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Haviland Enterprises Boosts Productivity and Business Agility with the Chempax ERP System from Datacor
Technology Category
- Functional Applications - Enterprise Resource Planning Systems (ERP)
Applicable Industries
- Chemicals
Applicable Functions
- Discrete Manufacturing
- Logistics & Transportation
Use Cases
- Inventory Management
- Supply Chain Visibility
Services
- System Integration
The Challenge
Haviland Enterprises, Inc., one of the largest privately held chemical distribution companies in the U.S., was facing significant challenges with its existing AS/400-based ERP system. The system was not specific to the Chemical industry, and over the years, a number of modifications were made to make the software more usable for the company. However, this resulted in a system that was cumbersome and costly to maintain. Updates to the software required testing against custom code, making it cost-prohibitive. Additionally, the system lacked real-time data visibility. While the system did offer wireless capabilities, it was not fully integrated with the rest of the ERP system, leading to inaccuracies and wasted time in locating products and reconciling the two systems.
About The Customer
Haviland Enterprises, Inc. is one of the largest privately held chemical distribution companies in the United States. The company serves the needs of companies worldwide, including those in the US, Canada, Mexico, and Brazil. Haviland was established in 1934 as a small research and testing lab and has since grown to operate across four physical locations, totaling over 600,000 square feet. The company consists of two separate divisions: Haviland Products Company, which serves the industrial market with custom formulation, specialty blending, packaging, and distribution of a wide variety of chemical products; and Haviland Consumer Products, which formulates, blends, packages, and distributes more than 85 different swimming pool products for more than 75 different private label customers, serving some of the largest mass marketers of private label products.
The Solution
Haviland Enterprises, Inc. implemented the Chempax Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) solution from Progress Partner Datacor, Inc. to manage its manufacturing and distribution operations across its four locations. Chempax is based on the Progress OpenEdge application development platform and is the only ERP system developed specifically for Process Manufacturers and Chemical Distributors. Haviland also uses Datacor’s eChempax Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system to extend its ERP system capabilities out to its sales agents, managers, and customers. The Chempax system was chosen for its industry-specific development, Windows-based user experience, and fully integrated wireless capabilities. Haviland implemented the majority of the Chempax modules, including those for customer service, order processing, warehouse management, finance, accounts receivable, accounts payable, purchasing, inventory management, manufacturing, general ledger, transportation, and the executive dashboards.
Operational Impact
Quantitative Benefit
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