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1. IBM Sales and Distribution Wholesale Distribution & Services
Case Study
Pet Food Experts gains
an edge over the
competition
Serving customers more effectively with IBM and
Infor technology
The mission statement “When you win, we win!” lies at the center
of the Pet Food Experts’ (PFX) ethos, striving to help pet industry
Overview
retailers and brands flourish. Operating from corporate headquarters
The need in Cumberland, Rhode Island, and a distribution center in Lancaster,
Pet Food Experts wanted to gain better Pennsylvania, Pet Food Experts aims to become the most efficient
insight into its inventory and supply
chains in order to enhance the customer
distributor of pet food and supplies in the north east region of the
experience and identify opportunities to United States. The company employs approximately 250 people,
boost efficiency. and recently won the Pet Industry Distributors Association (PIDA)
The solution Distributor of the Year award for the second time.
Enabled access to real-time information
on orders for both internal users and Striving for excellence
customers through a web portal,
facilitating closer synchronization
PFX prides itself on being a truly customer-centric organization,
between stock levels and demand. continually seeking new ways to enhance the buying experience for its
clients. As a result, when the company began noticing that its customers
The benefit
wanted greater visibility of the status of their orders, it decided to find
Offers a key competitive advantage by
helping to ensure availability of stock a better way to gain insight into its end-to-end order management
while minimizing the cost of holding process.
surplus goods. Helps boost customer
satisfaction and company performance.
Gary Jarvis, Director of Information Technologies at Pet Food Experts,
explains: “Operating in a highly competitive business, technology is one
of the key differentiators at our disposal. We realized that enhancing
visibility of our processes for internal users and customers alike could
pay off two-fold: internal users could spot ways to improve efficiency
and effectiveness, while customers could get more precise information
on their orders.”
To achieve this, PFX needed to move away from its existing home-
grown ERP system, which was hosted on an aging server. Due to the
company experiencing prodigious growth in the last few years, there
was an increasing need for greater resources and scalability. Jarvis
comments: “Our existing solution had grown along with us over the
last 15 years. It had become a patchwork of modifications that was
proving increasingly difficult to extend, presenting a potential barrier to
growth.”

2. IBM Sales and Distribution Wholesale Distribution & Services
Case Study
Making changes
Following a review of the leading products available on the market,
Solution Components
PFX decided to replace its legacy system with Infor Distribution A+, a
Hardware leading distribution management solution specifically designed to help
• IBM® Power® 720 Express
distributors maximize efficiency in every stage of the process, from
Software accounting and sales to the warehouse. Following the success of the
• IBM i V6.1 initial implementation of this solution, PFX is currently in the process
• Infor Distribution A+ of upgrading to the latest version of the software, which offers a host of
IBM Business Partner useful new features.
• Maximum Computer Systems Inc.
“Deploying Infor Distribution A+ has transformed our insight into
distribution, giving us immediate access to data on every aspect of
the process,” says Jarvis. “The latest version supports most of the
functionality we need out of the box, minimizing the amount of
customization work we need to do, and proving that Infor really listens
to what its users want. For example, the new web-based GUI [graphical
user interface] is incredibly user-friendly, putting point-and-click
capability to the fore – which makes it ideal for our sales team to use
while they are on the telephone.”
To support the Infor solution, PFX recently replaced its existing IBM®
Power® 520 machine with an IBM Power 720 Express server, running
the IBM i V6.1 operating system. The PFX IT team handled the
implementation in-house in a single weekend. IBM Business Partner
Maximum Computer Services Inc. offer ongoing support for the
solution.
“We were blown away by how easy it was to migrate to the IBM Power
720 server,” comments Jarvis. “I have worked with many platforms over
the years, and it’s often difficult to upgrade from one version to the
next. This was completely painless: our users noticed nothing except
that systems ran much faster. As an IT Director, that is the sort of
feedback you want to get!”
Seeing the benefits
Using the IBM and Infor solution, PFX can access real-time data
on the stock in its warehouses, enabling the company to closely
synchronize inventory levels against demand. PFX managers can draw
on current and historical data to assess performance over time, and can
easily identify opportunities to boost efficiency. Moreover, PFX is now
able to offer customers a real-time view of information on their orders
via a web portal.

3. IBM Sales and Distribution Wholesale Distribution & Services
Case Study
“Implementing Infor Distribution A+ running on IBM Power
Systems™ technology ensures that we have 24/7, end-to-end visibility
“We were blown away of our business, without fail,” says Jarvis. “It has given both us and
by how easy it was to our customers a deeper understanding of our day-to-day business. It
migrate to the IBM enables us to keep our inventory at just the right level, so we don’t need
to say ‘no’ to customer orders, and at the same time we can minimize
Power 720 server. I our storage costs.
have worked with many
platforms over the years, “We can also use the solution to pick out areas where we need to
improve, and others where we are excelling, and spread best practices
and it’s often difficult to throughout the organization. As for our customers, they can view the
upgrade from one version status of their orders at any time, allowing them to better coordinate
to the next. This was their own stock levels.”
completely painless: our Looking to the future
users noticed nothing As a result of the project, PFX has gained the ideal platform to support
except that systems ran future growth, as Jarvis explains: “We see the alliance between IBM
much faster.” and Infor as a major advantage – with their huge customer-base and
deep industry experience, they are able to anticipate what companies
like ours really need. And as a result, they are able to develop truly
— Gary Jarvis, Director of Information
Technologies, Pet Food Experts innovative and effective solutions. We feel excited about what’s coming
next from IBM and Infor, as we have already seen the transformative
effects that their solutions can have on our business.”
For more information
To learn more about IBM and Infor solutions, contact your
IBM sales representative or IBM Business Partner, or visit us at:
www.ibm.com/solutions/alliance

4. © Copyright IBM Corporation 2013
IBM Corporation
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Produced in the United States of America
January 2013
IBM, the IBM logo, ibm.com, Power and Power Systems are trademarks
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IBM and Maximum Computer Systems Inc. are separate companies and each is
responsible for its own products. Neither IBM nor Maximum Computer Systems Inc.
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This document is current as of the initial date of publication and may be changed
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operates.
The client examples cited are presented for illustrative purposes only. Actual
performance results may vary depending on specific configurations and operating
conditions.
It is the user’s responsibility to evaluate and verify the operation of any other
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THIS DOCUMENT IS PROVIDED “AS IS” WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY,
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and conditions, which are provided with the product or offering. Availability, and
any and all warranties, services and support for Infor Distribution A+ is the direct
responsibility of, and is provided directly to users by, Infor.
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