Dura-Lite Transfer Products Ltd

Dura-Lite is a world-leading manufacturer and supplier of heat transfer equipment based in Calgary, Alberta, with several manufacturing facilities located in North America, Australia and Asia. Since 1992, Dura-Lite supplies heating and cooling products for the heavy truck, bus, coach and motorhome markets, as well as for the industrial, agricultural and construction sectors.

With its extensive product line, the company’s pricing model requires daily management of several price lists, with personalized discounts offered based on the customer’s profile. Manually updating prices and calculating discounts for each product has been a real challenge for the company since the last update of its management software.

The same goes for product serialization and tracking. Most Dura-Lite equipment includes an after-sales warranty. The former version of the management system did not allow employees to create, assign, or even manage unique serial numbers for each of the products sold. The team therefore had the tedious task of carrying out this process manually for each purchase order.

A fundamental element of SAP Business One software is process automation, which Dura-Lite wants to take advantage of. “We wanted to do business with a robust SAP partner who would have a clear understanding of our issues to implement the required additions and updates,” says Mrs. Tomol.

Dura-Lite chose to work with Forgestik on this major project after having evaluated a number of candidates. “Forgestik came highly recommended. From our earliest discussions, the consultants answered all our questions clearly and seemed genuinely interested in helping us,” she adds.

When processes have been in place for years, even decades, it can be daunting to revamp working methods and quite tempting to fall back into old habits. Once automations were implemented, however, the company saw an almost immediate increase in efficiency across its departments, which greatly facilitated daily operations. The purchasing department— initially reluctant to change—very quickly adopted the ERP solution and benefitted from considerable time gains.

“Our work environment is constantly evolving and SAP Business One is able to adapt to these changes. Every day, new automations are implemented to improve everyone’s work! The alert function makes our processes more fluid because we are notified about any failures in real time, which prevents errors,” Ms. Tomol reports enthusiastically.