Success Stories

Nation's Premier Safety Supplies and Solutions Manufacturer/Distributor Chooses Activant to Handle Business Processes

Years ago, the management team at Arbill Safety Products, the country's premier manufacturer and distributor of safety supplies and solutions, had a dream. They dreamed of a fully interoperable technology infrastructure, complete with a highly scalable, easy-to-use enterprise software solution.

They set out to make that dream a reality by compiling a 108-page request for proposal (RFP). "It presented everything we wanted in excruciating detail," remembers Joe Murphy, chief information officer of Arbill. "We described our perfect technological world - and we held software providers accountable for that perfect world."

Since Arbill envisioned a Windows-based future, company officials demanded a SQL Server database. They wanted an easily accessible, extensive support program, as well as a technology provider with a strong financial background.

Because of their extensive RFP, it took Arbill a full year to make a decision. In addition to inviting vendors to make presentations at their offices, members of the staff went for site visits to see how other distributors used solutions. "We looked at several options, and, based on our RFP, many solution providers eliminated themselves pretty quickly," says Murphy. "We were very demanding."

In the end, only one business technology company met Arbill's stringent criteria: Activant.

"Activant was far and away the best fit," Murphy says. "From a business standpoint, right out of the box, Prophet 21 handled about 90 percent of our RFP, including our inventory management, accounting, order fulfillment, purchasing, and other business needs." Plus, Activant was the only software provider to offer a SQL Server, Windows-based solution built from the ground up, notes Murphy.

In addition to Prophet 21's functionality, Murphy and other members of Arbill management, including company Vice President of Sales Julie Bickman Copeland, were impressed with Activant itself. "There is absolutely no question that Activant is a well-run company," Copeland says. "We're a mission-critical business and if our systems are down for one day, it's a huge loss. But, Activant offers extensive support."

And, Copeland says that Activant will help Arbill continually progress and improve: "Prophet 21 will continue to make my business more efficient through driving better processes and reducing costs," she concludes.

Bucking the Trend

Officials at Arbill understand the importance of a well-managed, forward-thinking company. Family-owned since 1945, Arbill actually started as a laundry facility, cleaning the gloves of Philadelphia-area industrial laborers.

The company offered such excellent service that customers soon requested to purchase their gloves from its founder, Robert Bickman. Then, in the 1970's, when OSHA became a driving force in the American workplace, the company expanded its safety supplies radically, offering everything from safety glasses to harnesses to respirators.

Now, bucking the trend towards integrated supply, the staff at Arbill has remained solely focused on safety products and services - with overwhelming results. "Because we focus strictly on safety products and services, we really do know the business better than anyone," contends Copeland, the third-generation leader of the company.

The focus and expertise is excellent for Arbill - but even better for the customers it serves, says Copeland. Since the company's safety specialists always know which products will best fit customers' needs, workman's compensation costs can be reduced drastically. "We work hard to ensure that the product fits the application," she says. "We really care about our customers."

From Old to New

Prior to moving to Prophet 21, Arbill operated on an antiquated, incredibly limiting legacy system. According to Murphy, orders were actually handled manually: "You had to hand-write an order and put it into a bucket," he confesses. "Then, once an hour, someone would pick up the bucket and enter the orders into the system. Pick tickets would print and the order would finally be processed."

This was one of the driving forces to invest in a new enterprise software system, Copeland contends. "We needed to speed up the process, to ensure that any order taken before 4 p.m. would be filled and shipped the same day," she says.

Prophet 21's live Order Entry will help the company do just that. And, one-screen order management will help improve customer service. "Prophet 21 helps us process an order in one call," Murphy says. "We give them everything they need while we're on the phone with them, the first time."

Murphy remembers sketching an outline of his technology vision for Arbill when he first arrived at the company in the late 1990s. Recently, Murphy came across that preliminary outline in one of his desk drawers. "It's hard to believe," he says, "but we've realized our vision in only a few short years thanks to Activant."

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