ISC’s Extensive Search for Shipping Software Leads to
Varsity ShipSoft |
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Industrial Scientific Corporation (ISC) is a leading manufacturer of gas monitoring instruments and systems for the protection and preservation of human life. Industrial Scientific ships over 300 parcels a day to refinery, utility and government customers, as well as over one hundred distributors located across the globe.
Since their founding in 1976, an essential part of the company’s mission has been to provide the best customer service, including the accurate and on-time delivery of gas monitoring instruments that ensure the safety of workers all over the world.
To satisfy their customers’ unique shipping requests, ISC’s distribution center gradually grew to include seven standalone carrier shipping stations that supported FedEx, Airborne, UPS, BAX, HAZMAT and international shipments. Although these systems were provided by the carriers at no cost, they did not save the company money. Supporting multiple PC systems strained IT resources, and increased training expense as shipping clerks learned different user interfaces. In addition, without a centralized system for shipment tracking, customer service costs were affected as well.
“It was very labor-intensive and prone to errors,” says Scott Mazutis, ISC’s Director of IT, referring to the old system. These inefficiencies were in stark contrast to the company’s other business operations that counted on the MAPICS ERP system for seamless data exchange across the organization.
The company undertook a six month search for a new shipping system that would replace their complex network of carrier supplied PCs. Involved in the decision was a team comprised of the IT staff, the company’s VP of Operations, and employees in the shipping department. They identified several requirements for their new shipping system. These were:
Seamless interface to the company’s MAPICS ERP system
Compliance with all major parcel carriers
Support for international and HAZMAT shipments
Improved data integrity
Minimal IT support requirements
Scalability to support four times current shipping volume and complexity
ISC’s comprehensive search included both PC-based and IBM iSeries systems. ”A new shipping system is a significant investment. Not only from a cash outlay standpoint, but from the ongoing IT resources required to maintain it,” remarks Mazutis. “I wanted to be 100% sure we received the ROI we expected.”
The company narrowed its search to iSeries native systems when they found that PC-based shipping systems relied on batch updates to their MAPICS system. ISC looked closely at four well-known iSeries compatible shipping software packages and found that Varsity ShipSoft matched all their requirements, and was especially superior in the open design of their pre-built MAPICS ERP interface.
Once ISC experienced the flexible software design behind Varsity’s ShipSoft/MAPICS ERP interface, they were sold. The technical team found that within one day they could build the data hooks that enabled them to process an order in MAPICS ERP, pull-up a Varsity shipping screen with order and shipping information combined, and print a shipping label. This experience confirmed Mazutis’ decision. “The fast and seamless integration convinced us Varsity was the right choice for our shipping system.”
It is still too early to calculate a return on investment, but Mazutis is confident his investment will pay off. “We are moving from seven shipping stations to four, expect to double our shipping volume in the next year without adding staff, and plan to save three to four hours of labor each day. The benefits of Varsity extend beyond cost savings,” continues Mazutis. “By investing in Varsity, we can confidently provide the best customer service.”
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