J.J. Haines & Company, Inc.

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The Customer

J.J. Haines & Company, Inc., one of the oldest and largest floor-covering distributors in the United States, has serviced customers in the mid-Atlantic states since 1874. J.J. Haines supplies its dealers with a wide variety of flooring products, meeting the needs of its dealers by maintaining complete inventory at regional hub locations and using its own transportation network.

J.J. Haines distributes products produced by manufacturers such as Armstrong, Bruce Hardwood Floors, Hartco, and American Olean from "wholesale only" warehouse distribution points in Glen Bernie, MD; Goldsboro, NC; Wytheville, VA; Richmond, VA; and Oaks, PA. Additionally, J.J. Haines sells retail to the general public from ceramic tile locations in North Carolina, South Carolina, and Maryland.

The Challenge

Given consistently strong growth in recent years, J.J. Haines' homegrown legacy system was proving inefficient to meet inventory, sales, and purchasing demand. To better serve large-volume vendors like Armstrong and customers like Home Depot and Lowes, J.J. Haines decided to implement J.D. Edwards in conjunction with DSI TranCollector barcoding devices and software and to complete the transition within nine months.

For the new system to work, vendors such as Armstrong needed the capability to take and process hundreds of orders online each day. This process required vendors such as Armstrong and Bruce Hardwood to actively participate in most of the business script definition and integrated system testing. Intelligo's biggest challenge was to write and test scripts while simultaneously writing and testing end-user training documentation, and to do so with minimal client contact. Subject-matter experts (SMEs) were rarely available due to the rigorous integrated testing schedule.

The Solution

As a subcontractor to IBM, which led the implementation effort on behalf of J.J. Haines, Intelligo was asked to quickly draft, test, and finalize highly customized J.D. Edwards and DSI documentation for the following business areas/modules: all Financials, Address Book, Inventory, Sales, Purchasing, Advanced Pricing, Warehousing, Transportation, and EDI.

In addition to test-script development and Train-the-Trainer documentation and related training, Intelligo developed a documentation site on J.J. Haines' intranet, so that all remote users could access and print job role-specific documents, as needed. Additionally, Intelligo assisted with user-training scheduling and project planning and management.

Intelligo's Value-Add

Intelligo's ability to clarify complex business processes and provide layperson-friendly software documentation enabled J.J. Haines to build a comprehensive set of customized training materials. J.J. Haines then made the materials available to all users online prior to formal onsite training in the most cost-effective way possible (via the company intranet).

Because Intelligo consultants crafted end-user documentation during the integrated system testing, their ability to generate accurate documentation with minimal client input or review proved invaluable. Intelligo also incorporated new information resulting from changes to the J.D. Edwards and DSI software and business processes right up to first scheduled training date.

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