Key Benefits
- Faster, seamless acquisitions
- Expanded capabilities without extra headcount
- Global operational consistency
- Improved decision-making with real-time insights
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Process manufacturer ICP Group creates specialty coatings, adhesives, and sealants for the construction market. Through a blend of acquisition and organic expansion, they’ve grown rapidly. Located in Boston, Massachusetts, and with operations spanning the US, the UK, the Dominican Republic, and Canada, ICP faced the increasingly complex challenge of unifying processes across a global footprint. Supporting that growth and the operational consistency to sustain the company was the challenge of Mark Gertge the VP of IT Application. For ICP and Mark, an exceptional technology partner was essential.
Scaling Fast
As the company regularly acquired other organizations, ICP repeatedly faced the daunting task of folding these new organizations into their existing structure. Different teams, different workflows, and different systems needed to be brought into alignment quickly and efficiently.
ICP’s internal IT team was lean and didn’t have the bandwidth to tackle all these projects alongside the day to day operations. They needed a technology partner who could not only help at a moment’s notice but also deliver deep expertise and professionalism to keep integrations on track.
Building Trust
Gertge shares, “When I came to work for the company 6.5 years ago, we already had a great relationship with Arris. I heard great things about them when I came in as the Director of IT.” With Gertge’s guidance, Arris continued to be a trusted extension of ICP, providing a dependable, close-knit team that could support a wide range of unique initiatives.
“Arris knows process manufacturing, which was not my skill set when I started within the organization,” he says. “They know all the different ways to apply all of the different products that we own.”
Augmented Expertise
Rather than hiring costly consultants, ICP leveraged Arris to augment its internal capabilities. “To be able to take their professionalism and my experience and be able to augment the time that I have and bandwidth that I have and be able to choose the projects that fit their expertise,” Gertge shares.
ICP’s IT team has a strong set of expertise, but Arris was able to bring in their additional knowledge, so ICP didn’t have to hire team members or private consultants to add the expanded experience that ICP needed.
Seamless Acquisitions
Gertge trusted Arris to play a hands-on role, whether it was bringing a new division onto Sage 500 or managing timelines.
“The business would decide to buy another company and bring them into our accounting system and Arris Consulting would be there every step of the way to help us identify what would be required, help us with data, modeling, master data alignment and also define their processes,” says Gertge.
“They’re always willing to step in and make sure that we can hit those really aggressive timelines,” says Gertge. One stand out example he highlighted, “A couple of years ago, we had a project for one of our divisions that we brought on, and Arris Consulting was able to help us with the manufacturing and all the distribution and financials, and be able to implement that company in a really aggressive timeline. We were able to implement it successfully in just under four months, from start to finish.”
With Arris’ help, ICP was able to consistently get the insight it needed from financials and reporting, no matter the transitions or project.
“Because of the partnership with Arris Consulting, we’ve been able to acquire companies more quickly and bring them into the organization. We’ve been able to get the master data and all the financial information into the system so that the executive team can make key decisions quickly because of the aggressive timelines,” shares Gertge.
Driving Project Success
Gertge credits Arris for helping accelerate growth and project success. “I know that we have been able to implement more and go live with more projects because of them.”
He continues, “Working with them has been very beneficial because we can keep our team lean and accomplish all the projects that are given to us without having to worry about being able to deliver on time and on budget. We were able to reduce our team from a team of five people down to two people because of having them as a reliable resource who know our processes as well as we do at this point because of the long outstanding relationship that we’ve had with them.”
With limited bandwidth, having a technology partner like Arris, who understands both the business and the process, has been key in keeping projects moving efficiently with minimal oversight.
“The biggest resource constraint that we have is time. We can explain the project to them, they can just take it from there and get it to the finish line, reaching out if there are decision points that need to be made, but they understand the process, and they understand the business. It just makes it invaluable to be able to work with them,” says Gertge.
Making You the MVP
When talking about the Arris’ team, Gertge remarked that Jeff made him feel like he was “the best VP of IT out there”.
He explains, “I know Jeff and Steve on a personal level because of how much they care about our business. They didn’t treat us as just another client. I felt like a lot of times, we were their only client, and they would make it a focus to make sure that we were taken care of. They always made time for us and are willing to do whatever to help our organization succeed.”
ICP has been able to tap into a wide range of resources at Arris. “Jeff, Steve, and Youdao are experts in Sage 500. When we have a project, they work with us and share their expertise,” states Gertge.
A Trusted Extension
Arris unified so closely with ICP’s IT operations that they were able to work directly within their support ticketing system, solving issues and advancing initiatives alongside internal staff. He highlights how Arris’ rapport and project management skills made a real difference for them.
Users know them and love to work with them. It makes it so that we can step out and let the project continue to get done without having to micromanage the project, and they’ve been able to come in and use their project management skills to ensure that the projects get to the finish line.”
This level of collaboration created a smooth experience, built trust across the organization, and gave Gertge more time for value-added work.
“As the VP of IT Applications, it’s hard to manage a team and be in the business. With Arris, I’m able to work on more tactical and more strategic projects and be able to hand off some of the different projects to Arris Consulting, freeing up my time to work on the business rather than in the business,” he explains.
From Insight to Impact
That personal, invested relationship translated into real business results. “We were able to fully leverage the software because of their expertise. Even me, being around the software for most of my career, there are still things that I was able to learn from them because of their skill set within O2 process manufacturing, and because of their tribal knowledge we were able to incorporate a lot more benefits of the software and fully leverage it,” he explains.
Changes could be felt at every level, with dashboards and real-time reporting. Gertge shares, “Executives can make real-time decisions because of having accurate real-time information. That’s vital in a business like ours, where minor discrepancies could cause our organization and our executive team to make bad decisions.”
A Transformative Technology Partner
Working with Arris was impactful. “It’s the whole package that you get in working with them – it’s vital. If you’re on the fence, definitely reach out to them. It’s a good opportunity. Plus, the passion that they have for the software, whether it’s Acumatica or Sage 500. They have the passion, and if they don’t know the answer, they’ll find out for you to make sure that you’re successful. Their overall goal is to make your organization, and whatever role you play in that organization, successful,” says Gertge.
He adds, “Rather than being a number, you feel like they’re a member of the team. It’s been really good to work with them in that aspect.”
Today, the Arris team can be felt in every corner. Acquisitions are brought in with minimal disruption. Global teams are aligned under consistent, efficient processes, and IT can focus on driving innovation and strategic initiatives, knowing they have a reliable, professional technology partner.
Gertge concludes, “It’s been really good to work with them, and I look forward to continuing to work with them in the future.”