Cornwell Quality Tools relies on Sikich Managed Services to host and manage business critical applications and modernize its business management technology with Microsoft Dynamics 365. A virtual CIO from Sikich helps Cornwell plan its technology roadmap. For the foreseeable future, Cornwell will continue the collaboration with Sikich, which has already lasted 25 years.
Cornwell Quality Tools manufactures top-quality tools and tool storage cabinets used by automobile dealerships, repair shops, and aviation and marine mechanics and maintenance services to repair vehicles, aircraft, and ships. The family- and employee-owned company, founded in 1919, has its headquarters in Wadsworth, Ohio, and two manufacturing facilities in nearby Mogadore and Van Werth.
Cornwell distributes its products through a large franchise network of over 680 independent dealers. In their territories, these dealers drive branded Cornwell Quality Tools trucks to visit their customers on regular routes. They take orders, handle financial transactions, and take care of any warranty and service concerns. Cornwell is highly committed to the success of its dealers and wants to make it easy for them to conduct business. For that purpose, the company developed the Ironman Business Network (IBN), a mobile software application that dealers use every day to replenish their inventory, manage their finances and budgets, and grow their business.
Until the mid-1990s, Cornwell ran its operations on mainframe computers with custom-developed programs written in Cobalt. Then, when more usable software, PCs, and simpler business networks became available, the company transitioned to the new technologies. Mickey Charlton, CIO at Cornwell Quality Tools, explains, “We didn’t have the skills for personal computing in-house. We partnered with Sikich. They consulted with us and helped us implement a PC network using Microsoft Office products.”
When ERP systems became manageable and practical for businesses outside of large enterprises, Cornwell worked with Sikich to adopt Microsoft Dynamics AX as its business management solution. Now that ERP systems are cloud-ready and mobile-optimized, Sikich is assisting Cornwell with moving its data and processes to Microsoft Dynamics 365 Finance and Supply Chain Management in the cloud.
As a mobile application, IBN allows dealers to take care of business in their trucks, no matter whether they have connectivity or not. The software reconnects and updates inventory, transactions, and activities whenever connectivity is available. When Cornwell first launched the application, it ran on servers managed and hosted by a service provider. The company called on Sikich to help as it realized that it was preferable to make a switch away from that hosting service.
“Sikich felt that Azure was more reliable and would be a more robust host for those services,” Charlton explains. “With their assistance, we moved all of the database servers to Azure.” Sikich rearchitected IBN with serverless SQL Server technology and optimized for the web, so it could run with extreme reliability and responsiveness on the Azure platform.
Since the Azure migration, the Sikich IT Managed Services organization hosts, monitors, and maintains IBN for Cornwell. Charlton comments, “We have 680 dealers who rely on that system to back up their data and get current information. I sleep much better at night, knowing that Sikich is monitoring it and I don’t have to worry about it.”
A virtual CIO (vCIO) from Sikich helps Cornwell plan its technology and take advantage of solutions that can help the company as it grows, expands its product portfolio, and supports more dealers and customers. “Sikich knows our strategic plans, and they’re able to suggest technology,” Charlton says. “That is beneficial to us because I don’t have time to keep up with it.”When Cornwell consistently experienced record growth in recent years, Sikich helped the company focus on the business and introduce new technology at the right time. “Areas such as EDI, networking, or virtual networks—you just can’t keep up with that stuff without somebody like Sikich assisting you with their skill set.”
For Charlton and Cornwell Quality Tools, the engagement with Sikich is strategic and open-ended. “We’ve got a long relationship with Sikich and they’ve been excellent partners of ours. They’ve got my back in a lot of areas. They’re consistent. They’re professional. They’re reliable. So it’s just been a great relationship,” he concludes.
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