HPE Automation

It’s All About Keeping our Head in the Cloud

“HPE Automation hesitated for a long time before revamping its business with a cloud-based ERP system. But with GURUS’ help, we were able to better understand how online business operates and improves processes for both companies and customers. This really made our transition worthwhile.”

- Eric Hord, CEO at HPE Automation

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HPE Automation first started doing business in 1980, helping customers in Florida, the Caribbean, and South America design advanced hydraulic systems for heavy-duty equipment. Since then, the company has upped the ante, forming strong business ties with  SMC, Intelligent Actuator, Cognex, 80/20 Inc and a variety of other suppliers and business partners, helping to diversify their offering. It’s little wonder HPE Automation has become the Sunshine State’s largest seller of advanced industrial automation equipment. But getting to the top in your field is hardly enough; what matters is staying there. To keep a competitive advantage, HPE Automation has to keep pace while also adapting to its industry’s ever changing market conditions.

With this background information on HPE let’s consider the IT systems they were originally using and what prompted them to move toward a cloud solution.

HPE Automation was previously running its core business on a DOS-based system. Who could forget the great black screen! The system, popular in the 80s and 90s was now outdated and HPE was feeling it. Performing business transactions in the system became less than ideal; HPE had little-to-no technical support for the system. “If something went wrong, we were left in the dark,” explains HPE’s Automation Business Development, Eric Hord. It was time for a change.

Hord and his team needed a new system that was flexible, and would allow them to grow and change.  Through some research, the HPE crew was introduced to cloud-based business management systems. “We were intrigued by the cloud’s flexibility and ability to integrate, which when compared to our old system seemed too good to be true,” says Hord. As HPE Automation would soon learn, cloud-based systems deliver on their promises.

The Turning Point

HPE Automation and GURUS Solutions became business partners following Suiteworld 2013, NetSuite’s largest annual industry event. According to Hord, his team was especially attracted to GURUS “because of their willingness to help management determine HPE Automation’s specific needs and how to meet them through cloud technologies.” With no in-house IT team of their own, HPE Automation chose to leverage the expertise of GURUS’ Professional Services to tailor solutions to meet their specific needs. This allowed HPE Automation to focus on what mattered most: their core business.

After discussion and careful thought, HPE Automation decided NetSuite’s ERP with Advanced Inventory and Demand Planning would be the solution that would work best for them.

Let’s consider the technologies and why they were such a great fit for HPE in order for them to attain their goals

NetSuite ERP is a state-of-the-art business management solution which provides HPE Automation users with optimized business knowledge. It gives all departments the tools necessary to work efficiently within a single software solution, which in turn gives the company a connected and synchronized 360-degree view of business operations. Also, because CRM is integrated right out of the box, NetSuite was easily leveraged by HPE Automation for marketing and sales projects, including  newsletters and emails, which can be uniquely designed and targeted to specific customers.  

NetSuite’s Advanced Inventory and Demand Planning are inventory management solutions which are being used on a daily basis at HPE. With Advanced Inventory, real-time alerts can be communicated between the HPE sales and warehouse teams, ensuring unparallelled levels of efficiency and customer satisfaction. Demand Planning delivers forecasts meant to determine how much inventory should be stocked depending on the state of the market at any given moment. Together, these solutions have drastically eased warehouse and inventory management efforts at HPE Automation.

Unlike their previously used DOS-based system, HPE’s current business solution comes with a team of technical gurus who support the organization’s changing needs as they grow. This approach to business helps ensure that HPE is able to stay ahead of the technological curve through continued improvement of their overall business processes.

What do HPE’s employees like most about their cloud-based business management system?

Clean and always-accessible online data! In fact, Hord explains that “clean online data has made HPE Automation more efficient in capturing orders correctly, making fewer entry errors, and ensuring that customer preferences are met.” Since NetSuite is a true cloud-based solution, HPE Automation employees can access this data any time, and from anywhere. No on-premise system can provide this type of service.

HPE Automation has been living the cloud for close to three years now. Cloud solutions such as NetSuite have helped HPE Automation remove the shackles of their old on-premise, DOS-based system, and in the future will allow them to advance on their goal of setting up a fully integrated eCommerce platform. This future need to scale up makes HPE Automation a text-book example for cloud-powered business empowerment.

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