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National Signs, an internationally recognized sign manufacturer, was facing challenges due to its global expansion. The company's manual processes were not effective for the growing workforce and increased production. The existing systems and processes were not able to remove barriers that would allow employees to communicate anywhere, anytime, working together across the organization. One of the main challenges was tracking orders across the organization. With constant changes on orders, the production team’s manual process of writing jobs on pieces of paper as well as printing out drawings and physically handing out to each person their specific job for the day, not only wasted time, but created confusion and increased printing costs.

Northgate Markets, a rapidly expanding supermarket chain in California, was struggling with an unclear and stressful credit request and return approval process. The company had been dealing with this issue for over six years. In an attempt to improve the situation, Northgate Markets implemented a call center to report any return issues, but this did not result in any significant improvement. The process was slow and the transparency of product tracking processes was deteriorating. Store personnel had to spend long periods of time on the phone, trying to reach the right person who could help them at the call center. The biggest challenge for Northgate Markets was to find a solution that would address their problems from a business point of view first and then include the technical component to keep their system transparent and easy to manage.

Silliker was facing a challenging situation. The company had so many manually updated training documents in binders that they had to assign entire building walls to keep track of all employee training records. Each employee had accumulated training binders that started at 3 inches wide and kept expanding. The longer an employee stayed in the company the more binders that employee owned. The space it took to document all training processes was not the only concern Silliker had. The need to continuously update all training records manually, made it very difficult to know the exact location of all records. Silliker has extensive training sessions and materials that underwent multiple external and internal audits to confirm all quality policies and food regulations were followed. The time it took to store, retrieve, update and return each record was labor intensive and never convenient. To successfully keep track of all employee records and get the best results from each audit, Silliker needed a system that could manage employees’ training activities, document what employees observed in training, record all tasks performed and understand the results from all training. In addition, the system needed to provide rapid search and sorting capabilities to access the entire collection of training records.

A large retail chain of stores needed to replace its Human Resources (HR) transaction system for store employees. The existing legacy system was no longer supported, cumbersome and time consuming for managers to use, and had become impossible to maintain and update in response to changes in business needs. The system was wasting valuable store manager time, resulting in extra paper printing and storing.

Circle K Stores, a leading convenience store operator, was struggling with outdated HR processes and rigid technology. The company was experiencing high employee turnover and its HR department was responsible for tracking nearly 200,000 job applications annually. The company's HR processes were not easily adaptable to changing business needs and were not integrated with other departments and systems. The company was looking for a new platform to modernize its HR applicant tracking, onboarding, and employee lifecycle management processes.

Bluworld of Water was struggling as they expanded rapidly to a company of 85 and moving into a new manufacturing facility. With around 100 projects active at the same time and at various stages, the challenge of managing the progress as well as retrieving pertinent information all in one centralized location started to become a major undertaking. The legacy process of storing documents in various folders on their network server and tracking project progress via Excel spreadsheets were no longer effective while project development milestones were slipping. Another challenge was the communication barrier between sales and production teams. The sales account managers were spending a lot of time conveying customer requirements to the production team along with trying to retrieve relevant project statuses from the production team to effectively manage the accounts. In addition, many of Bluworld’s projects were part of larger construction projects. The challenges with these types of subcontract projects were the small window of time, as little as a few days to install their water features. Their process required their products to be shipped within a few days before installation and manufacturing of their products needed to be completed a few days before shipping. Since all the tracking and notifications were performed manually and with consistent changes arising, it became challenging to keep everyone up to date on the project statuses and ensuring the key shipping dates were met to avoid project delays.

Harman International, a global leader in the production of high-quality audio and electronic products, was facing a challenge in their product development process. Despite having a well-documented and sophisticated process for product development, they lacked a system to streamline operations, elevate visibility, and ensure quick access to the latest information. This was slowing down product development and jeopardizing the long-term competitive advantage of the group. The company was also facing issues with the dissemination of knowledge and best practices in their Engineering and Product Development, which was causing a slow progression in their group-wide learning. This left the non-experts with an untapped potential and delayed advancement in their contributions.

