the IT staff, who attend the annual Quest
and Oracle users group conferences. That
way, they can ensure that the system meets
their needs. He also says that having a
sophisticated IT system helps Mizuno
recruit employees with big company experience. It assures them that, regardless of
Mizuno’s size, it’s committed to growth.
>>SNAPSHOTS
Mizuno USA
www.mizunousa.com
Location: Norcross, Georgia
Employees: 300
Oracle products and services:
JD Edwards EnterpriseOne, includ-
ing Financials, Sales Order Manage-
ment, Purchase Order Management,
Inventory, Configurator, Advanced
Warehouse/Transportation, and
Human Capital Management
Other products and services:
Consulting services from
CSS International
GARANT: SELLING SNOW SHOVELS
IN THE YUKON
Garant, based in Saint-François, Québec,
dominates the Canadian market for snow
shovels and garden tools. But a highly seasonal business is unforgiving. If a storm is
predicted in one part of the country, customers will order large volumes of shovels
and expect to receive them quickly. If the
spring is warmer than usual, then people
will start yard work sooner, and they’ll
want to find the right tools when they
walk into their local hardware store. For
Garant, missing a delivery window by
even a day means missing sales and conceding market share to someone else. “We
don’t get a second chance,” says Christian
Lebeuf, IT director, Garant.
By 2004, the company was looking
at an unstable, 20-year-old legacy ERP
system. At the same time, Canadian hardware chains such as Rona (670 stores),
Canadian Tire (455 stores), and Home
Depot (157 stores) were expecting their
partners to adhere to more-rigid compliance regulations and demanding stronger
IT interfaces and faster turnaround times.
Meanwhile, to expand their business
opportunities, Garant wanted to do more
business with food and drug retailers, which have even more-stringent IT and compliance regulations than hardware stores.
With 80 percent market share in its current businesses,
Garant had to find new markets, new businesses, and ruthless
efficiencies if it was going to grow, but the old ERP system held
the company back. Garant’s system couldn’t handle different
currencies, nor could it handle business from different divisions
within the company. This hampered the company’s ability to
make acquisitions, develop new businesses, and import and
export goods. It needed advanced IT to support its growth strategy. “If you don’t have a strategy to drive business growth, the
IT system won’t do it for you,” Lebeuf says.
After much deliberation, the company turned to Oracle. “We
were really scared about Oracle at first. We thought that it might
Garant
www.garant.com
Location: Saint-François, Québec
Employees: 300
Oracle products and services:
Oracle E-Business Suite, including
Financials, Procurement, Inventory,
and Order Management
Other products and services:
Consulting services from
CGI Québec
WiQuest Communications
www.wiquest.com
Location: Allen, Texas
Employees: 90
Oracle products and services:
Oracle E-Business Suite 11i, in-
cluding General Ledger, Accounts
Receivable, Accounts Payable, Order
Management, Purchasing, Discrete
Manufacturing, and TeleSales
Other products and services:
Consulting services from DAZ Systems
be too big a solution for us. But it’s not,”
Lebeuf says. Garant started the implementation in October 2005, and it was completed in July 2006. “The whole thing was
a very big success,” says Lebeuf, who has
just four people on his IT team.
The company has already seen benefits in its ability to better manage both
its inventory and overall customer service
levels. “We want to provide customers
with the perfect order—the right product
at the right time and the right price,”
says Lebeuf. “That’s the main advantage
that the right IT solution can provide.”
For example, Garant can now handle
high volumes and faster order cycle times
without resorting to manual processes.
The order entry department and shipping department share a single integrated
Oracle system, so each department can
share accurate information. And, unlike
the legacy system, the Oracle installation
is highly stable, with a recovery plan in
place. “The old system was really at risk,”
Lebeuf explains. “If we had a major crash,
the party was over.”
Garant’s users were comfortable with
the old system, so there was some adjustment to the new one. To help in that
process, many company employees have
become active in Oracle users groups.
“People are discovering what they can do
with Oracle, and that’s nice,” Lebeuf says.
And, the company has been able to move
ahead on its corporate growth strategy.
“We can start approaching acquisitions and
move into other markets now.” Something
that was impossible just a few years ago.
WIQUEST COMMUNICATIONS: TAKING ON THE BIG GUYS
WiQuest Communications, of Allen, Texas, is a startup
company in the wireless semiconductor industry. It designs,
develops, and supplies complete standards-based ultrawideband solutions to PC, consumer electronics, and mobile
systems companies worldwide. But it’s not the only company
working on this technology, and its competitors include large
integrated device manufacturers and fabless semiconductor
companies. That’s why WiQuest uses the same IT system that
its largest customers and competitors use. “Oracle is really
important to our business. Most startups don’t invest in integrated enterprise systems until they are much larger than we
are,” says Hari Chandran, vice president of manufacturing
