Leucos
Building a Trusted Partnership With Real Results
The Challenge
An undisputed leader in the industry, Leucos USA has made tremendous impact as America’s most influential Italian lighting manufacturer.
Leucos’ prominence is confirmed by its many acknowledgements, including:
- Best Booth Award at Light Fair 2002
- Best of Category Award at Light Fair 2003
- Good Design Awards in 2003 and 2004 from The Chicago Athenaeum
- Best Booth Award and Award of Excellence at HD Expo 2005
Yet, like all fast-growing companies, there have been challenges.
Leucos’ business model relies on a vast network of dealers to sell the company’s product. As such, success is dependent on Leucos’ ability to ship products accurately and efficiently to these dealers. The company’s software plays a leading role in making this happen and in providing insight into inventory needs.
When they came to eIS Business Solutions, Leucos was facing issues with its Microsoft-based system that supported all shipping efforts. Eva Iuliano, controller for Leucos USA, explains:
“We had a lot of data in the system but we couldn’t get it out. Furthermore, we couldn’t provide our clients with an accurate estimate of when they would receive products. Without pulling manual files, we didn’t know what was in transit or in the warehouse. Not only was this inefficient, it was not customer-focused.”
The Solution
With the help of eIS Business Solutions, Leucos soon discovered that existing processes, not technology, were hindering efforts.
“Within one hour of meeting with an eIS Business Solutions representative, we had questions answered
and a few viable solutions to our immediate problems,” affirms Iuliano.
Iuliano emphasizes that eIS Business Solutions brings a skilled, proven approach at understanding clients’ challenges and current situations, with the goal of providing a practical, cost-effective and customer-focused solution:
“I know that if I bring eIS Business Solutions a problem, they will ask me insightful questions that help to expand the understanding of the problem. More important, they consider everything, including how our current challenges and potential solutions could affect our customers, employees, and other trading partners. They aren’t just interested in providing a solution but in providing the right solution whether it requires software or a change in our business process.”
The Benefits
Significant Time Savings
With the guidance of eIS Business Solutions, Leucos linked its UPS system to the accounting system, drastically reducing the time it takes to answer customers’ shipping-related questions. The time to resolve questions decreased from 20 minutes to less than one minute. Iuliano notes:
“Multiply that by 10 inquiries a day and it’s an astronomical time savings. We also can now send out tracking numbers with each invoice, which reduces the number of calls we get, allowing us to use our time more efficiently.”
Major Reporting Improvements
Leucos strives to continue improving its reporting capabilities, particularly to support its parent office and sales staff. To that end, eIS Business Solutions added additional fields to its Microsoft-based solution to help Leucos track additional information that enhanced reporting. Key improvements include:
- One-click reporting, saving hours of manual work
- Reports that are integral to providing sales incentives to dealers
- Timely feedback resulting in increased sales for dealers and Leucos alike
Considerable Process Enhancements
In the past, Leucos’ processes were extremely manual — for example, employees printed extra invoice copies to file for customer requests. With the help of eIS Business Solutions, Leucos moved toward a more efficient solution that:
- Automatically faxes or emails statements with backup invoice copies
- Requires no manual intervention
- Saves both time and money related to collection efforts
Iuliano reflects on the lasting value of the partnership:
“When we met eIS Business Solutions, it was obvious that we had found a company that excelled at diagnosing problems. That was eight years ago. We continue to run most of our technical challenges by them as our trusted resource. It is one of the smartest relationships we ever entered into.”