Success Stories

Activant Prophet 21 Provides Turnkey Solution for Rapid Implementation

Thanks to Activant, Mustang Electric Supply LLC hit the ground running. When the start-up electrical distributor installed Activant Prophet 21, running on a Microsoft SQL Server and Microsoft Windows 2000/NT, Mustang had a turnkey IT solution in place in three weeks.

Starting a new company poses a unique set of challenges, not the least of which is finding the right technology. With Prophet 21, Mustang Electric Supply has an effective business management tool that helps them meet aggressive growth targets with revenues ahead of projections.

"As a start-up in a competitive marketplace, we knew that we needed to find and implement a software solution quickly," says Joe Hassell, vice president and co-founder of Mustang Electric. "We were looking for a technology partner who understood the electrical industry, could run on the Microsoft platform, and could meet both our short-term and long-term goals."

With Activant's support, Mustang was up and running in less than a month, on a secure, scalable platform capable of handling the company's aggressive growth goals - and their revenues for the first six months of operation exceeded expectations.

Record Implementation Time

As a new full-line electrical distributor serving mid-size contractors and commercial companies, Mustang knew that in order to be successful they needed a supply chain management solution that is easy-to-use, flexible, and based on the Microsoft Windows NT platform, "that would give us the ability to compete with the big guys," says Hassell. "Our initial strategy required that we bring our IT systems online immediately."

With more than 8,000 stock keeping units (SKUs) in their inventory, Mustang management needed their supply chain solution up and running as soon as their doors opened. Hassell was familiar with Activant's reputation in the industry, and once the Mustang team received an in-depth demonstration of Prophet 21's capabilities, they set the implementation process in motion.

"Activant answered our need for a speedy solution by delivering the fastest Prophet 21 implementation in their history - three weeks!" reports Hassell. "We were operating in a very tight time frame and Activant, with their rapid implementation program QuickStart, was able to meet and exceed our requirements."

With an Activant consultant on-site during the implementation process to oversee the application installation and configuration, help was always close at hand.

"Activant was extremely responsive to our needs during the early stages of implementation," recalls Hassell.

The Microsoft Relationship

According to Hassell, Activant's close relationship with Microsoft was a major reason for choosing Prophet 21.

"We made the decision to go with a Microsoft platform, so a key factor in our decision to use Prophet 21 was the product's Microsoft BackOffice Certification and support for Microsoft SQL Server - a leading Windows NT environment." Mustang was also attracted to the scalability, flexibility, and ease of integration of Prophet 21 with other products. "We knew we needed a technology partner with a strong relationship with Microsoft, that had a full portfolio of products and services that would meet all our IT needs," says Hassell. "We view the Microsoft platform as a necessary component for our company to grow successfully. The system is optimized for companies like ours, and it's powerful enough to support us as our business grows."

Positive Beginning

Mustang immediately realized the benefits of using Prophet 21. "We felt Activant has a deep understanding of the electrical distribution marketplace and therefore they were invaluable in educating us on how to optimize our use of Prophet 21," says Hassell. With Prophet 21's Windows-based interface, novice Mustang users were able to learn the new program in hours, rather than days or weeks. Prophet 21 helps ensure that prices are always up to date, and that frequently ordered items are always in stock. Prophet 21 also enhances customer service by providing Mustang sales representatives with a customer's buying history and a powerful search feature that finds items quickly using only partial codes or product names.

"Employees are better able to serve the company's growing customer base," says Hassell. "And the easy-to-use transaction screens make it easy to add new entries to the company's SQL Server database, and allows our customer service representatives to spend more time enhancing sales with existing customers." As an admittedly 'low-tech' company, Mustang was able to use Prophet 21's easy-to-use interface to tap into the power of the SQL Server database seamlessly.

Mustang employees are also able to make use of rapid transaction orders enabling them to more efficiently add clients to the company's growing customer base.

The Future Looks Bright

With Prophet 21 Mustang Electric's future looks bright. In the first six months of operations the company exceeded revenue expectations, and continues to increase the depth of its inventory and customer base.

"We're proud of the products and service we deliver to our customers, and we're looking forward to a bright future in the Dallas marketplace," Hassell concluded. "We know we can count on Activant and Microsoft to support us every step of the way."

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