CUSTOMER: Gemini Industries

CORPORATE PROFILE
Number of Employees: 125
Size: $32 million

SYSTEM PROFILE
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 2000
Users on System: 75
Sage PFW ERP Modules in Operation
. Accounts Payable
. Accounts Receivable
. Bank Book
. Costing
. Customization Workbench
. Formulas
. Inventory
. Laboratory
. MRP
. MSDS/Compliance
. Order Entry
. Premier Ledger
. Production
. Purchasing

Gemini Industries strives to be the best wood finish manufacturer in the nation. An employee-owned company since 1964, Gemini takes great pride in the excellent quality of its stains, sealers, topcoats, preservatives, pigmented products and wax sticks to repair blemishes on furniture.

A dedicated custom-fill aerosol plant, environmentally friendly products, private branding capabilities and market-ready packages help set Gemini apart from other coating companies. Its manufacturing facilities reach across the country, and are noted for being clean, safe and inviting. Gemini Industries won the coveted Oklahoma Quality Award for both 2001 and 2002.

THE CHALLENGE
Despite its modernized manufacturing capabilities, Gemini Industries was struggling with four clumsy stand-alone information systems ?a one each for lab formulations, manufacturing, retail operations and accounting. That meant inputting and calculating numbers by hand whenever someone needed a report. To make matters worse, Gemini was in an acquisition mode ?a so even more stand-alone systems were possible as new companies joined the fold.

David Warren, newly hired IT director, became a man with a mission ?a to find a single business system that could do it all. He sought a fully integrated solution that could receive data from all arms of the company, and process information into easily understandable reports. His CEO was even more blunt, tasking him with finding an information system that was "a competitive weapon, rather than a burden."

"Sage PFW ERP is the powerful competitive weapon we needed. We received everything that was promised, and are more satisfied with every day that passes." David Warren, IT Director of Gemini Industries, Inc

THE SOLUTION
Gemini found its answer when they discovered the Sage PFW ERP suite of products. On January 1, 2001, the company went live with an end-to-end system that manages company-wide data from laboratory formulations and manufacturing data to retail and business functions. "Sage PFW ERP gives us a total software solution," Warren says. "Each division of the company has total communication with other divisions in a real-time manner. This has resulted in better inventory turns, better business decisions, better responsiveness, and proactive rather than reactive positioning in the marketplace."

The Sage PFW ERP system receives data from production, laboratory and retail groups, and integrates it with costing, labor and variance information for accounting purposes. This means that Gemini can produce specialized reports like sales reports, product sales and sales by part analyses, territory sales overview, as well as hundreds of standard financial reports for management.

"The ease of access to data has improved by leaps and bounds," Warren notes. "We can look at data upside down, from left and right, and be confident that we have accurate, timely numbers. Reports that previously took five days can now be created in a minute or two."

Before, profitability was almost impossible to calculate. Now profit margins can be determined before an order goes out the door. "From day one of launching this system, we've known exactly what our costs and margins are," Warren says. "This has helped make us more robust and stable."

Speaking of stability, Warren says that Sage PFW ERP was partly responsible for his company surviving during difficult economic times. "We're dealing with inventory levels in the $4 to $6 million range," he says, "and last year could have been disastrous for us. But the system allowed us to react swiftly with changes in the flow of finished goods and sales, move orders more efficiently, and price our products strategically - so we're still in business today."

Warren also believes that customer service improvements from the new system, including Liaison CRM customer relations management software, may have been a contributing factor in the company winning state-wide quality awards for the past two years. That's because "orders turn faster, and customers can now receive MSDSs, get order confirmation and give feedback electronically - things that were never possible before."

Gemini Industries is now implementing a barcode interface, and expects full barcode functionality by the end of the year.　

"Sage PFW ERP is the powerful competitive weapon we needed," says Warren. "We received everything that was promised, and are more satisfied with every day that passes."