Aptean Industrial Manufacturing ERP, Traverse Edition Case Study: EHOB

EHOB is a manufacturer of medical devices designed to prevent pressure ulcers for hospital patients. Named for the treatment principle of “elevate head of bed,” EHOB serves an important need for healthcare providers across the country by providing high-quality support surfaces, heel protectors, and turning and repositioning aides.

Founded in 1985 and headquartered in Indianapolis, EHOB has enjoyed tremendous growth. In fact, the company recently doubled its space after it opened a large distribution center near the combined corporate office and manufacturing space. And, whereas their sales team was originally broken into just two groups—East and West—that team is now large enough to split focus across six smaller regions.

Aptean’s specialized industrial manufacturing enterprise resource planning (ERP) software has helped facilitate EHOB’s success, offering robust functionality and dedicated features for every operational area—from accounting and finance to inventory and production. Because of the software’s positive impact across the organization, EHOB’s leadership team is confident it made the right choice when deciding on a solution.

The Challenge

The EHOB team knew they could get even more out of their ERP solution if updates and new features could be more easily implemented, as Aptean has continued to improve its offering over time. The existing on-premise modality made that somewhat challenging, though.

“It was getting harder and harder to update the on-site software because an Aptean team member had to VPN into our network, then connect to the server and do all the work in conjunction with people here,” said Sa’rah Plesner, EHOB’s IT Director.

EHOB knew it was time for change because of a number of factors:

• Difficulty keeping an on-premise system up to date

• Limited remote accessibility and cybersecurity concerns

• Behind on accessing new features to unlock maximum return on investment

The Solution

Plesner met with EHOB’s executive committee and recommended an upgrade and migration to a cloud-hosted, Software as a Service (SaaS) model. They collectively identified that this would be the right move to maintain the company’s momentum and help future-proof the solution.

“The cloud just made more sense from a technology standpoint. It helps with cybersecurity,” Plesner said. “Plus, it’s just better that it’s not on the server here—if we have some type of disaster, we know our data is safe in the Aptean cloud.”

From there, Plesner worked closely with Aptean’s implementation and support teams to meet an ambitious target for the go-live date. Rigorous testing was necessary throughout the process, as EHOB needed to maintain certain customizations while upgrading to the latest version and migrating to the cloud, but Aptean’s dedicated professionals went the extra mile and helped to accomplish the rollout in just seven months.

“The customer service team was great. I have to say, Aptean offers awesome support,” Plesner said. “I call them ‘my team’ because those are the people that always help me with issues. They’re super helpful, and they get stuff done in a really fast timeframe.”

The Results

The updated Aptean Industrial Manufacturing ERP software provided access to exciting features that Plesner and her team are now making good use of such as interactive views for each module, as well as options that can be added in the future, including warehouse management, documentation and delivery. Just as significantly, though, cloud hosting has made remote access much easier.

“The greatest benefit for me is that when our employees go home at night and take their computers—or if they are on the road and working—they can still get things done in the system,” Plesner said. “The fact that nobody has to use a VPN is great in my opinion. As long as I have an internet connection, the desktop shortcut and my credentials, I’m in.”

The cloud-based ERP, lets EHOB achieve the following:

• Flexible and simplified remote access

• Automatically applied updates to keep software current and resilient

• Total scalability to support growth with cloud implementation

• Better user experience through the optimized interface

Now, EHOB is benefitting from the advantages of industrial manufacturing ERP software implemented in a flexible fashion that offers full scalability and greater resilience to disruptions.

The company is also primed for smoother integrations with other solutions going forward, and the company is considering some of Aptean’s other offerings like Aptean Ship, Aptean Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE) and Aptean Enterprise Asset Management (EAM).

Ready To Modernize Your Discrete Manufacturing Operation With Cloud Software?

Here at Aptean, we’re relentlessly committed to delivering innovative solutions to your biggest challenges. That’s why we develop powerful cloud-based software that’s specifically tailored to the needs of your industry.

By ditching your on-premise solution for an Aptean cloud platform you gain better security, increased flexibility, anytime accessibility and enhanced flexibility—empowering your business to accelerate growth and stay at the forefront of your market. And that’s on top of all the great industry-specific benefits that our tailored industrial manufacturing ERP provides, such as automated job costing, streamlined supply chain and inventory management, faster quoting and estimating, and optimized production scheduling.

What’s more, all of this is supported by our experienced and enthusiastic in-house teams, delivering proven implementations, straightforward integrations and expert consultation. All so that you can spend more time focusing on managing and growing your business.

Read more success stories from our discrete manufacturing customers or get in touch to schedule your personalized demo today.