The amplifier for a recent product was designed and engineered in Tempe while the speakers and box were designed in Grand Rapids. With the ability to share information early in the development process, an average of 10 rounds of design revisions has been reduced to one or two. The extranet is also improving channel performance by providing dealers with fast access to information without regard to time zones and office hours. Rockford sales staff, who manage the channels, are more productive because they don't have to constantly install new software on their laptop computers. The information they access is more current because IT can now update databases and applications weekly or daily if necessary by simply installing the update once on the Web server.
Users simply use their Web browser for immediate access.
With this scalable solution, Rockford is able to extend extranet participation from its core group of 25 manufacturing representatives to all 1200 dealers and 30 international distributors. Future Plans Rockford plans to extend its extranet to encompass suppliers. On its intranet, Rockford is investigating IP multicasting for delivering training videos, which can help speed product rollouts and cut costs by eliminating the need for trainers to travel to all sites. The company plans to take its public Internet site beyond publishing information, to provide interactive applications that give customers secure access to the same valuable information available today to the company's employees and partners. Rockford also wants to explore ways to improve customer support using advanced multimedia applications, such as video phone connections.