Engel Metallurgical is a business founded in 1943 by Les Engel. Located in Sauk Rapids,
Minnesota, Engel Metallurgical specializes in product failure analysis, material evaluation, and material
engineering consultation. Their customers include a mix of large and small companies and law firms.
Providing advanced testing capabilities requires they have some of the most modern technology
available in order to provide their specific products to the marketplace. With laser focus paid to
providing state of the art capabilities to their customers, business supporting technology lost its edge in
functionality and security capabilities.
Engel’s back business office tools ran on antiquated technology. The platforms they used
provided little redundancy, no expandability, and had a high operating cost. On top of that, the custom
developed business office software platform required hardware which was difficult to find and harder to
maintain. The problem remained, even though there were many highly customizable ERP solutions
available, none were athletic enough or were provided at a reasonable cost.
Enter NetVPro, a technology company in St. Cloud, Minnesota founded by Paul Berndt. With a
strong presence in the system virtualization arena, large storage systems, and disaster recovery, this
company knew just what to do to help. NetVPro performed a technology assessment in order to better
understand what was in place and the corresponding business needs. After assessing the environment
and understanding the challenges Engel faced with their legacy application and equipment, NetVPro
developed a custom plan specifically designed to meet the specialized needs of a metallurgical business.
The NetVPro technology roadmap lays out implementation timelines and expected results which both
Engel and NetVPro use as a guide for the expansion and implementation of technical assets in their
business.
First, NetVPro migrated the company email away from a third-party system and implemented
Office 365. This gave the company the benefit and athleticism of the Cloud for storage and collaboration
as well as the entire Office suite of productivity applications. Next, NetVPro created a ground up custom
ERP system specific to the metallurgy and manufacturing industry. Finally, training and resources were
provided to flatten the learning curve for members and employees.
Through NetVPro’s work, wired and wireless communications were provided. Server
infrastructure was replaced which included backup capabilities and additional storage. The business
application was created on a web-based technology, allowing the Engel team to access work from a
simple browser interface. After the success of the initial application, NetVPro also created a wireless
interface using Windows 10 tablets. Finally work and data were no longer siloed.
Timing was fortuitous for Engel Metallurgical as everything was completed before COVID-19.
Because of this digital transformation, the Engel team was able to work from home without losing
efficiency or impacting productivity. Data was easily shared between Teams and collaboration was made
simple through the Cloud. Also, the new ERP system meant customers, vendors, and partners could all
receive the best possible support and service despite the global environment.
Said (CEO Les Engel), “Working with NetVPro took us from the dark ages to the present day. It
felt like we went from driving the Flintsones’ car to a bran- new Tesla, truly. We have not just
performance, but peace of mind. As a business leader, you want to put your team in the best position to
succeed. That means having the right people, partners, and tools in place and working together.
Without NetVPro we would be working just as hard as always but without the results we expect.”

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