Executive Summary:
Global Protection is not an average distributor – certainly not since September 11, 2001 changed the way Americans think about homeland safety and security.

Started in 1998 by a trio of South Jersey business professionals, Global Protection since June 2003 is owned by Robert A. Lipinski, founder of Lipinski Landscape and Irrigation, Inc., and Millennium Land Development. The company's activities, growth and development are a reflection of the times in which we live – triple digit growth every year since 2001 and the same anticipated into the foreseeable future.

Global Protection offers First Responder protective gear which includes: Protective Suits, Gas Masks, and a variety of equipment used for protection against Chemical, Biological, and Nuclear threats. US government agencies, Police and Fire First responders, companies, and individuals rely on Global Protection to provide the leading products to protect against potential chemical warfare agents, biological warfare, and terrorist threats such as Anthrax, Smallpox, and Nerve Gas. The company also sells to the general public.

The Challenge:
The tragedies of September 11, 2001 escalated Global Protection to a whole new level of service and demand. The company, originally managed primarily by handwritten documents and a basic Quickbooks environment, saw an immediate need for better automation, higher administrative tracking performance to keep up with strenuous demand and customer service requirements and a more robust website capable of maintaining the companies as high as 3,000 civilian and military items per week.

"The company realized in 2001 that it was imperative that we deploy a more complex and sophisticated administrative system, capable of automating tasks for tracking, inventory, as well as provide us with a true platform to not only keep up with the demands for the company's triple digit growth but empower the company to expand," reports Lou Schiliro, director of operations at Global Protection.

The Solution:
With up to $1 million in sales during most weeks, Global Protection looked to Miles Technologies to automate the company's administrative processes, develop and deploy a custom software application to allow the company to revitalize its processes and bolster the company's Internet performance with a sophisticated website.

Miles Technologies is a Moorestown, NJ-based firm that prides itself on being a complete solutions provider that provides its clients with a single, tightly integrated system developed by the same team of skilled engineers from end-to-end. This "single source" approach saves Miles Technologies' clients, like Global Protection, time and money they would otherwise spend searching for multiple vendors to provide individual services.

Within a month of working with Global Protection's customized Miles Technologies solution and revamped Internet services in place, the company saw results. Operations were streamlined and more efficient, there was now in place an automated billing and accounting procedure, as well as better inventory tracking and fulfillment and the company's website was delivering at a higher capacity.

"As we grew, we saw the benefits of Miles Technologies more clearly – there were the initial improvements that were immediately noticed, including better inventory tracking and more streamlined account management, and then there were the bigger picture improvements," Schiliro states. "We saw we were going to be able to grow the company without adding any additional infrastructure costs and with minimal personnel additions – the system put our company online and eliminated a lot of future costs we were going to have to face to handle expansion and growth."

Schiliro states that, with Miles Technologies solution in place, Global Protection has been even more profitable and been able to more quickly respond to its customers. The company gets product in and out very quickly, and is saving money in the process by relying on a strong front- and back-end, integrated website system. Another benefit is flexibility, reports Schiliro. "We can maneuver and change our website ourselves, allowing us to make vital and immediate changes in products, pricing or availabilities. We are in control of all orders and order processing – our level of accountability and performance has become even higher, thanks to Miles Technologies."

As for Global Protection's future with its customized Miles application in place, Schiliro has no fears. "We see this new application as giving us the ability to continue our triple digit growth over the next several years," Schiliro reports. "We now have the strong internal foundation we need to position Global Protection for the growth we envision."