IQMS Blog for Manufacturing ERP Expertise

Editor’s Note: Nicole Smith is the Marketing Associate at IQMS and this is part two of a three days series chronicling her experiences at User Group 2012 [Read part one here].

Today’s User Group 2012 schedule (#IQMSUG2012) was focused completely on the breakout sessions. At every User Group event, IQMS wants to be sure and offer the maximum benefits to our attendees, so back in February, we surveyed our customers to get feedback on what they wanted to see and discuss at this year’s event. Based on the responses, IQMS tailored the User Group sessions to feature the most popular survey subjects and modules.

Editor’s Note: Nicole Smith is the Marketing Associate at IQMS and this is her first User Group experience. Please join her over the next three days as she chronicles the exciting events occurring at User Group 2012!

Daniele Fresca and I began planning for User Group 2012 (#IQMSUG2012) more than a year ago and I can’t believe it is finally here! For those of you unfamiliar with the User Group experience, here are the details. Held every other year, IQMS User Group conferences are jam-packed, three day events featuring industry networking, best practice discussions and software development sessions. This year, more than 300 attendees from companies across North America are joining IQMS employees for our largest User Group conference yet.

Contrary to instinct, it’s more difficult to hire than it has been in years. It’s neither a buyer’s nor a seller’s market; hiring teams and qualified job seekers all have a lot of choices to make. They’re not the traditional choices. Hiring firms are evaluating applicants as the applicants evaluate them. Each side is evaluating what skills are transferable or applicable among diverse positions.

Every week, I'm involved in a conference call or meeting where a customer presents another interesting idea to IQMS’ Automation Department as an opportunity to extend our EnterpriseIQ manufacturing ERP system. In my first years at IQMS, anxious excitement would precede these types of calls, as well as a certain level of doubt as to how the project would come together, combined with little knowledge of how the other system worked and always a target completion date of yesterday. 

I recently watched a recap of an award show and pondered the true value of awards and public accolades. Granted, the award show I watched was not for the manufacturing industry, but I have been present at or privy to awards for IQMS, our employees, our clients and our partners, which begs the question: Is there value in receiving an award? My answer is a resounding YES!

As I wrote about several months ago, preparations have already begun for the IQMS User Group 2012 (#IQMSUG2012) event. In fact, we started planning this event when we were still double digit months away from the date. Time sure has flown! It is already summer and I can count on less than one hand the months that remain before we kick off another User Group. So, what have we been doing in preparation for the event and what can attendees expect?

At IQMS, we believe change is good. On that note, we are excited to introduce our shiny new website! Besides the obvious design overhaul, one of the largest improvements we made is a better reflection of the variety of manufacturing industries that IQMS serves. From automotive to stamping and molding to machining, IQMS assists nearly every manufacturing process at a global level.

IQMS is growing. This year, IQMS was selected by Inc. magazine as one of America’s fastest growing companies. We’ve also increased our staffing in all departments by at least 20 percent. Our projections indicate that much more growth is on the horizon.

IQMS had a record year in 2011, both in revenue and in the number of new customer licenses. IQMS' organic growth demonstrates that the demand for manufacturing ERP systems that meet customer expectations is going strong and further shows the continued acceptance of IQMS as a system of choice in the mid-market ERP software space. The expansion of IQMS' customer base in metals related manufacturing was a highlight, with three of our four largest ERP system sales occurring in the stamping industry.

As we approach the end of 2011, I thought it would be a good time to share some of the developments that have happened with the Professional Services Group at IQMS.