Decision time

After consulting the pros, it was decision time for Tom Sincharge. Since Yesterday Corp. had taken its first splash into Web-based business strategies a year earlier, the manufacturing company’s president figured he might as well plunge in.

“Our original investment in technology paid off,” he says. “We were able to establish a strong manufacturing presence on the Web, which has helped us grow much quicker than we could have otherwise.”

Based on the numerous proposals to help link up the remote offices and sales people, Sincharge and Yesterday’s board of directors opted for a multipronged approach that would allow Yesterday to integrate new systems while leaving room for future expansions.

First, since nearly every external sales rep was equipped with cell phones, Sincharge bought laptops computers for Yesterday’s remote sales force. This allowed the reps to use their cell phones and the laptops to link up with the company’s internal network.

Sincharge was impressed with the idea of wireless modems, so he left open the possibility of integrating them into Yesterday’s operations at a later date.

“It opened a whole new world for the reps,” Sincharge says. “Now they could take laptops to the customer, confirm all the specs, and even input the order right there. It saves us time, money and keeps us from making mistakes. It was simply a matter of determining the cost-benefit ratio.

“We could have purchased more cutting edge equipment, but then we might be sending the message, ‘We’re more interested in glitz than the bottom line.’ We’d rather be practical, efficient and effective.”

Sincharge also ordered basic video conferencing equipment for each of Yesterday’s satellite offices and the corporate offices.

“E-mail can’t always get the job done,” Sincharge says. “Sometimes you just need to see someone’s face.”

The results, he says, have been impressive.

“We’ve been able to see the value of video conferencing rather quickly,” Sincharge says. “We had a company meeting in November, right after we installed it, and we saved several thousand dollars in travel and lodging expenses compared to what it would have cost us to physically bring our people in to Cleveland.

“We expect to recoup the expense of the equipment very quickly. It also keeps our people out in the field longer. Video conferencing saves an enormous amount of time.”

Sincharge also installed DSL lines and bought additional Microsoft server licenses to provide access to the company’s server. And he picked up a couple of Palm Pilots for top-level managers at each location.

Yesterday was able to connect its employees, offices and customers for a reasonable investment. But, Sincharge says, while this solves Yesterday’s current problems, and prepares it for future expansion, it doesn’t mean technological changes won’t force the company to re-evaluate its operations ever again.

“E-commerce is quickly shaping the way we do business,” he says. “We may have to go through this all entire process all again in a few years. But at least now, we know what to expect.”

Dustin Klein ([email protected]) is editor of SBN.