Meyer Cookware signs Pronto in ERP deal

The Australian division of global cookware manufacturer, Meyer Cookware, has signed a six-figure deal with ERP developer, Pronto Software, to implement Pronto-Xi across the enterprise.

The manufacturer, known for brands such as Anolon, Circulon, Essteele, RACO and KitchenAid, will use the software to improve work flow efficiency and automate supply chain processes. Implementation began in October 2010 and is expected to go-live in June 2011.

The company looked at several vendors, including SAP and Microsoft Dynamics, before chosing Pronto’s product.

“We had a lot of add-on modules in our legacy system, that weren’t fully integrated, which was severely impacting our business growth and creating an issue with data integrity,” Meyer Cookware Australia’s finance director, Stuart Gunst, said. “We needed an integrated system that would deliver process efficiencies, as there was a lot of double and triple handling of data.”

Gunst said the company also wanted to integrate IBM’s business intelligence (BI) suite, Cognos 10.

“When we made our final decision, Pronto had just confirmed it was going to be the first ERP vendor to embed IBM Cognos 10 out of the box,” he said, adding the ability to “slice and dice” data and provide greater business visibility was also important.

“Our aim is to upgrade our software in the next 18 months to have access to this added functionality.”

Meyer Cookware will roll out financials, warehouse and distribution, point-of-sale and customer relationship management tools.

The organisation currently prioritises orders manually, and hopes automating the process with speed up order processing.

“What’s more, the CRM tool allows our reps remote access to the system, which means they can place orders while out on the road. Previously they had to physically write this information down and fax it back to the office, which of course lent itself to delays and human error,” Stuart said.

Local support was also a key consideration, he said.

Pronto Software managing director, David Jackman, said the developer was looking closely at BI capabilities.