“We Slashed Billing From 5 Days To 1.9 Days, Sped Up Cash Flow By 8.1 Days, Reduced Our Billing Labor By 3 People Saving $135,000 Every Year, And Cut Our IBM Support Costs By $21,891 Per Year."
Background
Apex Logistics, LLC is the largest, most diverse bulk transportation company in the western United States.
Apex offers transportation of dry bulk and non-hazardous liquid commodities between points in the United States with intrastate services in California, Arizona and Nevada. Other services include transload equipment and personnel for rail transloading operations, dedicated logistic fleet services and vacuum pneumatic equipment for silo, rail, or plant clean-up.
Based in Adelanto California, Apex Bulk Logistics has grown from its original single location to 7 full service terminals throughout the western United States. Dispatch operates 24 hours a day, seven days a week
Apex has about 500 employees and supports about 75 users on their IBM POWER i.
Richard Givens is the Director of Information Technology.
Previous Work With Other, Bigger IBM Business Partners – Very Frustrating
Richard explains, “Other IBM Business Partners used to frustrate me because they were not as knowledgeable as I needed them to be. Large IBM Business Partners could tell you all kinds of hardware they could sell, but they could not tell you how to integrate it into your system or how it would help you.
The Expertise I Need When I Need It
“Since I have been working with Source Data, I have been very pleased with their knowledge. They have the expertise I can count on. That’s the key right there. I can always expect that when Source Data tells me how things will work out. And when a mistake does occur – which is rare – I know it gets fixed and doesn’t cost me a dime.”
Right Questions Lead To Right Solutions
“Source Data asks the right questions that will get me what I need. For instance, SDP was the first to ask me what my AS400 software tier group was – no one else ever asked me that. Our 9406-820 was a P20 – no one else ever asked those kinds of questions. Turns out moving to a lower software tier saved me $7,500 per year.
“When Source Data asked me a question about my IBM i, I wasn’t sure if I knew where to go to find it. Source Data has the software commands to direct me to the information I need from my AS400. The other IBM Business Partners did not know anything about the IBM i operating system or any of these commands.”
Source Data Team ALWAYS There For Me – And LIVE People Answer The Phones
“Also, over the years, other IBM Business Partners and technology providers have really annoyed me with people turnover. It seems that every couple of months – whether its sales or support – it’s always someone new. It’s Joe today, 2 months later it’s Jeff, 3 months later it’s Tanya – there’s never any stability with the people you deal with. I have always had stability with Source Data.
“I always have continuity with Source Data. I can always call the same person I can count on – and if needed, I can get forwarded to someone else in Source Data who can help. The fact is I am always working with a competent helper who knows my operation. Continuity means a lot – because that’s how I build trust.
“Plus, at Source Data, live people answer the phones. And when the person I want can’t get to the phone, in most cases I get a callback in 10 minutes or less.”
Source Data Newsletters – Great Ideas – And Understandable To Management
“The other big thing is Source Data Products’ newsletters. They are never written in ‘IBM-speak’, ‘brochure-speak’ or ‘geek-speak’. They are always easy-to-understand. More important, they are easy for my supervisors to understand.
“I have never received a single newsletter from any IBM Business Partner unless they want to sell me on some new IBM announcement. But as far as someone who talks about the nuts and bolts, what’s going on with technology, and what’s going on with the system that I’m currently using – Source Data is the only one with a newsletter. And it’s great.
“Those newsletters help me sell to my management what I am buying– to the people I have to report to. Like the Source Data newsletter “’Why Use an AS400 Instead of a Microsoft Windows-based System.’
These are some of the things that make my job so much easier. It’s one thing for me to say to the owners, ‘Here’s why you should buy an AS400.’ But when they hear it coming from an IBM Business
Partner who is out there every day – who can break it down so they can understand it – between using an AS400 and a Microsoft Windows platform to process our data — and what viruses mean (and how the AS400 does not get viruses) – that helps me explain it to them. And I love it!
“So when the owners read about the stability of the AS400 – and they have seen Windows problems in the past, like the blue screen of death, when the Windows server went down because some one hit the wrong key, or gotten a virus that took us down for a day, and this stuff has NEVER HAPPENED with their AS400 – they get it!
Document Imaging Slashes Billing 5 Days To 1.9 Days, Deploy 3 People, Payback In 6 Months
“I remember SDP first introduced us to Real Vision (RVI) for Imaging. We were on the verge of signing with Pegasus – which under the covers was really SpyView from Magellan (now OpenText). I was new to Apex at that time.
“As I remember, even though the Pegasus may have integrated to the AS400, it used a Microsoft Windows server. I don’t think it was a flat-out AS400 solution. One of the things I always want, if we are going do something, is make it AS400 friendly, make it integrate with the AS400. Source Data made it one step better – SDP brought us a solution that lived on the AS400. That made a big difference with ease-of-use, security, reliability and complete document backups.
“One of the greatest results about this RVI solution is we get the billing out fast. It used to take us about 5 days with 5 people. Now we’re down to 1.9 days with 2 people.”
Bills Sent Electronically Cuts Cost Of Postage And Paper. Cash Flow Speeds Up by 8.1 Days!
“We now send all of our bills electronically. We put our customers on email. So, with this imaging solution, we hit one button, it goes out and generates the invoice, eliminates all printed forms, and includes all the supporting bills of lading.
“Not only do we save on postage, but the bills arrive 5 days faster. Now, the driver completes his delivery and the final bill is out the next day. This improves our cash flow by 8.1 days.
“The payback was fantastic. We figure we got our money back in 6 months. That definitely makes the owners happy.”
More Savings On Annual Support
“Now that we are proficient with our imaging solution, we have not paid for support for the last 3 years. We are saving $4500 per year – that’s $13,500 total savings! We haven’t paid for support because we figure we will pay for it once we run into a problem and we need it. And the people at RVI are cool with that. They say, ‘If you don’t pay for support, when you need it, pay for it then.’ That’s how user-friendly those guys at RVI are. And once RVI is running – well, there are no problems.”
Less Than 28 Months New POWER i Paid For Itself
“We used to have an IBM 9406-820. My gosh, Source Data saved me over $21,891 per year in IBM support and maintenance! We went to the new IBM POWER i – all the hardware, software, and support is built into the lease – the payback was in less than 28 months.
“To be very honest, when Source Data showed us how much we could save – and because of the credibility and trust they had built up over the years – the owners were not skeptical. They were like, ‘Let’s do it!’ And that’s why SDP got the deal right away.”
Richard Definitely Recommends Source Data Products
“I would certainly recommend Source Data Products to any business thinking about a new IBM i server.
“I get calls from all kinds of IBM Business Partners. I let them know I deal with Source Data. Then those guys stop calling me.
“Source Data is the most knowledgeable IBM Business Partner I have worked with.”