Recent News
INTRODUCING CRM FOR MANUFACTURING (June 30, 2010)
Phoenix Systems has developed an exclusive set of CRM features specifically for small- to medium-sized manufacturers.
Full Story Here
MICROSOFT UNVEILS NEW FUNCTIONALITY FOR MICROSOFT DYNAMICS NAV 2009 (May 18, 2010)
Microsoft Customer Solution Case Study - SYSPRO
“Visual Studio 2010 and the .NET Framework 4 gave us out-of-the-box tools that made application development a lot easier…. As a result, we were able to deliver a complete solution in six months.”
Kevin Dherman, Software Architect, SYSPRO
SYSPRO, a global software manufacturer, wanted to offer customers a workflow solution that would integrate with its enterprise resource planning software and other applications. However, it could take years to write code for the product, and SYSPRO needed a solution flexible enough for customers with diverse business processes. To speed development and facilitate custom workflows, SYSPRO implemented its solution with Microsoft Visual Studio 2010 and the Microsoft .NET Framework 4. Full Story Here.
Phoenix Systems spreads its wings with acquisition
York Region.com Era Banner
by David Fleischer
Published on Jul 21, 2009
Businesses around the world are trying to find ways to cope with the recession but for Newmarket's Phoenix Systems the answer was simple: grow.
Phoenix president Dan O'Toole compares their recent acquisition of Bell Canada's Business Applications division to David besting Goliath and said his company's size was doubled virtually overnight.
"Businesses aren't the same going into a recession as they are coming out (and) we felt this was a good opportunity to grow ours dramatically," Mr. O'Toole said.
As a provider of software and services for making businesses more efficient, Phoenix is perfectly placed to benefit from the economic downturn, he said. Now is when companies pause from pushing their products to consider internal streamlining and how to improve productivity. "There's a strong demand for what we have to offer, nationally and internationally," he said.
Phoenix now owns Bell's SYSPRO ERP and Microsoft Dynamics CRM and Microsoft Dynamics NAV business segments. That may seem like alphabet soup to you, but for Phoenix it means helping companies save money by doing things as simple as trading costly trips for teleconferencing and by replacing onerous paper invoices with electronic systems. Cutting out paperwork also provides a green service, something even more timely these days. "Paper represents a huge burden on businesses, as well as our world," Mr. O'Toole explained. Canada is dead last in the G8 in terms of productivity, Mr. O'Toole said, something which has been mitigated by our low dollar. "Now, with the dollar closer and closer to parity, the profit margin evaporates," he said.
Phoenix has steadily grown in its hometown over since its founding in 1980 when Mr. O'Toole was an army of one. Not surprisingly, technology has changed, making the company's work more relevant. "The realization we can use computer technology to improve the quality of our products and services ... has been astronomical," Mr. O'Toole said.
But natural growth can only move you so far, so Phoenix set its sights on expansion via acquisition starting a couple of years ago. Their first move in that direction was purchasing Markham's JDH Business Systems last year. This newest move extends their reach far beyond York Region. As part of the acquisition they will assume control of branches in Winnipeg, Calgary, Vancouver and Portland, Oregon. Privately owned, Phoenix employs about 100 people, working with nearly 300 small and medium-sized businesses. They are now one of the biggest companies of their kind, serving "tier two" businesses, with annual earnings of between $25 million and $200 million a year.
In 2002, the company received the Bell Technology Award from the Newmarket Chamber of Commerce.
Web and Mobile Sales Orders for SYSPRO - March 2009
Introducing Rapidtrade, an online ordering and quoting system ... integrated with SYSPRO!
Rapidtrade offers a fast, efficient, cost effective online shopping and quoting system that's integrated right into SYSPRO.
- Easy, intuitive user interfaces for online, mobile or PC ordering and quoting
- Real-time visibility of information including price lists, discounts, order status and history
- Order processing includes automated invoice generation and inventory allocation
- Powerful search engine and offline facility allow for quick order creation from vast product ranges
- Automatic synchronization for processing offline orders upon reconnection
- User names and profiles are allocated to each end user client and the system is personalized with the distributors logo and colors to reinforce distributor branding
- Easy order tracking and tracing
- Easy drill down using the product picture with Hotspots and BOM capability
- CD Catalogue facility, so you can distribute your catalogue to customers who don't have internet connections
- Automatic software upgrades, with additional online updates configured to suit company requirements
For more information or to inquire about a demonstration of this software, please call Phoenix Systems 905-853-0932.
Quality for SYSPRO by uniPoint - March 2009
SYSPRO has combined with uniPoint, a provider of quality, management software developed on Microsoft.NET technologies, to offer a new enterprise solution that integrates to SYSPRO called Quality for SYSPRO by UniPoint. SYSPRO customers can now eliminate redundant data entry and leverage the data from their SYSPRO system to create, link, communicate, track and manage the life cycle of quality activities and documents.
The Benefits:
- Centralized and paperless management of quality
- User To-do Lists
- 80 Analysis Reports
- ISO Compliance Tool
- Unlimited Attachments
- Industry-Leading QMS
- Broadcast E-mail Capability
- Integrate or run Stand-alone
- Customize Data Labels
- 3-6 Month ROI
- Instant PDF/Email
Contact your Phoenix Systems Representative for more information.
