Key Takeaways
- The Dixie Group completed its 9.2 update in just 3.5 months.
- New 9.2 features are giving users more flexibility and are helping save time.
- This 9.2 upgrade will help the Dixie Group stay more current moving forward.
About the Dixie Group
The Dixie Group is a leading marketer and manufacturer of floorcovering products for higher-end residential and commercial customers. Some of their high-end customer projects include custom rugs for the White House and a putting green rug for Tiger Woods. Their products are marketed to domestic and international customers in the construction, replacement and retail markets. The Dixie Group consists of Masland Carpets, Fabrica International, Inc., Atlas Carpets and Dixie Home. The company’s global headquarters is in Dalton, Georgia.
The Dixie Group moved from SAP to JD Edwards 8.10 in 2006. The company later upgraded from 8.10 to 9.0 in 2012, and in 2016, they fully upgraded to 9.2 in just 3.5 months! Dixie Group runs on an IBM iSeries and upgraded to a new machine before the start of the project. They use the Financial, Distribution, Purchasing, HR and Payroll modules with 230 JD Edwards users and 3 IT personnel. The goal with 9.2 is to stay more current.
Visit the Dixie Group’s Website
What do your users like about the 9.2 upgrade?
Users love the Composite pages we’re using for Receiving and Purchasing. They are easy to create, they speed up entry, and it gives them visibility to the process flow.
They also like the grid personalization. It’s great because it saves IT from having to write customizations because end users can change the grid themselves. This saves them time, and it gives them more flexibility and the ability to import data more easily. It’s nice to be able to organize and rearrange favorites, drag and drop, and rename and label folders. Standardizing grids and pages per role has also streamlined processes for users.
What are the benefits of 9.2 that your company has noticed?
One of the biggest benefits we’ve realized with 9.2 is the new BI Publisher templates and the BIP packs. We were already using a third-party solution, but it was becoming too time-consuming to make changes to the documents. We needed an easier way to distribute and print invoices, checks and payroll checks. So, we eliminated our third-party solution provider, which saved us considerable cost. The new forms are easy to use by all levels of employees. Reporting is also easier, and the process is streamlined.
Do you have any tips or best practices for other customers?
You should talk to third-party providers before beginning the upgrade project to ensure that their product is 9.2 ready. It’s also helpful to engage as many team members as possible for testing.
What is the next step for the Dixie Group?
Moving forward, the Dixie Group wants to implement watchlists, form personalizations, mobility features, and single sign-on.
“Our users love E1 pages and grid personalization in 9.2 and the new BI Publisher standard form layouts have saved a lot of time and headaches for us as a company.”
-Angie Cornelison, Financial Systems Administrator, The Dixie Group