing information systems.”

A better way
Like many organisations, Charles Parsons knew they needed a better way to analyse their sales, budget, forecasting and financial processes. But they felt that they couldn’t justify the costs involved. Then they heard about iQ4bis.

“We had made a few inquiries and liked what we saw,” says Ade, “but we didn’t pursue it. Then we brought a new Chief Financial Officer on board who had been using iQ4bis Business Intelligence Solutions at their previous company, and couldn’t say enough good things about iQ4bis so we took another look. We liked the ease-ofuse, the fact that it could interface directly with MOVEX Tables and the relatively modest start up costs. Plus iQ4bis, the company, was willing to show us, with our own data in a ‘Proof of Concept’ exercise, that iQ4bis could significantly improve our decision-making process.”

The investment in the Proof of Concept proved to be the winner. “It was so easy,” says Ade. “We already had a good idea of the information we wanted so see so we simply extracted the raw data from our ERP system and sent it over to iQ4bis. They came back a few days later with a fully-functioning business intelligence solution. We could visualise the data, summarise it, drill down, change parameters and generate reports, all with a few clicks of the mouse. Our new CFO was already sold on iQ4bis but the Proof of Concept convinced the rest of the company.”

The implementation went extremely well. “The team from iQ4bis installed the software and hardware and set up the processes to automatically extract the latest sales and financial data from iQ4bis Business Intelligence Solutions to Microsoft SQL Server,” says Ade. “Since iQ4bis had already built the sales cube and designed multiple views for the various teams within the organisation as part of the Proof of Concept exercise we were up and running in record time.”

Fast track training
Because the iQ4bis Analysis Web interface is so intuitive and logical, training staff to use the system was a non-issue. “Myself and a business analyst were given a day’s worth of formal training and that was all we really needed,” says Ade.

“The analyst was then able to show others in the company how to open the views, drill down, query the database and generate reports. We now have almost 60 regular users, ranging from sales representatives in the field to divisional managers to upper level management.”

Just the time savings alone have made iQ4bis a success at Charles Parsons. “We had one person who had to prepare all of our paper-based reports,” says Ade, “Now, anyone within the organisation can call up the latest facts and figures to see, for instance, how a particular sector is performing compared to the forecast. We have been able to standardise our reporting formats and add some continuity to our processes.”

Charles Parsons expects to continue to develop their business intelligence capabilities with iQ4bis Business Intelligence Solutions. “The initial installation has given us a great start,” says Ade, “and we hope to realise similar benefits when we build the financials and inventory cubes. With just a modest amount of training we have been able to construct customised views for our users so we can extract meaningful information from the system. We’re more than satisfied that iQ4bis is a cost-effective business intelligence solution and are looking forward to gaining even more benefits as we become more familiar with all of its impressive capabilities.” Charles Parsons Australia and their Shanghai offices are also in the process of implementing iQ4bis.

About Charles Parsons
Charles Parsons is New Zealand’s largest group of fabric wholesalers. They supply fabric and components for garments, furnishings, commercial and industrial uses.

The Charles Parsons Group is a privately owned group of textile distribution and converting businesses supplying a diverse customer base throughout Australia, New Zealand, Fiji and South-east Asia.

The group was established in 1915 in Sydney and currently employs over 800 staff at 28 locations. In 2000 Charles Parsons opened an office in Shanghai to provide sourcing and quality control for made up garments and home-wares products. Wholesale and trade customers may purchase textiles from an extensive ex-stock range, on an indent or agency basis or the fully constructed product.

Click here to register for free iQ4Bis Proof of Concept

For more information contact

Asj Smith            
General Manager- APAC
iQ4bis Management Software Limited
+64 9 366 2635
Visit our website www.iQ4bis.com

April 2007