Park Assist: Case Study

Park Assist is a business intelligence technology company that utilizes cameras to enhance the efficiency and profitability of parking facilities through guidance, license plate recognition, surveillance, and its proprietary premium parking feature. After being acquired and realizing double digit growth YOY, the company required a leap forward in mission critical technology.

“After the acquisition, it was clear the existing ERP system we had in place was no longer adequate,” says Gary Neff, chief executive officer at Park Assist. “As part of a publicly-traded company, we needed to bring our automation and processes up-to-speed to remain in compliance with corporate mandates. Our business had doubled in size over the previous two years and we were expecting more growth, so it was important to have a strong foundation moving forward.”

Neff retained NeuEon and leveraged the firm’s comprehensive Technology Selection Process (TSP) service to determine the best enterprise resource planning (ERP) system for Park Assist. A requirements-driven methodology and proprietary decision support tool, the TSP helps businesses evaluate vendors, validate solutions and select those that best meet specific requirements.

Defining System Requirements

“NeuEon identified and scoped out requirements and then ran the request for proposal process,” says Neff. “They also helped us negotiate with the vendor, acquire the application, and then went one step further and provided a project manager to represent our interests to help our team deploy the program.”

While Park Assist had a good idea of which features and functionality were important in a new ERP system, NeuEon’s TSP helped the company drill down and get specific. “NeuEon did an incredible job and helped us get much more granular and validated those requirements before we made a big investment,” says Neff. “It wasn’t simply an interview and making some suggestions. They really dug in deep. They went to several of our offices, including Sydney, Australia, to understand our processes, how we work and what we needed.”

After completing the requirements analysis, NeuEon identified six potential ERP vendors. This group was narrowed down to three who could best meet Park Assist’s needs. Because Park Assist manages many manufacturing processes, the ability to track projects effectively was a key requirement. In addition, the company has clients in 20 countries and six global offices, so robust foreign currency and advanced logistics capabilities were also critical.

“All three final vendors had a lot of similarities. The one we chose has a strong focus on logistics and project management and that help swing it in their favor,” explains Neff. “It came down to our comfort with them and how they handled project management and training. The current ERP system at the time was a close second.

Business Benefits

Neff praises how NeuEon’s TSP helped the company move forward quickly and make the right decision. “How NeuEon weighted requirements and their recommendations were right on the mark, which made it really easy for us to make a logical decision,” says Neff. “We’re now nine months into the process and coming online with various components of the ERP system and everything NeuEon suggested or identified is materializing as they said it would.”

Neff also believes bringing in a proven, outside expert was a big advantage. “Working with NeuEon was quicker and more effective than trying to run the same process in house,” says Neff. “In just two months, NeuEon went from discussion to vendor selection and acquisition.”

NeuEon also helped Park Assist during the negotiation and acquisition phase. “NeuEon really understands how hard you can push a vendor on price and what could be negotiated,” says Neff. “I think I could have negotiated a 5-10% discount on my own, but NeuEon helped us gain another 15% for a combined overall discount of about 25%.”

While cost savings are important, Neff believes NeuEon’s real value is the quality of their process. “The real value for us is that NeuEon got the project done right in two months,” says Neff. “Our ERP system is a substantial investment that will be the foundation of our business and that’s why we brought in NeuEon.”