Overview
Country: United States
Industry: Manufacturing
Customer Profile
A-dec, Inc., with headquarters in Newberg, Oregon, is one of the largest manufacturers of dental equipment components, delivery systems, chairs, and furniture in the world.
Business Situation
A-dec recognized that development of an intranet site would deliver extensive benefits by providing up-to-date information within centralized portal sites to executives, customer service, sales, and manufacturing personnel. They also were aware that development of an intranet site from scratch would be very expensive.
Solution
A-dec decided to partner with ServerLogic, a Microsoft Certified Partner, to help implement Microsoft SharePoint Portal Server 2003 as the framework for their intranet solution. SharePoint provides the cost-effective foundation for a phased deployment of expanded capabilities to the entire organization within the portal environment.
Benefits
- Collaboration on process improvements
- Improved customer service
- Sales force information access
- Enhanced team communications
- Business data integration
- High utilization
For More Information
For more information about ServerLogic and Microsoft Business Solutions, call 1 (866) 838-6932. In Oregon, call (503) 416-3110.
For more information about A-dec products and services, call (800) 547-1883 or visit the Web site at: http://www.a-dec.com/ |
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"A-dec, like many mid sized companies, has realized the need for a common, consistent place for employees to share information and collaborate on projects. A-dec chose Microsoft’s SharePoint Portal Server for this because of its ease of use, maintenance, and compatibility with A-dec’s existing technical architecture. "
Keith Bearden, Chief Information Officer, A-dec, Inc.
A-dec, Inc., a worldwide leader in the manufacture of dental equipment, expects to realize significant benefits as they take advantage of their recently implemented Microsoft SharePoint Portal Server 2003 Intranet Portal. A-dec realized that they could improve the presentation and delivery of critical product and service information by providing their employees with tools that enable A-dec’s non-technical employees to design and implement Intranet Portals for specific purposes, such as customer service, manufacturing process improvements, and team projects. A-dec is now in a position where they can begin to realize the benefits that these sites provide without having to wait for a lengthy intranet development project. In order to accomplish the initial implementation and customization of the SharePoint 2003 Portal, A-dec turned to ServerLogic Corporation, a PNW-based IT consultancy and Microsoft Certified Partner, that specializes in Portal and CRM implementations.
Situation
IN 1964, Ken and Joan Austin started building dental equipment with a concept of creating simple solutions for the betterment of dentistry. Forty years later A-dec is one of the largest dental equipment manufacturers in the world, supplying its products to thousands of dental practices, as well as nearly all of the dental schools in the country. Every aspect of the business is guided by a set of 15 principles the Austins have used to shape the company’s behavior and attitudes – from a focus on quality, to caring for fellow employees, public service, communication principles, and more. In every way, A-dec continues to be an innovator and a model for the way a business should be run. For example, current "lean manufacturing" efforts are resulting in extreme productivity benefits.
These principles and attitudes carry over to the Information Services department. Keith Bearden, A-dec’s award-winning CIO, recognized that a corporate intranet can help to achieve great benefits in the areas of customer service, process improvements, productivity, collaboration, and sharing of both business-related and employee-related information. "A simple way to allow A-dec employees to share information and collaborate on projects will greatly enhance our communication and improve our productivity."
Solution
After considering other alternatives, A-dec decided that that the best solution appeared to be the implementation and deployment of Microsoft SharePoint Portal Server for the following main reasons:
- Relatively low cost
- Opportunity to quickly get a portal in place without extensive development
- Integrates with existing Microsoft desktop tools
Working with Microsoft partner, ServerLogic Corporation, a strategy to implement a proof-of-concept was pursued. The audience at that time was limited to the corporate executives and the Information Services department. The functional scope was essentially limited to corporate & personal dashboards, presentation of corporate metrics to the executives, company newsletter, access to information services forms, access to phone & fax contact information, links to their ERP application and to external websites.
ServerLogic provided the technical and project management support to successfully implement the proof-of-concept intranet functionality within the planned six-week time-frame. At the end of the project, the decision was made to wait for SharePoint version 2003 before expanding the audience and functional scope in order to take advantage of its enhanced capabilities:
- Availability - The improved technical design includes a three tiered architecture and separate components for web rendering, database processing, searching, and indexing.
- Scalability - The separation of processing functions allows for ease of expansion by adding inexpensive web servers at appropriate processing points, as required.
- Supportability – It was felt that there would be greater support emphasis from Microsoft for the new version than for the prior version.
- Implementation / Rollout – The improved design provides for ease of implementation and maintenance.
Therefore, upon Microsoft’s announcement of the release of SharePoint Portal Server 2003, A-dec and ServerLogic began to convert the users and portal functionality to the new SharePoint 2003 technical architecture, which is centered on a SQL Server database within the ASP.NET framework.
With the implementation of SharePoint 2003, A-dec is now expanding its intranet portal structure using a phased approach. In addition to the main corporate site, non-technical personnel can set up any number of sub-portal sites by department, team, project, or other topics. Individuals can customize the content and look-and-feel of their own personal sites. News can be delivered via several different methods and can be targeted by audience. Content can be published and managed by non-technical personnel, with version control, check-out / check-in, approval workflow, and collaboration processes.
Powerful full-text search capabilities make it easy to find information that is stored throughout the organization within SharePoint sites, other file shares, web servers, and Exchange Server public folders. Individuals can establish alerts to allow them to be notified when designated types of information are added or modified. Security settings can be established to ensure that information is accessible only by the intended audience. Business applications can be integrated and accessed from within the SharePoint portal with single sign-on capabilities. Links to internal and external web sites can be included. Special team and project site templates allow for collaboration and sharing of information. Many standard Microsoft web parts are available for inclusion, plus custom web parts can be added. Additionally, extensive administration functions are provided.
A-dec is currently in the process of expanding the user base and functionality. The current emphasis is on setting up customer service and lean manufacturing portals. For example, ServerLogic recently completed a project to develop custom web parts for shipment tracking, which have been included in the customer service portal site.
Benefits
Following are just a few of the benefits that will be realized as A-dec’s SharePoint Portal Server intranet environment expands:
- Customer Service will have access to information in order to respond more quickly and accurately.
- Lean team collaboration and posting of process improvement information.
- Reduced publishing, copying, and distribution costs.
- Sales force access to product information, regulations, research tools, and marketing materials.
- Collaboration, sharing, and timely availability of important information.
- Project and team sites can be used to help reduce implementation time and costs, track issues, and facilitate cross-department communication.
ServerLogic Business Solutions
Since 1992, ServerLogic has provided enterprise software development and project consulting services to global 2000 companies and the public sector. ServerLogic has provided professional services for many of today's market leaders across numerous industries, including communications, biotech, retail, financial services, transportation & logistics (SCM), healthcare, manufacturing, and government. Our strategic and creative services supplement our consulting services to create complete solutions for our clients - solutions to leverage the power of Internet technology. |