The non-profit healthcare organization was struggling with manual methods of tracking and managing their pediatrics health and weight management program. As their membership grew, these methods became difficult to maintain and scale, leading to time delays, errors, and frustration among patients and staff. They needed a solution that was affordable, flexible, and scalable across all divisions to capture their unique process needs. The organization was also facing challenges with the scheduling process and the billing mechanism, which led to loss in revenues and inefficient use of human resources.

Ensuring consistent quality throughout the Infinite Electronics product line prior to using Intellect wasn’t just challenging — it was nearly impossible. Paullin and his team started looking for a software platform that could help them streamline operations. Because its staff members are spread across the world, Infinite Electronics needed a cloud-based multilingual solution that could scale with a company planning for rapid growth.

OLLY, a respected name in the nutraceutical space, was facing challenges due to its rapid growth. The company was using a manual and paper-based system which was hampering its ability to make real-time decisions. The lack of a centralized system led to important documents being deprioritized or passed off based on employee bandwidth. The company was in dire need of a quality management system (QMS) that could provide speed and organization. The company wanted to centralize all of its processes and communication through a streamlined back-end process that translated to efficient customer experiences.

Gilero, a company that handles the design, development, and contract manufacturing of medical and drug delivery devices, was facing challenges with its original Quality System. The system, built in 2011, was paper-based, manual, and became complex over time. As the company expanded to new locations, the complexity of the system grew, as did the amount of time needed to manage it. The team at Gilero realized that it would need a quality management software in order to improve efficiency, streamline processes, and minimize the errors endemic in a manual system. However, many of the software platforms available required users to have coding and software engineering experience, which would mean hiring additional personnel.

Merieux NutraSciences, a global food testing company, was struggling with its paper-based system. The manual handling of documents was not only time-consuming but also made it difficult to find specific documents among the piles of binders. The company also needed a system to manage its four-step training process. As the company grew, the paper system became increasingly problematic. It was difficult to collect data for end-of-month reports, different labs had different versions of customer methods, and reports were only shared locally, not globally. Preparing for audits was a major challenge as documents were scattered across binders, desks, computers, and lab drawers. The company estimated that manually updating the paper-based system took up about 5,600 hours a year in the North American Network alone.

Host Hotels & Resorts, a Fortune 500 company and the largest lodging Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT), was struggling with managing and approving capital expenditures and associated contracts across their entire portfolio of properties. The process was complex and required balancing the property’s current need for dollars with Host’s need to cover major improvements years down the road. The company was relying on a relatively small number of highly mobile executives to approve substantial capital expenditures, which often led to delays. These delays were not just inconveniences, they influenced how quickly contracting firms could get paid. The company was in need of an enterprise mobility solution.

BP Aero, a full-service provider of aircraft engine teardowns, repairs, parts & accessory overhauls, and field service, was looking for a system to better organize their processes and procedures, to get a better handle on data, and to track and manage KPIs more effectively. The company was largely dependent on paper-based systems and spreadsheets, which were time consuming and often made it difficult to access information quickly. As the company was preparing to improve upon their existing ISO credentials from ISO 9001 to AS9110, they knew that the more robust standard would require a fully integrated QMS system. BP Aero’s management recognized the need for a quality management system to accommodate their quality processes by incorporating and using modern technology and software.

AeroSafe Global, a provider of temperature sensitive supply chain solutions, was experiencing rapid growth and needed to upgrade its quality management system (QMS). The company had been using Access databases, Excel spreadsheets, and documents stored in network drives, which worked when the company was smaller. However, as the company grew and processes became more complex, this manual system was no longer sufficient. AeroSafe needed an integrated, electronic QMS that could be easily modified as their quality management programs and business growth required upgrades and new processes.

