Success Stories

Busy HVAC Supply Firm Sees Early Gains from New Analytics Solution.

Heating & air conditioning wholesale supplier Munch’s Supply is a fourth-generation family business operating six branches in the Chicago and northwest Indiana markets. Over the last two decades of Munch’s steady growth and profitability, the company has relied on Eclipse to manage its business. One challenge they faced, however, “was to quickly and efficiently get certain kinds of information out of the Eclipse system,” says Vicki Munch Strunk, Vice President.

Then, at a recent Activant Eclipse Summit conference, Vicki learned about a solution aimed squarely at the problem: MITS Discover Analytics for Eclipse. The solution offers a standardized approach to making some of the most important information inside Eclipse highly accessible to business users—even to the point where it can be viewed on iPad and Android devices.

The company decided to implement the solution, with assistance from both Eclipse and MITS. In a very short time, the Munch’s team began using a series of drillable analysis “hypercubes” (views and reports) of key Eclipse data, plus an executive Dashboard for monitoring key business performance metrics.

Early results have been encouraging. The Accounts Receivables cube, for example, has enabled credit managers to quickly focus on accounts needing attention, delivering cash flow improvements. An array of reports from the Sales hypercube is helping managers and salespersons to pinpoint changing buying patterns and customers who may need additional attention. Meanwhile, the Inventory On Hand cube has simplified the addition of a large new line of heating and air conditioning products. “It’s much easier now for our managers and buyers to see what’s moving and what’s not,” says Vicki.

The Executive Dashboard, which tracks key metrics across the business, is a favorite of senior executives in the company. “They can see what’s going on in just a few seconds, then drill down to track sales rep performance, branch sales and GP, and other important metrics,” says Vicki.

Vicki also sees overall profitability improvements in the offing. “This is going to help us identify lines that are less profitable, and to drill down and create an action plan which can address those issues. This type of information just hasn’t been as easy to retrieve directly from the Eclipse system—but now we have access. We’re convinced our profits will continue growing as a result.”