THE COMPANY: Ottawa Mould Craft Ltd. develops customized plastic product for a wide range of industrial applications. These include telecommunications equipment such as phones, connectors, cable management, fibre optics connectors and cellular phones. It develops consumer products including tools, toys, pagers and furniture components. The company also manufactures protective equipment and breathing apparatus for the military.

THE CHALLENGE: The company has been an IQMS customer since 2003. Prior to implementing IQMS EnterpriseIQ, Ottawa did not operate any formal ERP system. It used spreadsheets. The company was using separate, multiple programs for its accounting, sales management, marketing and a third software solution for shipping. Even when bundled, Ottawa’s systems lacked the functionality and interoperability needed to mange its business effectively. David Beal, vice president of Ottawa, Inc. describes the company’s old system as, "between a crystal ball and Ouija board."

THE STRATEGY: After an extensive review of competitive vendors and software, Ottawa selected EnterpriseIQ, which provides a powerful and cohesive solution that meets the unique and varied requirements of industry specific manufacturers. Ottawa was impressed with its features, such as a comprehensive financial management system, real time machine monitoring, regrind usage and consumption capabilities, multi-level bills of manufacture and multi-tool and family-tool functionality.

"Ottawa Mould Craft Ltd. spent four years researching the best software for our company and we are convinced when all things are considered IQMS was the best choice and still is," says vice-president David Veal.

After working out minor compatibility glitches with a third party software Ottawa was using, IQMS technical support and customer service helped" Ottawa achieve a flexible, lean and robust solution to run its injection molding and manufacturing platform.

THE RESULTS: IQMS was the only solutions provider that was able to assist in establishing its new ERP platform around the company’s multi-system configuration, saving Ottawa money, both in capital investment costs and manpower during implementation.

Ottawa is bound by quality standards to exceed customers’ expectations both in product performance and customer service, and EnterpriseIQ has been central to this effort. While most technology companies target markets, IQMS targets customers. According to Veal, IQMS EnterpriseIQ technical support for customers is one of the most powerful features of the software. IQMS has saved Ottawa ten times of what they were previously paying with third party software.

Having a single-source, Web-enabled ERP solution has allowed Ottawa to centralize its business activity, and improve its overall effectiveness and efficiency of operations. As a comprehensive solution, EnterpriseIQ enables Ottawa’s separate business areas to consistently achieve the rigorous quality standards set forth under ISO certification.

• Browse back to the 2009 Software Case Study Guide Index for many more software applications.