Executive Summary

The Fanatic Group made a successful transition to NetSuite working with MIBAR.net.

Businesses rarely like to switch their ERP software. Yet, The Fanatic Group, a NJ based printer of licensed sports branded products such as mugs, water bottles, and keychains, did so twice, in a five year period.

After a successful implementation of Microsoft Dynamics GP, working with MIBAR, The Fanatic Group was in a position to start building on their initial implementation with new functionality. EDI, CRM, Lite Manufacturing, and WMS were all new initiatives they began to evaluate. However, integrating these separate applications with Dynamics GP became an expensive proposition. Instead of building bridges to invest in a legacy platform, The Fanatic Group made a bold move: invest in NetSuite. NetSuite’s fluid UI, its ease of integration, its unified CRM and ERP capabilities, and its ease of customization to meet Fanatic’s manufacturing requirements made it an attractive choice to move this business into the cloud.

For this implementation, however, Fanatic engaged MIBAR in what came to be known as “The Grand Experiment”. True to the nature of a platform, Fanatic decided to begin licensing NetSuite with only 2 users – one for Fanatic, and one for MIBAR. Instead of investing in all the infrastructure for an ERP up front, they licensed two users and began working with MIBAR on process model sessions right away.

Over the next few months, Brian Matthews, Fanatic’s new COO, worked with our team to articulate his vision for the platform. Fanatic needed custom records built to manage royalties they owed to the agencies representing the various colleges and sports teams for which they made licensed products. They needed a production management system, in order to make inventory to order, store it in the warehouse, and then pick when the order was ready. They needed guidance on ordering raw materials with long overseas lead times.

After reviewing all the requirements, MIBAR led Fanatic through these process model sessions, articulating our vision for the implementation and all the various trade offs required in order to meet the system requirements within our budget and timeframe. Afterwards, MIBAR proceeded to implement the system, importing data, training users on the process, and assisting with the go-live on the new system.

Today, Fanatic runs a successful operation with NetSuite. They are able to build new integrations easily with the platform, with Walmart and Amazon in the works. They have greater insight into orders in production, and are able to keep orders shipping, especially during peak seasons. With NetSuite, The Fanatic Group is able to run an agile business that meets the demands of today’s marketplace.

Benefits

MIBAR.net successfully implemented the NetSuite solution with predictable results and quick time to value, a testament to their proven methodologies, industry experience, and impeccable attitude toward client satisfaction.