Client:

Zebra Pen Corporation

Customer Profile:

Zebra Pen Corporation is a leading manufacturer of writing instruments, including ball point pens, highlighters, mechanical pencils, gel rollers, and correction pens. 

Business Situation:

Zebra Pen was moving their manufacturing operations to Mexico, and needed a system to support their new business model. 

Solution:

Zebra Pen implemented Microsoft’s Dynamics AX ERP system to manage their Financials, Inventory, Production, and Distribution operations.

Benefits

• Increased control over their inventory
• Enhanced customer service levels
• Improved efficiencies and lowered operating costs

>> Mikuni American Corp.
>> Zebra Pen Corp.

Background

Based in Edison, New Jersey, Zebra Pen Corporation was founded in 1982 as a wholly owned subsidiary of Zebra Co. Ltd., a global manufacturer of fine writing instruments based in Tokyo, Japan. Zebra Pen offers an extensive line of writing instruments including ball point pens, highlighters, mechanical pencils, gel rollers, and correction pens. Zebra Pen proudly stands behind their name and guarantees quality, satisfaction, and ultimate writing performance.

Zebra Pen’s writing products are widely distributed through a variety of dealers, including food chains, discount chains, drug chains, office supply stores, stationary stores, wholesale clubs, and mail order companies. Zebra Pen also offers an advertising specialty division whereby promotional pens can be customized for use in their customers' branding activities.

Situation

Zebra Pen’s products are manufactured in several countries in the Asia Pacific region, including China, Japan, and Indonesia. These pens are then imported to North America, where Zebra Pen performs a final inspection and packages the products for distribution. Zebra Pen runs a high-volume blister packaging operation with roughly 200 production employees. Once packaged, these products are warehoused and are ready to be picked, packed, and shipped out to customers.

	“We looked at 4 or 5 different vendors. At the end of the day, Microsoft’s Dynamics AX was clearly the most compatible solution with our business model.”

In a move to drive costs out of the organization and continue to be competitive in the global marketplace, Zebra Pen made a strategic decision in 2001 to move their production activities to a facility in Mexico. This move essentially required Zebra Pen to start their new operations from the ground up.

As the new facility came online, Zebra Pen immediately saw the limitations in their current software systems. “At the time, we were using an old IBM AS/400 system that was built for distributors,” stated Clem Restaino, President of Zebra Pen Corporation. “We tried to make it work, but it just didn’t fit. As a result, roughly nine out of ten activities, including inventory management, purchasing, and production scheduling, were being done manually.”

In addition to all of their manual operations, Zebra Pen was suffering from a lack of visibility into their production and distribution operations. “Since our operations were now located a long distance from our headquarters, we needed to watch things much more closely,” continued Mr. Restaino. “With our existing systems, we just couldn’t get a good handle of what was happening in our Mexico facility, and as a result, our inventory was really out of control. We needed a business system that was built to manage our type of production and supply chain operations.”

Solution

After deciding to invest in a new enterprise software system, Zebra Pen Corporation began an evaluation of new packages, evaluating companies like SAP, Oracle, Microsoft, and others. “We looked at four or five different vendors,” explained Mr. Restaino. “At the end of the day, Microsoft’s Dynamics AX was clearly the most compatible solution with our business model.”

“We took a real liking to the people from Greenlight. We trusted them from the beginning.”

Dynamics AX is an adaptable, easy-to-use ERP software system that is capable of running all of Zebra Pen’s operations in a single system. Zebra Pen selected Greenlight BTS, a leading Microsoft partner, to help them with their implementation and support of Dynamics AX. “We really took a liking to the people from Greenlight,” said Mr. Restaino. “We trusted them from the beginning.”

Since the Mexico facility was clearly the biggest priority, Zebra Pen began the project with a rapid implementation of Dynamics AX for the production operations. Once the initial project was complete and the business had acclimated to the new system, Zebra Pen proceeded with the implementation for the rest of their business units, including their headquarters and distribution operations, which was also eventually relocated to the Mexico facility.

Dynamics AX now manages the company’s accounting, inventory, production, and distribution operations, with a license for roughly 70 concurrent system users. Zebra Pen also integrated Dynamics AX with several other packages to improve efficiency levels, including an EDI system to automate EDI transactions with their customers, a labeling software application for printing UCC128 labels, a UPS shipping system, and a 3rd-party forecasting package.

Benefits

The solution provided by Dynamics AX has helped Zebra Pen make significant improvements in several critical areas of their business. For example, Zebra Pen has seen dramatic improvements in their ability to control their inventory. “We previously carried a lot of inventory,” stated Mr. Restaino, “but we quickly learned that we were carrying all of the wrong products. Now that we have better control, we can keep the right items in stock at the right time, and keep our cash in the bank instead of in our warehouse. In fact, now our inventory management capabilities are probably our strong suit. For example, when the economy fluctuates and demand decreases, we have the controls in place to ensure that we’re not overloading on inventory.”

	“It’s amazing how successful this has been. With the tools provided by Dynamics AX, we have a better handle on what is happening throughout our business.”

Zebra Pen has also been able to improve customer service levels through the use of Dynamics AX. “Prior to implementing Dynamics AX, we had a lot of backorders,” Mr. Restaino said, “but now that we have better control over our inventory, our fill rates are dramatically better and our customer service is much better than it has ever been.”

Finally, the efficiencies that Zebra Pen has gained by using Dynamics AX has helped them control their costs and has made a positive impact on their bottom line. Mr. Restaino continued, “In our transition from New Jersey to Mexico, we were able to eliminate six or seven positions, since the system was now able to do things on an automated basis that we were doing manually.” As an example, since Zebra Pen no longer had a high volume of backorders, the number of phone calls from their customers has decreased, and they were able to redeploy one of their customer service representatives into a new role.

“It’s amazing how successful this has been,” claimed Mr. Restaino. “With the tools provided by Dynamics AX, we have real-time visibility across our operations, and have a better handle on what is happening throughout our business.”

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