On the EDGE, Autumn 2008

Vesco Oil: A Driving Force in
Industrial Lubricants

Over the past 60 years, Michigan-based Vesco Oil has repeatedly lapped the competition, becoming one of the nation's leading distributors of finished oil and petroleum products. For decades, Vesco has provided their automotive and industrial customers the finest service and most advanced products to rev unparalleled growth in the companies they supply, driving Vesco's customer satisfaction to record highs.

Starting Line
In 1947, Eugene Epstein, who would later chauffeur the expansion of the lubricant industry, ignited a business that, to this day, remains a family-owned and operated company. Over 200 employees, only some Epsteins but all considered family, contribute to Vesco's continued deliverance of great service and solid products. Epstein's son, Richard, expanded product offerings to include branded automotive and industrial lubricants, and after a few more acquisitions, Vesco led the pack of Mobil industrial and automotive lubricant distributors in Michigan and as a result, they became one of the country's largest Mobil industrial lubricant distributors. Currently under the guidance of Donald and Marjory Epstein, Vesco remains one of ExxonMobil's top distributors in North America, and since daughters Lena and Lilly have joined the team, all future growth has a green light.

Led by generations of the Epstein family's keen business sense, Vesco has achieved great success as an automotive and industrial lubricant distributor. While Lena Epstein, Vesco's Marketing Manager, and MIS Director Verna Leoni are careful to credit the Vesco family for the business's success, they do recognize their ERP solution, Infor's SX.enterprise, as assisting them along the way. SX.e has afforded Vesco the ability to shift their processes from reactionary to strategic. Additionally, Epstein credits Leoni as assuming the role of the pit crew chief, the driving force behind successfully implementing a new solution.

Vesco Oil Selects SX.enterprise as Their New Distribution Solution
After struggling to upgrade their old system, which they had modified beyond recognition, Vesco began searching for a new distribution solution in early 2004. While WDS-II, their old solution, was functional at the time, the product simply had no future at Vesco, a continually expanding company. In addition, Vesco required a technology partner who offered local support and national backing. Having teamed with CDS, a founding member and active participant in Distributor's EDGE, in the past to complete networking projects, Vesco turned to CDS in search of an appropriate solution.

Vesco explored Infor's SX.enterprise as an option while also investigating other options. Vesco quickly learned that SX.e offers all that they were seeking in a product. Specifically, as compared to other products on the market, SX.e offers more functionality within distribution, including order entry, certain modifications for their business with a guarantee to still enable upgrades, and conversion programs. Equally as important, CDS provides the local support with Infor as their national backup.

Leoni pegs Vesco as a difficult sell; she outright claims, "We are not an easy sale." In order to make the best investment, Vesco involved team members from all five warehouses within numerous departments, including Accounts Payable and Receivable, Inventory Control, and even sales, in the buying process. After several meetings, demos, and Q&A sessions, Vesco selected SX.e as their solution and CDS as their partner.

Once the decision was made, implementation and training raced into overdrive. After four levels of training, which involved training CDs, test systems, and classes at CDS's facility, Vesco went live on SX.e in January 2005. Four months later, Vesco employees had forgotten the old system.

From Defensive Driving to Offensively Driving Changes
Determined to maintain a prominent position in the lubricant industry, Vesco is constantly seeking growth opportunities and new revenue venues. In doing so, Vesco, more than just a distributor, needs to react quickly, so by extension, Vesco prefers a strong, easily accessible technology partner. Therefore, Vesco's engines can warm quickly when necessary. Working with CDS, Leoni knows she can promptly reach her tech partner, saying, "I work with CDS's project manager on a weekly basis, but if we needed to call them on a daily basis, we would. And they would take that call." Vesco's close relationship with CDS, paired with SX.e's flexibility, enables them to react rapidly and continuously grow.

CDS is Vesco's hardware and software support, and Vesco believes this dual relationship simplifies their tech needs, saying "It is easier to be with a company who is both your hardware and software support so that when there's a problem within the system they have a better ability to troubleshoot." CDS supports Vesco's entire network, not just SX.e. Therefore, the new processes have better aligned Vesco's IT with the overall goals of the company, and now, IT is driving changes instead of responding to them.

Shifting Gears
Preparing to celebrate their fourth year on SX.e, Vesco has had a very successful run with the solution, and given the ease of upgrades, they will continue to celebrate many more anniversaries. However, the first year was challenging.

While the sales team was involved in the buying process, they were out of the loop during implementation, and other team members were struggling to pinpoint the information they needed within the reports. Therefore, Vesco's employees, who just eight months prior, had forgotten the old system, returned to comparing the two. Avoiding the easy path-Vesco knew they could manipulate SX.e to behave exactly like their old system given the systems versatility- Vesco set out to capitalize on SX.e, a software investment in which they believed.

Reactionary at the time, but navigating towards a strategic level, Vesco formed IT Focus Groups to facilitate the transition. The groups agreed on what they needed from SX.e, and then, they discovered how to attain that info or execute necessary actions. Quickly, the questions in the meetings shifted from reactionary to strategic in nature, and Vesco employees officially graduated from the old system. Another key indicator: initially, inventory levels rose on the new system, but now fill rates are at 97.5, and each month, Vesco makes or exceeds this rate at each location.

Smooth Sailing
Once Vesco's focus shifted to strategy, they were able to fully capitalize on SX.e. Vesco sales reps now use PDA order entry, and they have access to a mini-warehouse where they can invoice and sell from a truck. Plus, they can use EDI with many of their large vendors, and the automation draws and compiles data from multiple sources.

More than anything, Vesco is well positioned for new versions down the road, and they feel comfortable that an upgrade path is available. Epstein comments, "I don't know how you can quantify something like having an available upgrade pack, but there's such a cost to the company to not have that option. There's such a risk there." With SX.e, Vesco has the ability to modify the system without fear of drifting too far. In fact, contrary to many of CDS's clients, Vesco employs Dana Tremblay, a software developer who uses architect to slightly modify SX.e while still maintaining the SX.e solution. In addition, CDS is available to assist with modifications.

CDS's implementation program and the IT Focus Groups, who still meet every six weeks, encouraged Vesco's employees to examine their daily tasks, study their processes, and work more efficiently. In doing so, employees have taken more ownership of their job. Since the SX.e system allows them to function just as well, if not better, with fewer people, Vesco has not had the need to replace any employee who has departed. Regardless of company size, communication is very important, and Verna describes the communication SX.e facilitates as "kinda fun" and something she never dreamed of having the ability to do. SX.e allows users to email reports directly from SX.e, which Vesco feels is a very helpful function. Additionally, since SX.e is Windows based, users often export lists into Excel spreadsheets for analysis.

Vesco Oil and CDS
Moving forward, Vesco plans to continually stay ahead of new technology, allowing the company to continue to plan strategically versus respond defensively. In a few months, Vesco plans to upgrade their system, and their specific hope is that TWL upgrades will increase their efficiency. In addition, they anticipate more virtualization of their servers. As Vesco continues to grow, their "very good" relationship with CDS will continue. Epstein appreciates that CDS is family-owned, like her own company, and she thinks the CDS family is terrific and well versed in distribution. Further, Vesco welcomes CDS's proactive nature and efforts to update and educate Vesco. Asked what they would say to a peer who is considering partnering with CDS, Leoni simply says, "We have recommended CDS and SX.e to other distributors, and I think that speaks for itself."

For more information on Vesco Oil, visit www.Vesco-Oil.com.