SYSPRO Case Study TANGRAM SURFACES INC. < The Company Tangram Surfaces, Inc. (well known by its “Centura” logo) began in 1985 when Gino Maddalena opened a 2700 sq. ft. warehouse in Dartmouth, NS, as a wholesale/retail distributor of ceramic tile and marble products. Rapid growth ensued and the company built three brand-new warehouses – one to replace the original rental space in Dart- mouth, NS, plus two new build- ings totaling 70,000 sq. ft. to stra- tegically cover Atlantic Canada. Mr. Maddalena partnered with a Toronto company called Centura Floor & Wall Fashions to expand Tangram’s product lines to include carpet, flooring and vinyl products and adopted the “Centura” marketing logo. Mr. Maddalena start- ed as an apprentice in the “floor and wall fashions” industry almost 60 years ago and his commitment to customer service is evident in his remark, “This business is in my blood and I want my customers to feel that they are dealing with a friend.” < The Challenge Tangram had originally installed a popular “generic accounting” software, and as the business grew, the limitations in the software became increasingly apparent. At a planning session in early 2001, Tangram’s management team determined that their computer software must be upgraded or replaced to maximize staff productivity. Tangram’s Director of Finance, John Walsh, explains, “There were a variety of problems with our previous software; for example, ‘day end’ processing required all the users to exit the system for approximately an hour every day. Serial tracking was handled by ‘third party add-on’ software that repeatedly caused trouble. The standard reports were somewhat limited and we found its report writer rather cumbersome. We were forced to allow inventory quantities to go negative because the system was too ‘batch processing’ oriented and didn’t reflect the ‘latest’ status of available/on-hand quantities. This caused some big surprises during our annual stock count valuations. It also meant our sales team could not depend on stock allocations and frequently promised the same stock to several different customers.” < The Solution Tangram began seriously investigating business software alternatives. The options were narrowed to two; namely, either upgrade the existing software or SYSPRO Software Adds Polish to Tangram Surfaces August 2008, USA Mr. Maddalena partnered with a Toronto company called Centura Floor & Wall Fashions to expand Tangram’s product lines to include carpet, flooring and vinyl products and adopted the “Centura” market- ing logo. © 2008 SYSPRO. All Rights Reserved. All trademarks are recognized. www.syspro.com 1 < AT A GLANCE < COMPANY Tangram Surfaces Inc. INDUSTRY Distribution “There were a variety of problems with our pre- vious software; for example, ‘day end’ process- ing required all the users to exit the system for approximately an hour every day. Serial tracking was handled by ‘third party add-on’ software that repeatedly caused trouble.” - John Walsh Director of Finance, Tangram Surfaces, Inc.