Daly Industrial Supply Company
Daly Industrial Supply Company is a tool distributor supplying hire shops across Ireland. They operate both wholesale and retail divisions, importing products and managing a team of sales representatives. This case study explores their transition from an outdated system to Intact iQ, focusing on their journey and the benefits achieved.
Previous system and challenges
For two decades, Daly Industrial relied on Intact Vline, an inventory management system which has since reached its end-of-life. While functional, Vline's limitations and outdated technology had become increasingly apparent as the company grew. It lacked modern features like warehouse location tracking, container management and more, which hampered the company’s efficiency.
With the Vline system sun-setting, Daly Industrial conducted a thorough market review. After going through an intensive decision-making process and evaluating 3 options, they selected Intact iQ for its advanced capabilities and potential to meet their evolving needs.
Transition to Intact iQ
The implementation of Intact iQ went seamlessly for Daly Industrial, according to Marie Walsh, Project Delivery Manager. As a more advanced system than what they were previously used to, Intact iQ presented a learning curve for Daly Industrial's small team. They met this challenge with enthusiasm and a growth mindset.
To fully leverage iQ's capabilities, they extended their collaboration with the Intact expert team for an additional three months, ensuring they could maximise the full potential of their new system. Kevin O’Reilly, Supply Chain Manager, explains, "We've improved the system hugely through this extended collaboration."
This strategic move allowed them to optimise the use of their system, even in the face of temporary staffing constraints. The company also made good use of available Intact resources, with Marie noting, "We use the Intact iQ hub a lot and do our own research on things we’d like to do in the system."
After Intact iQ
Since implementing Intact iQ, Daly Industrial has experienced significant improvements across their operations. While the implementation process was a journey of growth and adaptation, the company's dedication to leveraging their new system's capabilities has paid off.
- Warehouse Improvements - Kevin highlights the most impactful changes: "The biggest improvement is the location tracking in our warehouse. Our pick lists now have locations so even the staff who don't usually work in the warehouse can easily come in and go picking now. That's been a huge practical leap forward. Container management was also a big thing for us. We now have complete stock visibility across our business."
- Automation and Reporting - The company has enhanced automation across their business, using Intact iQ's scheduled reporting to their advantage. Kevin shares an example: "We've automated a goods received report to be sent out at 5:15 every day. This lets all our sales reps know what has come in for the day. It's a great feature."
- Real-time Information Visibility - Marie is particularly enthusiastic about Intact iQ's main dashboard feature: "I absolutely love the control desk. We have so much information in front of us now. And it gives us a nice way to quickly document things or view tasks. It’s also great for when you don't want to run a report - you can just capture key numbers."
The new system also offers powerful editing tools. Kevin notes: "The multi-edit function is very handy. You can fix thousands of things in one hit without exporting and importing to Excel."
Overall Experience and Future Plans
Daly Industrial's experience with Intact iQ has been overwhelmingly positive. The team, though small, eagerly embraced the learning process for this feature-rich solution. Their extended collaboration with Intact's experts enabled them to quickly master iQ's advanced capabilities, driving significant operational improvements.
Overall, the system has improved their warehouse operations, reporting, and efficiency. The team reports significant time savings and increased accuracy in their operations.
As Daly Industrial continues to discover new ways to optimise their processes, Marie sums up their experience: "We've seen a huge benefit in moving to Intact iQ and will take full advantage of the system's integration capabilities to automate more of our processes. Currently, we're working on a courier integration and envisage working closely with the Intact team to continually improve our system as we grow."