ERP Solution Improves Business Performance

Philip Rosenau Co. Inc., Warminster, Pennsylvania, is a diversified distributor of sanitary maintenance supplies and equipment, supplying the janitorial industry for nearly 60 years. Serving Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland and Washington D.C., the company employs 75 people in three offices, including a 65,000-square foot distribution center. There is also a complete repair service center for all types of janitorial equipment. 

Since going live on the Prophet 21 enterprise resource planning (ERP) solution from Epicor, Austin, Texas, staff can provide and support numerous technologies, including online ordering, usage reporting, third-party electronic ordering and invoicing, consolidated billing, and detailed task analysis to help identify specific labor-saving opportunities for its customers.

“It was difficult to get data out of our previous system to manage the business,” says Scott Holland, executive vice president for Philip Rosenau. “We wanted a more modern, up-to-date system that would have the ability to grow with us. The positive testimonials we heard from Prophet 21 customers sealed the deal, and it was the best-looking product with robust features.”

The data conversion and overall ERP implementation went very smoothly.

“We hit the ground running,” says Holland. “It could not have been an easier, more logical transition. Prophet 21 was ready to go out of the box, without a lot of customization required. An Epicor project manager helped lead the implementation process, and the learning management system guided us through the new look and feel of the system, so people became acclimated to it fairly quickly.”

Today, Philip Rosenau employees can modify forms (such as pick tickets, invoices, etc.) and build custom portals within the ERP system. 

“We appreciate having more choices and flexibility with Prophet 21,” says Holland. “We can add fields, move/resize items, and create customized invoices for customers. And with DynaChange, we can customize screens to make our workflow more efficient. Because we have four service techs on the road, plus our in-house maintenance service techs, the service and maintenance module has been very valuable to us.”

Pricing is not typically standardized in jan/san distribution. However, by focusing on pricing, the distributor can improve its margins. 

“Prophet 21 saves us countless hours in managing manufacturer increases,” says Holland. “With the previous system, item costs had to be changed manually, which was very cumbersome, considering there are more than 50,000 items we can supply. The strategic pricing module improved our gross margins by about 2 percent, enabling us to recoup our investment quickly; it essentially paid for the whole Prophet 21 implementation process in about a year.” 

In addition, security and approvals levels are built into the software. Employees have complete visibility to analyze and control pricing changes — or make exceptions for specific customers.