The Company
Targus is the leading global supplier of mobile computing cases and accessories. The company is universally recognized as the world’s best selling notebook carrying case brand, and the leading provider of accessory products for the mobile lifestyle. Targus offers a complete range of mobile accessory products to enhance the mobile computing experience, and continues to set the standards in excellence for protection, craftsmanship, and functionality in portable carrying cases and accessories for notebooks and other portable electronics. A truly global enterprise, Targus has 45 offices worldwide and direct distribution in over 145 countries. Corporate customers enjoy product delivery to any location in the world. Targus’ distribution channels and customers include major retailers, corporations, government and educational institutions, 90% of Fortune 1000 companies, and custom OEM for eight of the world’s top ten notebook computer manufacturers.
The Challenge
In 1997 Targus was making critical decisions about the future of its business. Company executives needed to eliminate its paper and manual processing systems, tighten visibility to and management of its supply chain, create a communications environment that extended beyond employees’ personal AOL e-mail accounts and centralize three separate applications to truly globalize its systems. The company also wanted to shorten the time to close its monthly financials.
Targus had no IT department. Plus, regionalized deployment and management of the company’s IT environment created inefficiencies and disfluencies that were costing the company precious time and critical human and financial resources. Targus knew it could not fully realize its growth initiatives and strategic plan to become a true global player with decentralized technology infrastructure, systems and support. Targus decided that it needed to select and implement an ERP solution as a means of fixing the identified problems.
The company wanted to centralize its IT environment without creating a traditional IT department. This goal was critical since the company could not realize its globalization strategy without core systems and centralized management and support of its IT environment. Targus needed a technology partner that not only understood ERP software and implementation, but had significant business process experience. In addition, Targus’ partner had to be skilled at effectively bringing disparate technology and systems together. The company considered many providers, but selected OneNeck because of its middle-market focus and its ERP implementation and outsourcing experience.
The OneNeck Solution
OneNeck was chosen to assist Targus with the selection and implementation of its ERP system with contract commencement in December 1997. The company traveled the globe with Targus executives, visiting each site and assessing the existing technology infrastructure, user requirements and business objectives specific to those regions. Once OneNeck completed its assessment, it quickly set to work establishing Targus’ global technical environment. OneNeck developed and deployed a centralized technical environment including a global WAN as a backbone for Targus’ corporate-wide e-mail system. The new environment facilitated improved communications among Targus employees, partners and associates.
Several months later, OneNeck configured and implemented Baan finance at Targus headquarters. Shortly thereafter, OneNeck brought Baan distribution/logistics online. An important component of this was OneNeck’s integration of two significant add-ons to the Baan implementation. The first focused on streamlining Targus’ supply chain management. At the time, Targus’ trading partners were using a manual-entry EDI system. Roughly 10% of sales volume was entered this way. OneNeck implemented a Baan-integrated EDI translator to reduce human error via the manual EDI input system and to increase efficiency.
For the next add-on, OneNeck tackled the automation of Targus’ package rating and shipping process. OneNeck implemented a freight management solution, integrated it with Baan, and developed and implemented a new Baan module to manage the process. These systems were first launched in the U.S., followed by Canada and then the rest of the world.
The Benefits
Targus has realized significant benefits since OneNeck became its outsourcing partner. Within 20 months of contract commencement, OneNeck successfully centralized and globalized Targus’ entire IT environment. As a result of OneNeck’s implementation of Baan and business process expertise, Targus’ EDI systems now effectively manage 50 trading partners and require no manual intervention. Thanks to OneNeck’s early focus on Baan finance, Targus closes each month in a more timely fashion and with significantly more accurate financials.