When Nazia Khan joined FMI as their Regulatory Affairs Manager in 2015, she found that the company cared deeply about quality, but they lacked the kind of agile, flexible processes and tools that could support them in delivering consistently on that commitment, and in doing so efficiently. At that time, FMI’s quality systems were paper-based. New requests involved completing a form and physically carrying that document to various managers for signoff. Document numbering was managed using a spreadsheet, and the resulting paperwork was uploaded to an internal portal so that others in the organization could access it. Not only was this tedious and time-consuming, it also created significant challenges with respect to version control. Physical copies of the documents needed to be maintained for audit purposes, and every revision required the originals to be pulled, stamped, and refiled in a different location. Managing the flow of QMS documents was virtually a full-time job. FMI was also having trouble maintaining accurate employee training records. This, too, was a paper-based system. Employee signatures were captured on physical documents, which were retained in filing cabinets to be retrieved later if needed. Training records were manually entered into a custom Access database as well, providing an electronic record for faster lookup. Unfortunately, that database was highly unreliable, the data quality was poor, and it was only accessible to human resources and operations managers.

Klean Kanteen, a manufacturer of stainless steel bottles and sustainable lifestyle products, was facing challenges with its business processes. The company's employees were spending days each month collecting and organizing quality data manually. The company also worked with contract manufacturers overseas, employing local workers to inspect finished goods prior to shipment. The company needed a Quality Management System (QMS) solution that could automate these processes and be accessed by any employee, from virtually anywhere. The solution also needed to be localizable to meet the needs of overseas employees.

Merieux NutraSciences, a global food testing company, was struggling with its paper-based system. The manual updating of documents was time-consuming and inefficient, taking up about 5,600 hours a year in the North American Network alone. The company also had a four-step training process that was difficult to manage and track. Furthermore, the paper system made it hard to collect data for end-of-month reports, and different labs had different versions of customer methods. Reports were only shared locally, not globally, making it difficult to audit the company. Preparing for audits was a laborious process that took many hours, days, and sometimes weekends.

The software company, based in Portland, Oregon, was facing a growing challenge in tracking and responding to risks posed by customer data collection. As the company grew, it faced increasing regulatory requirements from new industries such as healthcare and finance, geographic data privacy laws, and various requirements for third-party vendor relationships. The company's existing risk management processes, which relied heavily on spreadsheets, emails, shared drives, local drives, and even print-outs, were proving inadequate. The company had no central repository for risk management data, and the information security manager was struggling to manually find and track all this information. The company needed a more efficient and effective way to manage risk, track audit requests, align their responses to regulatory requirements, demonstrate compliance, and protect customer data.

After being spun off from another company, Vista Outdoor needed to establish its own compliance program. Wanting to keep the functionality and compliance capability from the previous organization, Vista Outdoor looked for ways to start the new organizational venture on the right foot with robust compliance tools in place. The company wanted to have a better understanding and control in regards to what their third-party partners may be doing, or how they’re representing themselves – and Vista Outdoor. They wanted to ensure that their partners are not acting nefariously, jeopardizing the company with potential corruption or bribery activity.

El Pollo Loco, a leading quick-service restaurant chain specializing in flame-grilled chicken, was facing a challenge in maintaining a good relationship with its employees. The company was using a basic employee hotline service and a relatively disorganized case management system. With only spreadsheets and scattered notes, it was impossible to see any trends emerging in the data. The process was clearly inadequate for El Pollo Loco’s needs. The company wanted to generate employee communication and reduce legal risk by listening to feedback and acknowledging concerns. However, the existing system was not efficient in providing a systematic approach to documenting case assignments and streamlining workflow.

Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, with a strict concern for students and employees in locations across the globe, wanted to ensure that the school’s policies and procedures were transparent in order to foster an educational environment of safety and integrity. The university encountered many of the same risk issues as other universities, but also had unique challenges related to teaching students to fly aircraft. For example, something as small as a wrench turn going awry could ground an entire fleet of aircraft. The university needed a system that would allow the school to listen to any questions or concerns and facilitate the prompt and appropriate resolution to any issues that were discovered. And with safety as the main focus, Embry-Riddle wanted to provide a system that would make students and employees feel comfortable reporting.

