Q-Media Solutions

A Timely Solution for a Just-in-Time Business

Q•Media Services Corporation specializes in “just-in-time” production and delivery of CD and DVD drive equipment, comprehensive printing services, web-based order management and fulfillment, and the provision of e-commerce support services to top computer hardware and software providers.

Q•Media’s customers rely on the company to turn around large, highly customized orders in hours.

With four facilities and as many disparate solutions, they needed a single solution that could handle all their financial, manufacturing, and logistical needs, as well as deliver the fast turnaround their customers expected.  They decided it would be too costly to upgrade the Oracle software at the largest facility and instead selected Microsoft Dynamics–Navision.

CIO Lars Agger says, “The simplicity and growth-oriented approach of Microsoft Navision matches our own business philosophy.  Microsoft Navision was a natural fit.”

Situation

Q•Media's supply chain solutions enable businesses to speed delivery of products to market, lower inventory requirements, and reduce transaction costs.  Increasing product customization, speed to market and convergence of print and digital information products are driving businesses to outsource non-core processes and leverage Q•Media's supply chain expertise.

As supply chain experts, Q•Media knows that what is good for their customer is even better for Q•Media.  That’s why the beacon that guides business practices at their company is customer satisfaction.  Meeting their customers’ demands for speedy, cost-effective, and reliable delivery of their products makes for mutually beneficial, long-term partnerships with profits and growth for everyone.

Q•Media operates four manufacturing and distribution facilities in strategic locations across North America.  Two of the facilities were acquired in 2000.  While expansion was welcome, it brought new challenges to Q•Media’s enterprise business solution.  “We realized our business software systems were no longer meeting our needs,” says Lars Agger, Chief Information Officer.  “Our six sites ran on a mixture of software that either did not have the functionality we wanted or was too feature-rich and complex.”  Agger realized the company needed to cost-effectively integrate the business systems of its disparate locations through a single, unifying, and scalable Internet-based solution.

Agger found that it would be costly to upgrade the Oracle software at Q•Media’s largest facility and that the company had no use for much of the Oracle solution’s functionality.  Nor were solutions used at some of the other facilities the right fit for Q•Media’s needs.  “We decided to look for a single system that could handle all our financial, manufacturing, and logistical needs, allowing us to concentrate more on customer service than IT limitations,” Agger says.  Speed, ease of use, adaptability, and e-business capabilities were among the functionality requirements for the new system.  With this wish list in hand, Agger and other Q•Media managers met with a number of recommended business software vendors.  Among these were Epicor, QAD, Oracle, and Microsoft Dynamics.

Solution

Microsoft reselling partner Aston Business Solutions presented Q•Media managers with Microsoft® Dynamics –Navision, a cost-effective, end-to-end, integrated business solution designed for all mid-market needs.  “Aston did a very good job selling Navision,” comments Agger.

“They gave an excellent demo and were able to show that Navision had the functionality we needed.  All of the other options we considered had some kind of functionality deficiency by comparison.”

Aston Business Solutions illustrated its partnership style in forming a consulting team with personalities and specialists compatible with Q•Media’s business needs and style.  Microsoft Navision® software proved it could pass Q•Media’s critical functionalities test for e-business, adaptability, and speed.  After Aston Business Solutions trained 13 project managers and two implementers from Q•Media, a five-month pilot project started.

Following a successful initial launch with test data, Agger  ran authentic trials using Navision.  The business was set up to take a real order, do the available-to-promise check, put the order into manufacturing, process it, and pick it from the warehouse.  Customers connected successfully over the Internet, queried Q•Media’s inventory, and checked on their shipments.

Navision handles inventory across multiple locations from a single database, providing them with a complete, real-time overview of their whole business.

“Don’t commit until the software and value-added reseller have proven themselves,” Agger advises.  “By the time we had to sign for a larger amount of money, we were completely confident that Navision and Aston Business Solutions could handle our critical business processes.  The simplicity and growth-oriented approach of Navision matches our own business philosophy.  Microsoft Navision was a natural fit.”

Solution Overview
Customer Profile
Q•Media Services Corporation is a leading manufacturer and distributor of technology products, software products, communication kits, and accessory kits for the OEM, indirect, and direct markets.  Q-Media is located in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.

Business Situation
The company needed to provide their four sites with powerful and easy to use functionality.  They wanted a solution that could handle their financial, manufacturing, and logistical needs.

Solution Description
Q•Media implemented Microsoft® Dynamics–Navision® including the Financial Management, Manufacturing, Supply Chain Management, Commerce Gateway, and Commerce Portal modules.

Benefits
  • Reduction in order processing turnaround
  • Improved customer service
  • Reduction of administrative tasks
Partner(s)
Aston Business Solutions

Software and Services
Microsoft Windows XP Professional

Vertical Industries
Distribution
Manufacturing

Country/Region
Canada

Audiences
Business Decision Makers
Information Technology Professionals
Knowledge Workers

Benefits

E-business Capabilities

“Use of the Internet is very important to us,” Agger says.  The Commerce Gateway and Commerce Portal functionalities in Microsoft Navision proved well-suited for Q•Media, enabling customers to browse stock and non-stock items, order online in real time, and check availability 24 hours a day.  “As a ‘just-in-time’ operation, it is crucial to our customer service that we have this instant connectivity and collaboration with each other,” says Agger.  “Many of our customers are big blue-chip companies who demand that we have this kind of capability.”

Ease of Customization

Q•Media’s recent acquisition of new facilities and the resulting growth of their business required greater adaptability than their previous software could provide.  “The Navision product is so easy to customize that we have no problems adapting parts of the solution to conform to our standard business practices at all of our locations,” says Agger.  “In some cases, Navision had better business processes than we did, so we adapted some of our processes to theirs!”

Reduction of Administrative Tasks

Navision includes much specific functionality designed to reduce the burden of daily administrative tasks and optimize internal and external communication and interaction.


We are now completely confident that [Microsoft Dynamics]–Navision can handle our critical business processes.  We can now process more orders, improve turnaround times, and provide better customer service.  It will really help us grow our business.

Lars Agger
Chief Information Officer Q•Media Services Corporation
 

Easy to Learn and Use

Q•Media is pleased by how easy it is to learn and use Navision. “I find the program to be very intuitive,” says Agger. “It is also very easy for a normal user to remove any unnecessary fields—this makes things quite simple when the screens are not cluttered with things you don’t need or use. And I’m still getting used to the idea that I don’t have to save everything all the time.”

Processing Speed

With 1,000 to 2,000 different types of parts and hundreds of orders per day, the ability of Navision to download and process orders quickly is exactly what Q•Media needs in order to deliver on business promises, ensure customer satisfaction, and pursue its own vigorous growth. “We are essentially a job shop operation that has order turnarounds in hours, not days,” Agger says. “In the U.S., Q•Media has a two-hour order turnaround.” With Navision, we can process more orders, improve turnaround times, and provide better customer service. In this way, we will grow our business.”

Microsoft Dynamics offers a wide range of integrated, end-to-end business applications and services designed to help small, mid-market and corporate businesses become more connected with customers, employees, partners and suppliers

For more information about Microsoft Dynamics, go to:  http://www.microsoft.com/Dynamics