Case Study - Q Video Systems
Business Analytics extends reporting and analysis of Dynamics NAV
Q Video Systems cuts reporting cycles and improves inventory analysis
With offices in Australia and the USA, Q Video Systems is one of the largest and fastest growing distributors of security system solutions in Australia. A subsidiary of publicly listed QRSciences Holdings Limited, a leading research and development company; Q Video Systems is a direct seller and distributor of surveillance and monitoring equipment including CCTV cameras, digital video recorders and security video management systems.
Aims
Due to rapid expansion, Q Video Systems chose to replace the existing Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system with Microsoft Dynamics NAV®, particularly to keep pace with the sheer volume of inventory the company processes. The next challenge was to improve cumbersome and time consuming manual processes to extract, report and analyze ERP data needed for strategic decision making. The aim of the project was to find a solution to reduce timelines for end-of-month and management reporting, and improve inventory management through detailed analysis.
Solution
Q Video Systems selected Zap’s Business Analytics for Microsoft Dynamics NAV solution to provide enhanced reporting and analysis capabilities. Chief Financial Officer, Jamie Taylor, explains: “We were looking for a solution that could be implemented quickly to improve the time consuming aspects of reporting and analysis. We saw what Zap’s Business Analytics product could do, and it ticked all the boxes.”
Another deciding factor for Q Video’s decision to choose Zap was its affordability. “Not only were there significant time savings in using and rolling out Zap’s product, but it was affordable too, requiring a relatively low capital outlay compared with alternative solutions.” said Jamie.
Results
Q Video Systems uses Zap’s Business Analytics for Microsoft Dynamics NAV solution to streamline sales, purchasing and supply reporting. Jamie Taylor explains the benefits: “End-of-month reporting would typically be a 3-5 day process, but with Zap, we can now complete the same reporting in a single day. Business Analytics is a fantastic finger-on-the-pulse solution that has enabled us to increase the accuracy and speed of reporting.”
Analysis capabilities are being used to improve inventory and sales management. “We use analysis to identify slow moving stock, inventory trends, and restock points,” Jamie said. “It’s critical to our business to ensure that large contracts aren’t compromised by delays in imports. We also keep a close eye on customer profitability, analyzing sales and profitability by each customer so that we can identify changes and outliers.”
“Because Business Analytics is web-based, it can be accessed by our users almost anywhere at any time,” Jamie said. “The finance team uses it daily to build reports and perform analysis; branch managers view sales statistics and get reports on sales by branch, customer and product; and the CEO oversees the whole operation. It means we have high visibility over our Dynamics data so we don’t get any nasty surprises and it enables us to act before anything surprising happens.” said Jamie.