LMG is one of the top audio visual companies in the United States. Headquartered in Orlando, Florida its operations include Staging, Rentals and System Integration of audio visual equipment to businesses nationwide. LMG has additional locations in Las Vegas, Nevada and Tempe, Arizona and the Orange Convention Center, Orlando. They have over 140 employees and revenues of approximately $30 million.

LMG has been using Rentrace a DOS based system to track its inventory for over 15 years. The management of LMG understood that they would need to move over to a new system that could deliver better efficiencies to their operations.

Les M. Goldberg, the founder and president was a strong believer that technology could dramatically improve efficiency and profits. Making a wrong decision on business software was not an option - not only was there a large cost component involved but that it was strategically critical for the driving profitability and growth of the company.

FIRST STEPS: Developing the "Must Have" Criteria

A True Multi-Site Capability with one database for all locations. This was essential to be able to leverage the inventory and assets of the company.

A long term sustainable solution in terms of technology, direction and vendor’s track record.

A system that addressed all aspects of the business

Detailed evaluation of every solution that met the initial criteria.

Executives spent several days over multiple trips evaluating different offerings.

WHY LMG SELECTED R2 OVER OTHERS:

The only system that demonstrated a deep understanding of the industry with best practices. Clearly a company that had invested time and resources in understanding the business...

Real-time, Multi-user, Multi-location

Easy to use and train due the high volume of temporary staff

Intelligent to spot conflicts from potential overbooking of key assets

Web based ordering system different from standard “Shopping Cart” e-commerce solutions:

System needed to present an “available items catalogue” similar to a shopping cart with a difference that orders would be required at specific time and date for delivery and return as teams moved in and out of Olympic village.

Equipment would need to be re-used for next order; e.g. Television ordered for Team 1 would be finished with TV on the 12th and that TV could be QC’d and delivered to Team arriving on the 12th afternoon.

Interface to systems of telecommunication suppliers and other suppliers

Extremely small window for development of custom requirements, testing, and delivery; (system had to be up and fully tested one year prior to the games start).

OF SIGNIFICANT MENTION
Manual process for scheduling equipment and resources prior to and during the 2002 Winter Games.

Significant logistical problems arose when key equipment and tools were manually scheduled to be at the right venue at the right time.

This manual scheduling also caused double booking conflicts when multiple groups booked the same asset for the same time but at different venues.

Manual process for taking requests from visiting teams, journalists, and dignitaries who required the organizing committees to provide and arrange everything from accommodations, vehicles, telephones, etc. 

Once placed, these orders then needed to be communicated to participating vendors such as Hertz, ATT, Panasonic, etc.

Because these orders were largely manual and were often changed the % of incorrect orders and incorrect billing created a large deficit for previous Olympic Organizing Committee’s.

Previous games in Atlanta had attempted to automate process with JD Edwards but failed due to ERP systems inability to handle forward asset scheduling & associated logistics.

Scharff Weisberg Inc. (www.swinyc.com) is a provider of signature entertainment services to the highest profile events for clients that include the likes of Emeril Live, MTV, Ferrari and several Broadway shows.

 “Our reputation is our biggest asset”, says the company’s President, Josh Weisberg. “It has been built painstakingly over the years and thousands of events.”

Looking to replace its aging HITS system, the company evaluated R2 in 2001- and decided not to go with it. “At that time we felt that R2 had not come of age.” However, the system selected by Scharff-Weisberg did not perform as expected. After trying to make it work for two years, the company decided that they could no longer afford to risk their operational efficiency. Taking another look at R2, the company was pleasantly surprised to see how much R2 had come along and matured. R2 was implemented in the lighting division and was installed and operational in six weeks. According to Ben Saltzman, General Manager, “The contrast was remarkable. We were up and running without even the anticipated teething pains.”

One year down the road, Scharff-Weisberg decided to take R2 company-wide across all its divisions. Adds Ben, “We have seen a significant improvement in utilization already.”

Says Josh Weisberg, “It’s not just the software, but the company and people associated with R2 that made the difference. The system, as well as the people, brings a deep and well-thought understanding of the industry – and that makes a big difference.”

The visionary management of TLS saw an opportunity for exponential growth for the company by expanding the number of locations and managing the business with greater intelligence. “There are two parts to a business – the day-to-day operations and the long term strategic business planning. In our line of business it is critical to stay ahead of the curve and plan well for tomorrow. That means having the sophisticated intelligence and reports to manage investment decisions as well as operations”.

On the cards are more locations of TLS to service more customers and existing customers better. David Milly strongly believes that putting the processes and structure in place is the first step to growth. Else the growth is unmanageable. TLS chose R2 as the IT solution for their business and have rolled out the system. “ With its sophisticated reporting and multi-site capability R2 was the obvious choice. It will help us serve our customers better through improved real-time inventory control, utilization of assets as well as improved service and maintenance.”