Success Stories

Sage Parts Plus selects Activant Prophet 21 as the best solution for their needs

As the number of airline flights increases each year, the demand for ground support equipment (GSE) increases proportionately, as does the need for parts to keep the support equipment running and, ultimately, keep the flights on schedule. Sage Parts Plus is the leading source for parts and expertise at a growing number of major airports, including both Kennedy and LaGaurdia on the East Coast, and busy Los Angeles International on the West Coast.

A distributor's knowledge and inventory are equally important in serving the needs of this $300 million in annual sales business, and both require the availability of an extensive, reliable, and cost-efficient enterprise software solution to supply up-to-the-minute, real-time information.

In 1998, Sage Parts' current president and CEO, Mark Pollack, and his business partner, Sage's current executive vice president, Michael Bloomfield, acquired the company. At that time the company had approximately $3 million in revenue. Although Sage's business model was well positioned for growth fundamentally, geographically and economically, the electronic infrastructure in place to handle business transactions was far from robust.

Growing the Company with Prophet 21

Almost immediately, the PC-based system that only handled inventory control was deemed woefully inadequate. Unlike most distributors across the nation, the GSE segment has been slow to computerize entire business operations and databases. Pollack and Bloomfield knew that in order to grow their new business, they first had to upgrade and build a sound technological infrastructure.

When considering their options for both hardware and solution providers, Pollack recalls, "We didn't know where our business was going to go, and we needed to be flexible, so whoever we chose had to be flexible too. Because computers and our enterprise system are the lifeblood of our business, next to people, it's very important that our system has the capability to grow with us to meet the demands of our very dynamic business environment."

Pollack and Bloomfield ultimately selected Activant Prophet 21 solution as the best choice to fulfill their needs.

In April 1999, Sage Parts went live with Prophet 21. Like many distributors, Sage management elected to go with a Microsoft Windows NT based system. The ability to work with an open architecture-based solution permits the rapid addition of new elements and capabilities based on changing business requirements. Many of Sage's older employees were not familiar with computers, and the graphics-based user interface (GUI) is very "intuitive," making it easy to transition from a paper-based to a computer-based system.

The GSE business is very "item centric" and Pollack appreciates the way Prophet 21 addresses this important aspect of daily operations. He finds the Prophet 21 approach closely parallels the "way we operate our business...particularly the (ability) to handle multiple suppliers and warehouse locations."

Cost Savings Plus Error Reduction

Sage's management believes that a thorough implementation of Activant Prophet 21 throughout the business, enabling the processing and handling of every transaction "from cradle to grave," allows for significant cost savings. Instead of a multi-step manual process, with numerous interruptions along the way for potentially error-prone re-entry of information, Prophet 21's "flow" of information from order through delivery and billing is faster and far more reliable.

With fewer employee hours now devoted to order processing, more time is also available for value-added services for Sage customers. An incredible variety of equipment of wide-ranging ages and condition is utilized throughout the GSE industry, and Sage employees are experts in this area. In fact, they might well be considered human databases. In addition to parts knowledge, many also possess the ability to explain exactly where and how each part is installed.

Not Your Typical Inventory Control

Unlike most distributors, Sage Parts Plus utilizes a "classification by velocity" inventory control system, where the parts most frequently requested are stocked in large quantities, regardless of price. Prophet 21 is able to track these kinds of purchases, allowing the company to maintain exceptionally high fill rates. As Pollack points out, a failure of a vital GSE component can lead to flight delay or even the grounding of an aircraft. "We look at service levels more than the value of the inventory," says Pollack. "Without the move to Activant Prophet 21, we would not be able to deliver the quantity and variety of products we deliver today."

In the last several years, consolidation in the airline industry has materially affected the way in which buyers focus their purchasing efforts. Today, buyers prefer to source more parts from a single supplier, and expect to pay less for those parts. Better access to buying habits and trends combined with real-time knowledge of inventory permits Sage to supply replacement parts in a timely fashion, and at lower costs, all thanks to Prophet 21.

The Importance of Continuing Support

Any enterprise software solution is only as good as the support provided by its supplier. Sage Parts Plus utilizes Activant's Web-based support regularly, and has found the 24/7 services up to the task of providing timely and useful information. In the near future, Sage also intends to take advantage of Activant's Web-based training for their employees.

Customer Focused Change

Looking ahead, Pollack is very enthusiastic about growth opportunities for his company. "The reason that even a small company like Sage Parts has been able to become the leader of what it does is because we're taking our customers to places they haven't gone before. We're actually bringing our customers to change rather than waiting for our customers to drive the change. Activant Prophet 21 is enabling us to do that."

A visit to Sage's Web site home page (www.sageparts.com) summarizes their business philosophy - "Moving at the speed of light... responding at the speed of business."

For more information on Activant's enterprise software solutions, please fill out our Web Contact Form.

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