Alectris’ field engineers and technicians work remotely and are often out in the field. Their activities are typically in the area of preventative and corrective maintenance. The company’s aim was to provide field workers with a single solution to manage their work, including maintenance and other recurring activities, and report to the back office. Before implementing Resco, communication, reporting, and other information transmission was mainly done via phone calls and emails, which can be very time-consuming and inefficient. However, extensive reporting is required, so field workers must reserve a lot of time for desk work, making them unavailable for essential and urgent activities in the field. Another consideration is that the company has a global presence, and reliable and fast information exchange can be complicated. Synchronization times are long, and it can take time for the information to reach the customer.

Effy business partners install & inspect isolation yards at households. Their daily job requires them to schedule the visits, collect the information about each visit and on-site task. Sometimes this happens in a completely disconnected scenario. The traditional method of using pen and paper was inefficient and time-consuming, leading to a need for a more streamlined and efficient solution.

Dräger, an international leader in the fields of medical and safety technology, was facing challenges with its outdated Outlook Offline app. The app, which was no longer supported by Microsoft, had long synchronization times, frustrating operations teams and field service technicians trying to view, manage and coordinate service schedules and parts requirements. If field service technicians cannot efficiently manage their day-to-day work, repairs and maintenance for the hospitals, fire stations and other customers who use their products could be delayed. To provide their customers with world-class service, Dräger wanted a faster, more reliable and feature-rich mobile app to provide offline capabilities to their field service force.

Catalana Occidente, one of Spain’s largest insurance groups, needed a technology solution that would hold all business information, integrate with other business tools (such as SharePoint and Outlook), and make the data available for their insurance agents from anywhere via mobile devices. The company has an extensive external commercial network of agents who visit customers every day. As the CRM is the source for all the relevant business and customer data for the agents working on the go, they needed a tool for accessing this data and at the same time updating the data from their mobile devices. The requirements for the mobile tool included offline functionality, responsiveness and ease-of-use, simple scalability, easy management of business and administrative tasks, and compatibility with major mobile operating systems.

Kemp & Lauritzen’s old system was outdated and no longer supported. They wanted to replace it with an up-to-date system that they can tailor to their needs. Before utilizing the white-labeled Resco app provided by Microsoft as part of Dynamics 365 Field Service, the company didn’t have a good overview of their resources. This resulted in wasted and inefficiently handled opportunities. For example, technicians who were miles away were called to an urgent task instead of those technicians who were just minutes away from the scene. All because the back office didn’t have a proper overview of the technicians’ location and therefore, couldn’t determine who would be the best fit for a particular job. They wanted to manage their resources more efficiently.

Orangebox, a UK-based designer and manufacturer of furniture, had recently deployed Microsoft Dynamics 365 for Field Service to their 30 UK-based installation and service engineers. They were looking for a solution that would be tightly coupled with their core Dynamics 365 planning tool to deliver an improved customer experience. This platform would automate notifications to both customers and internal teams. Additionally, Orangebox also hoped to eliminate additional location tracking hardware, required for track trucks and vans.

Operating in the 21st century has required a series of investments to rise to the service demands of customers in a fast-paced, digital world. One of the essential areas is keeping I. Halper‘s IT environment up-to-date and flexible. With Microsoft Dynamics GP and Dynamics CRM already in place, most recently I. Halper were challenged with an insufficient customer order and delivery routing solution that wasn’t keeping up with their expanding requirements. The Microsoft Dynamics GP software’s routing application add-on allocated their invoices to the proper routes, but it lacked a visual front-end. That means that the field service’s team couldn’t see the allocations on a map and make on-the-fly adjustments.

Before switching to Resco, the Hoffmann Group had been using Microsoft Outlook Client with a local SQL database, which had many limitations. The biggest one was the lack of offline functionality. Sales reps couldn’t efficiently synchronize data collected in the field. They could only do it in the evening, once they returned to their office or home. If they needed to quickly forward information, for example to the Inside Sales team, they had to make phone calls. Moreover, the synchronization process was slow – it took about 15 minutes to switch from offline to online mode and back, and even more if the Internet connection wasn’t strong enough. They soon realized they need a new mobile solution – one that allows sales reps to perform their tasks offline, right in the field. One that allows them to forward information in real time, leading to increased productivity. And one that would not only directly connect to their Microsoft Dynamics 365, but also integrate with Microsoft Exchange as well.