Smart Program 2009
Phoenix Systems has been recognized by the Canadian Manufactures & Exporters Association as an expert service provider. Qualifying for this position allows us to help you analyze your manufacturing business in hopes of uncovering productivity enhancing opportunities that might qualify for government funding.
Did you know your company could qualify for 50% funding to improve productivity projects such as lean design and lean manufacturing, quality improvement, energy efficiency, IT best practices, and environmental impact reductions?
To learn more and to see if your company qualifies go to www.cme-smart.ca or contact Phoenix Systems Professional Greg Bub gbub@pho-sys.com
180 Systems 2009
Need help evaluating ERP Systems? Try 180 Systems.
180 Systems provides independent consulting services including business process improvement, software selection, business case development and project management.
The objective for this site is to provide an unbiased portal to ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) systems, ERP Value Added Resellers (VARs) and relevant ERP articles. The systems and VARs listed are those we know about and do not imply a recommendation by 180 Systems.
Go to www.erp180systems.com for more information.
SYSPRO Enhances SYSPRO CRM Software To Facilitate FDA Compliance
9/3/2007
SYSPRO, a leading provider of enterprise software, has recently announced significant enhancements to the SYSPRO CRM (Customer Relationship Management) solution. These most recent upgrades are designed to enable manufacturers, such as Medical Device Manufacturers and Food Producers, to more easily comply with FDA regulations in addition to promoting ease-of-use, increased efficiency and added system security.
Among the new CRM enhancements that facilitate FDA compliance are the easier recognition of inactive accounts and contacts and the use of SQL Optimization to speed record search. The integration of SYSPRO CRM with Microsoft MapPoint also allows authorized users to display maps of accounts and contacts located in the United States and Canada, providing at-a-glance visibility of account distribution to pinpoint geographical areas where tainted or defective product may have been shipped and also aid in future marketing and sales strategies. Closer ties between opportunities and service tickets also enable increased traceability and reporting capabilities. Additional triggers to SYSPRO Returned Merchandise Authorization tighten the integration between CRM and ERP to further FDA compliance.
The availability of HTML formatting for activity notes presents SYSPRO CRM users with new presentation options to accommodate required FDA reporting, while the automatic saving upon exit of the last-opened dashboard view for automatic appearance at the next log in speeds traceability.
According to SYSPRO USA President Joey Benadretti, "The ability to customize fields in SYSPRO CRM and the opportunities to automate internal order forms have increased FDA reporting capabilities while still allowing hard copies for FDA audits. The service ticket area of CRM has also greatly increased a company's ability to report on customer issues, product defects and remedies. These latest enhancements to SYSPRO CRM reflect SYSPRO's ongoing efforts to enable manufacturers to more easily comply with FDA regulations. Because SYSPRO CRM is fully integrated with SYSPRO enterprise software, there is also availability of up-to-date data for FDA reporting requirements."
About SYSPRO
Since its inception in 1978, SYSPRO has been delivering state-of-the-art business solutions to some of the world's leading companies. As a global leader in the production of world-class ERP software, the company now caters to the specialized needs of 12,000 licensed companies in more than 60 countries worldwide. SYSPRO is marketed globally through regional territory distribution centers and a global reseller network in the US, Canada, Africa, Asia Pacific, Australia and the UK.
Phoenix Systems Committed To Helping Customers Plan for Future Growth
According to an independent 2006 survey, Phoenix Systems is pleased to report that overall customer satisfaction levels remain high (97.4 %) and have actually increased since its last survey in June 2004 (93.6 %). However, president Dan O'Toole says the survey also suggests there is room for improvement.
"Phoenix Systems is committed to finding innovative ways to help our customers manage and plan for the future. After all, that is our reason for existence. While our scores in this area remain high, our customers are also telling us that we need to communicate more effectively how to help them plan for growth."
The survey prepared by Baston, Barnett and Associates Inc. interviewed more than 50% of Phoenix Systems customers. Phoenix Systems scored highest in the area of customer satisfaction with its consultants, support and sales staff. The scores indicated that customers were 100% "satisfied" or "very satisfied" with staff's attitude and availability, and 97% satisfied in the areas of competence, capability and responsiveness. "How quickly someone responds to a problem is one of the biggest areas of complaint in our industry," says O'Toole.
"In the last few years, Phoenix Systems has invested heavily in the skill sets of our staff and taken great care in aligning them with our customers' requirements. We are proud of the fact that our average customer has been with us more than 10 years. That is our goal to continue to build long term relationships with our clients."
The survey also showed that their customers are more likely to refer or recommend Phoenix Systems to other companies in need of performance and technology breakthroughs. In fact, their score in this area has almost tripled (51.3 %) since 2004 (19.2%).
"We are deeply grateful to our customers for their confidence in us," says O'Toole. "We realize in an industry where companies tend to move around, our primary driver is to maintain a high level of customer satisfaction. We understand that customer satisfaction depends on our ability to continue to help entrepreneurial companies apply technology to grow and become more successful."