Tulalip Hits the Jackpot with IBM and Infor

Tulalip Gaming Organization (Tulalip) is owned by Tulalip Tribes, a federally recognized group of Native American Indian tribes located on the Tulalip Reservation in the mid-Puget Sound area of Washington State. The casinos are one of the many business enterprises earning revenue to support the tribal services on the reservation. The Tribes' Tulalip Bingo, Tulalip Casino, and Quil Ceda Creek Casino will entertain and serve six million guests this year. The organization also will soon open a full-service hotel that will feature a spa and convention space.

Unhappy with its original choice of solution provider, managers, and department heads were weighed down in paper financial reports that took days to produce and distribute. To remain consistently competitive, they needed to consolidate data from their business operations into a single chart of accounts, achieving realtime financial visibility. In addition, Tulalip has to comply with state and federal regulations, while also answering to the Tribal Gaming Agency, an arm of the tribe that monitors the casinos.

“The gaming industry is very competitive and getting more so," explains Judy Hartley, Controller, Tulalip Gaming Organization. "More casinos are opening around us all the time, so the more information we have about our business, and the faster we get it, the better.”

Tulalip chose Infor FMS Infinium software running on the System i hardware platform. The joint IBM/Infor solution has a strong reputation in the gaming industry. “We were looking for a system that was more in the realm of reporting for gaming,” said Judy Hartley, Tulalip's controller. “We were getting the word that Infor FMS Infinium was used by the majority of casinos on the Las Vegas strip. We heard that their software was highly conducive to gaming reporting, was very user-friendly, and that the support was extremely good.”

The IBM and Infor solution provides Tulalip decision-makers with critical information faster, so they can make sound staffing, capital expenditure, and other strategic business decisions faster. “Infor FMS Infinium is allowing our directors to get into a more proactive stance, not reactive,” Hartley says. "In the past, our financials came out in paper form and directors and managers were getting their numbers when we closed the books, and in the worst case scenario, that was 30 days out. Now that our information is online, managers can review it as the month progresses, and we're closing the books in half the time. And the system allows us to send it through PDF, so our reports look much nicer compared to what we had with our old system."

With plans for the addition of a new hotel, Hartley says it was crucial to find a solution that easily integrates with other hospitality systems. “Regardless of what hotel system we choose, we have full faith that it will interface with Infor FMS Infinium,” she says. “It's open to anything, not just the addition of the hotel. Adding more departments, companies, and divisions into the system is also very easy.”

Since the original implementation, Tulalip has added Infor FMS Infinium modules that include Cashbook, Accounts Receivable, HR, and Payroll. The organization also plans to implement Infor FMS Infinium Daily Analysis, an integrated operations analysis and reporting solution built specifically for the hospitality industry. Daily Analysis will help Tulalip consolidate data from disparate systems, such as the organization's gift shop and food and beverage systems, into a single source data mart providing a total picture of business performance on a daily basis. This will give the casinos more insight into trends, so smarter decisions regarding staffing and other planning issues can be made.