Emerging From the Pandemic, Well-Positioned for Growth
As a result of the collaboration with CSG, Exceed is getting much more value from their Microsoft D365 data with actionable Power BI reports. Since CSG custom-tailored solutions to align with the highest data priorities, executives can effectively manage production and assembly operations since they understand the decisions they need to make and deliver.
Stephen and his team gained new insights to confidently make the decision to raise the starting wage of their staff to $18.75 per hour. This is a living wage in Portland, compared with the $15.50 average wage in the industry.
“Being able to raise the wage for our staff was really important to us,” said Stephen. “Having great staff means that our clients are getting great services, even during a pandemic. “Now we have the information to understand the financial and organizational opportunities and risks that went along with that decision so we could get the board to approve the proposal.”
Additionally, this initiative helped Stephen cultivate a data culture within Exceed. Team members quickly reaped the benefits of these new business intelligence tools, which is key to sustaining innovation and competitiveness…and improving employee satisfaction.
Instead of a frustrating and time-consuming experience navigating legacy software, the team saves a lot of effort because they no longer have to deal with tedious and manual processes. They see concrete information on how they’re helping clients in real-time.
Stephen and other executives were able to analyze financial information and manipulate it to understand the cost of their decisions. This capability was particularly critical during the pandemic. The leadership team could forecast their cash flow accurately in a fraction of the time that it used to take, so they could respond to market conditions nimbly.
Exceed emerged from the pandemic with minimal loss and the ability to expand across the State of Oregon to meet a growing need for services in the community.
The organization is also able to recruit senior executives because it has a robust solution in place to help them do their jobs. Employees are leveraging data to come up with ideas they never thought of before. Everyone in the organization sees the value of data analytics and they are hungry for more.
“CSG is more than a vendor. They’re our strategic partner,” said Stephen. “They managed the project, checked in, and gave us feedback throughout the process. We need partners like them to help us use the tools we have cost-effectively. As a result, we can put every dollar into our staff by paying them a living wage and into serving our clients to the best of our capability.”
Thanks to the ongoing efforts and innovation, Exceed is managing inventory effectively through robust reporting and production solutions to deliver high-quality services to its customers. Along the way, they also outperformed over a thousand worldwide suppliers and received Daimler’s Masters of Quality Supplier award two years in a row.
