Progress-Based Application Wise Choice Over Microsoft,
with Fast Payback for Healthcare Giant Kaiser Permanente
Royal 4 WISE Application Gives Kaiser and Its Customers Significant ROI in Just Two Months, Improving Inventory Accuracy and Customer Service While Reducing Call Center Volume
Monday August 26, 10:20 am ET
BEDFORD, Mass., Aug. 26 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- The Progress Company, a business unit of Progress Software Corporation (Nasdaq: PRGS - News) and a leading supplier of technology for building business applications, announced today that leading national healthcare provider Kaiser Permanente has selected and deployed the Progress®-based WISE distribution application from Progress ISV Royal 4, a global leader in providing solutions for supply chain execution and collaborative commerce. WISE has allowed the multi-billion dollar healthcare giant to increase overall inventory accuracy in its Southern California Start Up Services' Facility to 99 percent, a 10 percent increase over its prior system. The WISE application also offers Kaiser's customers the ability to track their merchandise over the Web, increasing their overall ability to manage projects, while dramatically reducing the number of tracking inquiries Kaiser handles.
"Not only do our customers really appreciate the self-service option we can now offer, we handle less phone calls," said Jonathan Rothschild, senior supervisor at Kaiser. "In the first six months of this year, the system has handled the equivalent of 1,200 phone calls. That is a nice chunk of manpower that we can allocate to other tasks, not to mention the boost in customer satisfaction."
Kaiser's Start Up Services Division handles the purchasing of all general supplies necessary for medical projects, such as start-up or capital equipment for new medical facilities. This includes purchasing and tracking delivery of everything from calculators and exam tables to EKG machines ordered during the initial construction phase. Medical practices need to know what has come in at any given point, so they can accurately track their progress. In any given year, Kaiser is responsible for managing all of the equipment that will ultimately fill 300-400 new facilities, with 30-40 projects happening simultaneously. On a monthly basis, they must track over 4,300 packages and are responsible for $20 million worth of medical equipment.
Tired of dealing with a Microsoft SQL Server-based distribution application that was constantly down, could only present them with static information and had no reporting functionality whatsoever, Kaiser went looking for a new distribution application. During the initial evaluation process, Kaiser was not satisfied with the pricey offerings of other technology vendors. With dedicated Progress partner Royal 4, Kaiser finally found an application with a full Web interface and real-time information retrieval that could be set up in just 60 days.
Progress-based System "Maintains Itself"
"Royal 4 was very responsive to our needs, but we were still a bit cautious about buying into their claims," said Rothschild. "But now that we've been up and running for months, we can speak confidently as a satisfied customer. We even have a wireless delivery confirmation module, just like FedEx. The system practically maintains itself, I just spot-check the back- ups every once in while, because I keep thinking it can't be this easy. It is simple to use, not simple in what it does."
"Royal 4's long-standing success with Progress comes from the fact that the company constantly proves its superiority when compared to other leading technology vendors; one that we are confident to base our applications on," said Sam Elasmar, president of Royal 4's Warehouse Management Division. "Progress is portable, does not require tuning or constant administrative care and does not have a ridiculously long learning curve, making it easy for our customers to understand from a technical perspective, while quickly achieving business benefits."
Royal 4's WISE application is based on the Progress OpenEdge(TM) platform, which has received industry accolades for its flexibility, ease of use and low cost of ownership (see press releases at: http://www.progress.com/releases/2001/100201a.htm and http://www.progress.com/releases/2001/082701.htm). The highly productive OpenEdge tool suite allowed Royal 4 to extend WISE's capabilities in order to handle additional application requirements, such as a delivery module for hand-held Palm-based cellular devices that records real-time proof of delivery directly to the database. It sends a digitized image of signatures, providing Kaiser customers with live online information, while ensuring delivery accuracy.
Kaiser Permanente can now track items so accurately they can easily identify warehouse surplus and re-sell it to other organizations before its shelf life expires. Prior to implementing WISE, Kaiser Permanente had to physically audit the distribution center by walking aisle by aisle with buyers, checking item by item to see what hadn't moved and why, often finding equipment that had been forgotten and re-ordered and could no longer be sold. WISE also handles the facility's monthly reporting, and is so flexible that other divisions of the company can easily integrate and access reports, leaving facility management free to focus on further improving operations.
"Kaiser Permanente's experience reflects Royal 4's ability to respond rapidly to customer needs with an application enriched by years of domain expertise and the easy customization offered by the Progress OpenEdge platform," said Dave Ireland, president of the Progress Company. "Our partnership with Royal 4 further illustrates that Progress simplifies the job of building the world's best business applications."
About Kaiser Permanente:
Kaiser Permanente is America's leading integrated health care organization. Founded in 1945, it is a non-profit, group-practice prepayment program with headquarters in Oakland, California. Kaiser Permanente serves the health care needs of 8.3 million members across 9 states. Today, it encompasses Kaiser Foundation Health Plan, Inc.; Kaiser Foundation Hospitals; and the Permanente Medical Groups, as well as an affiliation with Group Health Cooperative based in Seattle.
Nationwide, Kaiser Permanente includes approximately 123,000 technical, administrative and clerical employees and about 11,000 physicians representing all specialties.
About Royal 4:
Royal 4 Systems, Inc. is a global leader in providing supply chain execution and collaborative commerce solutions. Royal 4 implements these solutions using cutting edge technologies and innovative services, while utilizing industry expertise to optimize performance, increase profitability and maximize competitive advantage.
Noted for technologically advanced WMS solutions, instant service and comprehensive support, Royal 4 Systems are reducing costs and increasing operating efficiencies. As a software industry leader since 1984, Royal 4 is one of the first to bring Internet power to the warehouse with a Web browser- based application that is faster to deploy and easier to navigate. For more information about Royal 4 Systems, visit us at http://www.royal4.com/.
About the Progress Company:
The Progress Company is a global supplier of software and services that simplify the development, deployment, integration, and management of business applications. The Progress® OpenEdge(TM) platform, with the industry's leading embedded database, delivers lowest cost-of-ownership applications that are rapidly implemented and easily integrated with other enterprise, extended enterprise and Internet applications.
With the expertise of more than 2,000 independent software vendors (ISVs) and application service providers (ASPs), the Progress Company and its application partners supply more than $5 billion annually in Progress technology, Progress-based applications, and related services. Progress customers span 50,000 organizations in more than 120 countries including 70 percent of the Fortune 100. The Progress Company, an operating unit of Progress Software Corporation (Nasdaq: PRGS - News), is headquartered in Bedford, Mass., and can be reached at 1-781-280-4000 or on the Web at http://www.progress.com/.
Progress and OpenEdge are trademarks or registered trademarks of Progress Software Corporation in the U.S. and other countries. Any other trademarks or service marks contained herein may be the property of their respective owners.
Source: Progress Software Corporation
