We hope you'll join and participate in these meetings. The VMNEUG membership has continued to grow and thrive, allowing users an independent forum to discuss and resolve issues in their respective businesses. We're looking forward to igniting the same collaborative opportunity for our customers outside the New England Region.

Regards,

Gene Caiola
Partner

Kiosko, Inc., a manufacturer of custom kiosks, fixtures, displays and signage for the retail and foodservice industries, serves a wide range of customers from small businesses with one or few locations to large chains such as Ben & Jerry’s and Radio Shack.  Kiosko displays can be found in most major malls across the United States.
 
Kiosko’s previous business software was a combination of an accounting package and a web-based Sales Force Automation (SFA) solution.  The system performed an adequate job of managing relationships and finances, but Kiosko needed to manage its inventory more closely.  With the old system, the company had to perform physical counts on a monthly basis which became too burdensome as the company grew.  Kiosko also needed an enterprise system that would help streamline operations and enable the company to run more efficiently.

Kiosko chose Infor VISUAL ERP as its new manufacturing and financial software solution.  “We needed to wrap a lot of controls around our inventory,” says Steve Millay, Controller. “VISUAL has the extent of functionality that we need, but it is simple enough that you can’t get lost in it.  And because VISUAL is relatively easy to learn, the transition from our old system was smooth and quick.”

“Mike Roush, the installer from Synergy Resources, was just the right person for the job.  He took the time to learn our business and he understood that we were determined to get up and running as quickly as possible.  Mike helped us to stay focused on priorities and the system was implemented in less than two months.” 

“One of the things we like about VISUAL is that it is transaction oriented,” explains Andrew Pennell, COO.  “People have to transact the receiving and movement of materials which in turn helps keep accurate information, making everyone’s lives easier.  When people use the system and trust what it tells them, everybody wins.  We now have excellent visibility to what orders are out on the floor and the plant manager’s ability to view inventory levels of hardware and finished goods has improved tremendously.”

“We are diligent about entering labor and material costs so that now we have accurate job costing data and control of inventory levels,” adds Pennell.  “Using the system we trimmed our material cost by more than 25%.  Before VISUAL, some items weren’t purchased on time which would hold up work, or some items were being over-purchased.  Now we have a better handle on what we need and when we need it.”

“Another major improvement at Kiosko has been the time to execute from sales to production,” says Millay.  “Prior to having a good Material Requirements Planning (MRP) system, it could take up to a week to convert a sale into an executable set of work orders.  That has been reduced to two days or less.” 

Synergy Resources and Farmingdale State College announced that their pilot ERP class is up and running, generating interest from local industry and other universities. The course, Intro to ERP, uses Infor VISUAL ERP to teach students how to apply technology to manage a company’s integrated supply chain from manufacturing and purchasing to warehousing and distribution.
 
Enterprise Resource Planning has become a necessity in today’s workplace because it helps companies integrate all their data and processes into a unified system which will help them meet demand for products on time and cost effectively. The software allows companies to identify needs, plan production, maintain supplier and customer information, and assess costs. 

The class idea came about when Gene Caiola of Synergy Resources and Jill O’Sullivan, a professor at Farmingdale, saw a need to provide enterprise software education for business and engineering students.  O’Sullivan, who also teaches courses in Operations, Supply Chain Management, and Just-in-Time Inventory, believed the ERP course would complement the current course offerings and create further interest in Farmingdale students from local manufacturing companies.  “Having come from industry with a background in database applications, I felt it was important for the students to have an opportunity to learn ERP software,” explains O’Sullivan.  “The hands-on approach of the course that applies case studies of actual manufacturing companies helps to prepare students for real-world situations making them better job candidates upon graduation.”
 
Mr. Caiola and Professor O’Sullivan co-wrote the textbook for the class, Enterprise Resource Planning: A Transitional Approach from the Classroom to the Business World.  The book is the first of its kind providing an instructional view of the commonly used industry software Infor VISUAL ERP.  Infor, one of the largest global providers of business software, gifted the software to Farmingdale State College and Binghamton University, also of the State University of NY (SUNY) system. Other colleges across the country have already shown interest in developing their own Infor ERP courses.  The interest comes from internet searches, the textbook’s publisher McGraw-Hill, and through APICS, an educational association for operations management professionals.  O’Sullivan has responded to inquiries from other SUNY schools, colleges in Michigan, Ohio, and Georgia.  Under the direction of Professor O’Sullivan, Farmingdale State College is partnering with Synergy Resources, Infor, and the local APICS chapter to create an Enterprise Resource Planning Alliance.  The alliance will promote the new ERP program of study through its web site, collaborative research projects and local events.

Synergy Resources has partnered with Independent Systems, an Avalara Company, to provide an affordable sales tax software and sales tax database solution, fully-supported for use with Infor ERP VISUAL.

The SalestaxPC and SalestaxII modules can provide your company with the most accurate rate tables—automatically uploaded and updated within your VISUAL accounting system. Combined with LaserBridge+ sales and use tax forms and TrustFile e-filing and e-payment solutions, you can also close the loop on the entire returns and remittance process.
All Independent Systems solutions are fully-integrated with VISUAL, offering monthly updates for the sales tax database and optional sales tax software for state tax return preparation and remittance.

Solutions for Streamlining Sales and Use Tax Calculation and Remittance