Ultra Consultants guided us through their diligent process of evaluating and selecting the right ERP system for us.
Briggs Equipment
Briggs Equipment teamed with Ultra Consulting on an ERP selection process and gained the following benefits:
- Briggs got a clear handle on what was available with modern ERP in terms of the best fit for their industry.
- The company thoroughly understood current processes, including where the opportunities were to improve with new technology.
- Briggs more efficiently identified which ERP system best fit their requirements in the face of growth from expanded markets and facilities.
- Briggs was guided to make a smart investment in technology with a clear handle on expected costs.
About Briggs Equipment
- Industry: Materials handling equipment sales, rental and service
- Headquarters: Dallas, Texas
- Locations: United States, United Kingdom and Mexico
- ERP selected: Microsoft AX
Briggs Equipment, Inc. and its subsidiaries are leading providers and renters of materials handling equipment, with locations in the United States, the United Kingdom and Mexico. Briggs is North America’s largest Yale and Hyster fork lift dealer. Headquartered in Dallas, Texas, the company sells, rents, and services equipment for the industrial and contractor rental marketplaces.
Business Challenges
Briggs had relied on its legacy dealer business system to run its operations for the past 25 years. While the system tracked core operations, the solution offered limitations with its technology platform.
In Search of ERP Expertise
The Briggs team was well aware of the internal resources, time and effort required to manage an effective ERP selection project. Given the magnitude of the project, and the demands faced by those who would be involved in the selection, Briggs sought a resource experienced in ERP selection best practices.
We knew we needed a resource to navigate the waters for us. Selecting a new ERP system would impact our entire operations for the next few decades. We wanted to leverage a partner with specific ERP evaluation experience to effectively lead the project.
Brian Evans, Director of IT, Briggs Equipment
Briggs also had the goal of business process improvement. Selecting and implementing a central ERP system would give the company a chance to reengineer business processes across operations. Thus, Briggs was especially interested in teaming with a selection resource that offered experience and depth in both documenting and reengineering their business processes, which would pay huge dividends to the organization and the project.
A Valued Partner
Briggs decided to team with Ultra Consultants to “guide them through the waters” of ERP selection. Briggs appreciated Ultra’s focus on a proven selection methodology that emphasizes ERP education. Briggs also valued Ultra’s ability to help achieve executive sponsorship from the President and CFO.
The result was a team that understood the business and was given the time to conduct the project properly.
The Process
Ultra led a documentation of Briggs’ “current state” business processes, which isolated a large number of initial targeted area of improvements to be taken advantage of immediately.
Our company had never fully documented the current state of our business, so having Ultra lead this effort was useful. They helped us plan out the future state of how a modern ERP system can help improve processes.
Brian Evans, Director of IT, Briggs Equipment
Because of the uniqueness of their business, Briggs’ initial “long list” of vendors was sixteen, which is double the typical size. By utilizing Ultra, they were able to efficiently and quickly whittle this list down to the eventual “short list” of three, while both leveraging their team’s time as well as not overlooking any potential solutions.
Particularly useful was the “prototyping” stage whereby Briggs put the application through a week-long test with their processes and information prior to purchasing the eventual solution. This was a best practice led by Ultra, which enabled Briggs to both guarantee the fit as well as get a handle on the potential modifications and enhancements required in the eventual implementation. The prototyping stage gave Briggs a head start on their implementation, once the design phase of the project was well underway.
Once the eventual vendor was selected, Briggs found Ultra’s assistance in the contract negotiations invaluable in finalizing both the software license agreements and implementation plans.
This value extended beyond monetary savings now, but also into the future to securing an implementation plan that was reviewed with Briggs’ long-term interest in mind.
Conclusion
After being guided through a thorough evaluation, Briggs selected Microsoft AX. They engaged XAPT Corporation, a global Microsoft Dynamics partner, for implementation. Because of their satisfaction with Ultra through the entire process, Briggs engaged Ultra in the implementation project to assist in the Project Management, Quality Assurance, and Process Redesign.
ERP selection and negotiating is not our world. So all told, it was valuable to leverage Ultra’s selection methodology, business process improvement expertise, as well as their experience in vendor contracts negotiation. We look forward to achieving the “future state” Ultra helped us envision throughout our operations.
Brian Evans, Director of IT, Briggs Equipment