Jennifer Mesiano, IT Manager, Walton Signage
Category
  • Future of Work
The Project 

Walton Signage needed a reliable and affordable way to automate and calculate sales tax and enhance the way in which orders and jobs are tracked. Senior management and the IT department worked closely on these projects as they shared a common goal of obtaining an effective and customizable project management tool to meet growth objectives. The solution was the next generation Epicor ERP (version 9.05) to ensure accuracy and reliability Walton Signage desires, and eliminate labor intensive and error prone manual efforts.

The Technology

Epicor ERP

Metrics Matter

Before my project

The company's existing method of keeping project managers organized and on-task was ineffective, costly and frustrating.  Users had to move from screen to screen to enter information. Sales tax rates were researched internally and entered manually.

After my project

Updateable Dashboards provide a single point of entry and tracking for most of the project data. The seamless integration of Epicor Tax Connect allowed the ability to manage tax audits easier and reduce costs of business.  

Disruptive Factor 

Using Epicor Tax Connect for tax calculations was our first experience with cloud services to perform a critical process.  This was a huge leap of faith for our Accounting staff.  Updateable dashboards were new to Epicor’s software lineup and our users had been waiting for this type of technology to emerge. Once available, no time was wasted in deployment.  To maximize reduction of cost of doing business, Program Management had to learn a new concept of entry, system flows, and more detailed data entry -- all within a relatively short period of time.

Shining Moment 

Implementing the Updateable dashboards has saved Walton’s 30 program managers approximately 30 percent in data entry time. This resulted in a cost savings of approximately $80,000 over a one-year period with relatively no spend. The company had previously researched third-party dashboard platforms, however they were cost-prohibitive (estimates ranged from $30,000 - $40,000).  With the implementation of Tax Connect the Accounting department saved approximately 10 hours per week doing tax code research and manually entering tax rates.  My staff and I have participated in several speaking engagements on both of these topics.

 

ABOUT Walton Signage

Walton Signage is a $35-million, highly respected organization that has been serving the signage needs of diverse industries throughout the world for almost three decades. Building upon its foundational values: Integrity, Quality, Responsibility and Growth, Walton has established a strong portfolio of national and internationally recognized accounts that continue to drive Walton’s sales performance.