Study Case

This company has been devoted to automation and control in all areas: commercialization of leading brand equipment, project development, engineering, technical assistance and services, training, and integral solutions for a wide range of industries in the Argentine market (food and beverages, paper and paste, automotive, energy, steel, transportation, chemical petrochemical, laboratories, among others).

Company’s Profile
Founded in 1984, Control para la industria S.A. specializes in automation and industrial control.
This manufacturer and developer of electronic equipment for industrial applications had its own brand during the first years. During the 90's with the economic opening of the country, CPI adapted itself to the new national scenario, becoming a consulting services company and a supplier of equipment in its areas of specialization.
For such purpose, it entered into representation and distribution agreements with leading brands in the automatic control business, such as Omron from Japan, and Weidmüller from Germany, which to this date are still current. In that particular context, and along with the companies it represents, CPI experienced significant growth which positioned it as a leader in the Argentine market.
Currently CPI has over 60 employees distributed in four facilities. They provide both in-house and on-site training, and offer a whole portfolio of services such as repairs, engineering, start-up operations, and consulting.
Case Analysis
This company has over 50 professionals who provide their services from four facilities, offering a whole portfolio of services, such as repairs, engineering, start-up operations, and consulting.
In order to meet the annual objectives in terms of sales during the 2001 financial crisis, CPI wanted to have a more accurate interpretation of the market. They spent months analyzing new strategies to manage the business in the new scenario. The search for the best management solution was conducted using three different software programs. It managed the customers with one system, the human resources with another system, and the company’s back office with still another program. In addition, some other data was registered on spreadsheets. Therefore, not only did they not have consistent information in real time, but also reworking became a normal practice. The company was also working with partial knowledge of the stock, making it difficult to conduct the follow-up and control of the products delivered for testing.
Finding an integral management solution which did not affect the flexibility of the information became essential.
Solution / Implementation
At the beginning of 2006, CPI adopted NeuralSoft solutions (ERP, CRM, Human Resources, Business Intelligence, and ASP) for integrated management of the company’s operations.
During the months after the contract was executed, the NeuralSoft team worked together with CPI gathering information to adjust the practices to the company's requirements and strategies and improve the management. CPI’s commitment, and the availability of a tool which could be customized according to the company's needs, was essential to be able start 2007 working with an ASP tool.
Benefits
Among the main issues solved by NeuralSoft was the implementation of a single management solution which could integrate all business areas.
They used the ERP module to formalize administrative practices and organize the back office making available, from a single application and in real time, reliable information about sales, purchases, finances, accounting, taxes, stock, and cash flows.
Furthermore, the company has access to the actual stock of products because this tool makes it possible to follow the product from the moment it is brought into the warehouse until it is installed by the customer. This control capability helped reduce stock loss and improve customer service, establishing more accurate delivery dates.
The implementation of the solution in ASP mode has enabled CPI to have all the applications available without the need to acquire servers, purchase licenses, manage backups or maintain databases, applications, security, antivirus or firewalls. As a result of the assistance and support available now, CPI administers four agencies with one person working in the systems area and the support help desk.
For customer relationships the company uses CRM. This tool has enabled it to develop more accurate customer profiles. When the associates need to monitor certain strategies, or analyze new actions, they may access consistent information about what, when and how a product was sold.
CPI also includes Business Intelligence for the optimization of process management. The company generates data which is stored in specific information repositories for each type of user and functional area for the company. In this way, not only the top-managers may access critical business information but also the employees, who may monitor their tasks and make any necessary decisions.
With the conviction that having access to consolidated information makes a difference when it comes to business management, CPI has developed control panels with management indicators to provide plentiful information for every sector. The main queries used by the company are about Sales, Billing, Collections, Stocks, etc.

They have also designed reports which enable management by default, activating alarms based on pre established conditions, as in Bills of Sale, which have to be authorized by the administration when they exceed certain amounts.
Implementing the Human Resources module allows for automatic wage calculation and human resources management considering variables pertaining to the work team.
Why NeuralSoft?
“NueralSoft helped us build an intelligent organization and continue improving the quality of the entire management process. Accessing the information of the whole company in real time has enabled us to effectively respond to market instabilities and maintain profit levels."
Edgardo Arias, CPI Director