URSIDEKICK

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

Lalan Rubbers is a leading work glove manufacturer in Sri Lanka, with 10 vertically integrated production facilities supplying an ever expanding customer base in more than 53 countries around the world. We commenced our operations in 1987, and over the last 35 years have grown to a family of over 1,800 passionate employees, exporting more than 3.2 billion safety gloves annually.

In my position as Director - Business Development, I am responsible for driving our growth into new markets, new market segments, and new products.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire URSIDEKICK?

Our homegrown ERP system lacked the functionality to provide us with the necessary level of insight into our sales; this was a critical requirement as we set about on an expansion drive that saw us increase our output by more than double. We needed a high-powered BI tool that would plug in seamlessly with our ERP.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor and what were the deciding factors?

Based on references provided by independent third parties that had previously worked with the vendor, and recommendations by others in the industry.

Describe the project in detail and walk through the stages of the project.

After noting our requirements, reviewing our ERP system, and analyzing our overall sales flow, the team recommended the Qlikview BI tool for our requirements. Once the team developed, and integrated the software, they provided in-depth training to our team to utilize the program to its fullest.

How many resources from the vendor's team worked with you, and what were their positions?

We worked with a team of 3 to 4 developers and one team lead, with one developer dedicated to just our project. We also had points of contact with the CEO and Director of the operation on overview.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

The URSIDEKICK team's implementation of Qlikview BI has allowed us to not only study real-time customer analytics, but also study their buying patterns over multiple time periods. This has given us the insight to not only forecast demand and requirement, but has also optimized our sales flow. The software has also been invaluable in performance management. It has been a factor in achieving double digit year-on-year growth.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Their team of developers were always on hand to not only answer our queries, but also make the changes we requested. They were extremely accommodating with the level of customization we requested.

What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?

The team had the professional expertise to understand our requirements, and also had the attention to detail we don't usually see from most other vendors.

Are there any areas for improvement or something they could have done differently?

Outside the team lead, more business-oriented expertise on the part of the developers would have helped cut the back-and-forth a little; but they still did very well.