Whether it’s electrical switches, medical devices, automotive bumpers, or some other injection-molded product or element, chances are that Progressive Components furnished parts for the mold. A leader in supplying the production tooling industry, the privately owned Progressive Components strives to remain cutting edge in both its products and its business environment. With help from Armanino, the manufacturer upgraded and migrated its enterprise resource planning tool, Microsoft Dynamics GP, to the cloud in Microsoft Azure.
Progressive Components, headquartered near Chicago, Illinois, develops and distributes components for the production tooling industry. “It’s like a hardware store for someone who builds the molds for injection-molded plastic items,” says Danny Clemenson, business analyst at Progressive Components. Privately held and founded in 1987, Progressive Components provides off-the-shelf standards designed to accelerate the building of molds and reduce costs and downtime. It operates through a network of direct and regional distributors throughout North America, Asia and Europe.
The manufacturer has been relying on Microsoft Dynamics GP—an enterprise resource planning (ERP) system—since the 1990s, when the software was first created as Great Plains software. Over the years, the company hosted its ERP system with various technology infrastructure and service providers.
With a small IT staff, Progressive Components prefers to take advantage of external IT services to help it complete larger projects efficiently and effectively. “The problem was that every time we had a project we needed help with, the value-added reseller we were working with would come back with a much larger scope—and price tag—than required,” says Clemenson. “Finally, a trusted colleague of mine referred me to Armanino.”
Armanino is the largest independent accounting and consulting firm based in California and one of the largest Microsoft Dynamics Partners in the U.S. A Gold Certified Microsoft Dynamics ERP Partner, Armanino’s Microsoft Dynamics practice provides implementation, training, and consulting as well as upgrade services to help companies such as Progressive Components optimize the benefits of their Microsoft solutions. “I was very impressed with the folks from Armanino and recommended that we engage with the firm to help us with a planned Dynamics GP consolidation,” says Clemenson.
The first project involved consolidating different installations of Dynamics GP onto one hosting platform and upgrading to the latest version of the ERP software at that time. The migration included integration with thirdparty products such as StarShip shipping software and credit card processing from Nodus Technologies. “We had a great experience with Armanino on this initial project,” says Clemenson. “I knew we’d continue to take advantage of the Armanino team’s expertise.”
The manufacturer next turned to Armanino when it was time for another version upgrade of the ERP software. This project also included moving the hosted application to new servers.
The most recent engagement involved migrating the company’s ERP system, along with its integrations with third-party applications and modules, to the Microsoft Azure cloud. The company is already using a variety of Microsoft applications in the cloud including Office 365, Microsoft Exchange, Dynamics CRM, and SharePoint.
“ I was very impressed with the folks from Armanino and recommended that we engage with the firm to help us with a planned Dynamics GP consolidation."
Danny Clemenson
With help from Armanino, Progressive Components stays up-to-date and well prepared to take advantage of the latest features and functionality available in Dynamics GP. “We try to stay cutting edge,” says Clemenson. “Now we’re on one platform, in the cloud.”
With its latest project and move to the cloud, the company also gains greater business continuity in the event of unexpected issue at its headquarters. “If there’s a disaster of some sort or really anything that happens that prevents us from using our current physical location, we can hand out new laptops and be ready to continue serving our customers,” says Clemenson.
Unlike the relationship with the manufacturer’s previous VAR, Clemenson appreciates the frequent and open communication he has with the Armanino team. “If I reach out to Armanino, I know that things will happen and any issues will be resolved,” says Clemenson. “It’s the great communication that makes the relationship so successful.”
Knowing that his company is prepared for whatever comes next, gives Clemenson peace of mind. “It’s good to be ahead of the curve and well positioned for the coming innovations in technology that can help our business continue to succeed in an increasingly digital world,” says Clemenson.
“ If I reach out to Armanino, I know that things will happen and any issues will be resolved. It’s the great communication that makes the relationship so successful."
Danny Clemenson
December 04, 2017
