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Solution Overview
Client Profile
Chicago-based Lakeshore Athletic Clubs is one of the nation's leading full service health clubs. Founded in 1972, LAC has over 16,000 members today. They operate five facilities in the Chicago area, as well as clubs in Indiana, Colorado, California and London.
Challenge
Plans for rapid growth were hindered by an outdated financial system that included separate databases for each club. This lack of integration meant company leaders could not access company-wide information, accounting processes were outdated, and customer service was often hampered.
Solution
In less than nine months, Business Productivity Solutions implemented a Microsoft Business Solutions system that allows LAC's financial decision makers instant access to company-wide data. Based on Microsoft Solomon software, the solution implemented by BPS streamlined accounting process, gave improved visibility into organizational performance, and helped to enhance customer service. Most importantly, the solution provided a solid basis for future expansion and growth.
Lakeshore Athletic Club
Disparate Facilities, Consolidated Information
While many industries drive to consolidate to a few locations, health club organizations that offer many locations have an edge.
Lakeshore Athletic Club, with several top flight facilities and more in the planning stage, had positioned itself as an industry leader and was poised for growth.
But an outdated business information infrastructure stood in the way of future expansion, hurting customer service and making simple accounting processes a chore.
Facilities had to write checks to each other to reconcile accounts, and customers could only pay at their home club. Worse, customers were often denied admission to other facilities for days until payment information was distributed company-wide.
"We couldn't share information"
The root of the problem was a financial system that included six unconnected AS400 servers, each containing the database for the facility where it resided. While customer approval of the state-of-the-art fitness facilities set the stage for growth, the lack of an integrated business management solution put expansion in peril.
Vice President of Finance and Administration Ed Barry knew business information had to be managed before business expansion could occur. "Here we were building a club in London and adding a new facility in Evanston, Illinois and Broomfield, Colorado. Yet clubs couldn't share information and we relied on a once-a-year audit for a consolidated financial statement." Furthermore, LAC had no email system and was spending money unnecessarily simply to move documents between facilities.
A Clear Picture Across the Entire Organization
BPS designed and implemented a Business Management Solution that has streamlined financial processes, improved customer service, cut company costs and enabled LAC to instantly access financial data across the entire organization.
"Overnight we went from being a company that was blind, except for once a year, to a company that has integrated operations with intelligent data and fluid communications that extend as far as London," says Barry.
The BPS solution is based on a centralized server environment with one server location in Illinois to serve facilities throughout the United States and another for the London site. Both locations utilize Windows 2000 Active Directory, SQL 2000 Servers, Exchange 2000 Servers (with Outlook Web Access) and Windows 2000 Servers with Terminal Services & Citrix Metaframe. All sites connect to the centralized environment utilizing 100% thin client technology over a dedicated high speed WAN. A VPN solution is in place for remote users to have 24/7 access to the system
Microsoft Business Solutions-Solomon was chosen as the foundation for the system because it met LAC's solution requirements for Multi-Company Accounting, Multi-Currency Accounting, Accounts Payable, Project Costing, Payroll and Consolidated Financial Web Based Reporting. Solomon's robust customization tools and transaction import integration tools provided the bridge to a Microsoft SQL Server based membership system. In addition, the organization deployed an integrated Microsoft Exchange 2000, Microsoft Office and Microsoft Publisher solution.
"Thanks to BPS and the Microsoft Business Solutions-Solomon system, we have the infrastructure we need to pursue a strategy of growth and acquisition. We can make better decisions, we're controlling costs and we're providing better service to our members." Barry added.
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