Case Study - Wheeler Machinery

Leveraging Legacy Systems to Deliver Web-Based Network Access

Wheeler Machinery was founded in 1955 in Salt Lake City, Utah. The company carries and supports the entire Caterpillar product line, which includes track-type tractors, motor graders, hydraulic excavators, scrapers, off-highway trucks, wheel loaders, backhoe loaders, telescopic handlers, paving products and Cat agricultural products.

Challenge

As part of their strong focus on customer satisfaction, Wheeler's management realized that there must be alternative methods of increasing client care without the burden of adding additional staff. The HR Department was faced with an ever-increasing amount of information that needed to be communicated to their employees. The multi-million dollar parts department realized that their parts business could also grow and expand with new technology. However, none of these departments had the budget approval to include additional headcount.

The staff at Wheeler knew that the chosen solution needed to have some basic requirements, which included 1) the ability to facilitate communication with employees and customers, 2) to allow secure access to data from any Internet connection, and 3) to leverage investment in current systems, mainly the AS/400. They knew that finding this solution was critical in improving customer satisfaction and providing a higher level of customer service at a lower cost per customer.

Solution

Wheeler evaluated several packages and ultimately chose webNetwork™ The low-cost webNetwork portal solution includes components for both external customers and internal employees.

The employee portal provides remote access to files and data so employees can work from anywhere, HR info with general benefit-related forms and personalized employee benefit info, automated conference room scheduling, and a telephone directory with integrated organization structure and employee pictures.

The customer portal provides access to information about rentals, payables, fluid analysis, credit limits and core returns. This portal replaced an expensive and unsafe custom VPN solution that each client had with Wheeler.

By adding more customer and employee self-service tools, Wheeler Machinery was able to dramatically grow their parts business while reducing headcount. The HR Department is able to publish documents and employee information without the added resource cost. Customer satisfaction has increased because they now have an easy point to access their specific information.