Although there are some people who would disagree, most of us believe that Chicago is home to the best handmade, deep dish pizza in the world. Of course, being the owner of a restaurant serving such fare, Rick Malnati decided that no one should be denied access to his tempting pies. So, in 1988 he decided to offer overnight shipments during a special Christmas promotion.

"The promotion was a big hit," said Sally Glunz, Co-Priority Pizza Manager along with Didi Sappington at Lou Malnati's in Northbrook, Illinois. Within a year, Malnati's started accepting orders and shipping pizzas overnight once a week.

Wondering if they could grow the business even further, Malnati's invested in a full-scale advertising campaign during the 1993 Christmas season. The idea caught on around the country, and Lou Malnati's Priority Pizza (also called 1-800-LOU-TO-GO) was born. Today, the company employs six people on a regular basis and up to 45 during their busy seasons -- Christmas and Valentine's Day.

As the Priority Pizza division became more sophisticated, so did its systems. Sappington said they started out handwriting the whole order process. Then they "upgraded" to entering the orders into a computer so they could print labels. "It took a lot of man-hours," she added. In 1995 the company's leaders started looking into a better system. Malnati's consultant, Jensen IT, a local reseller, recommended Compaq after Malnati's decided on their order-processing software. Jensen IT designed and implemented the system using a Compaq Prosignia Server, Compaq desktops, Novell Netware®, a customized direct mail program, and overnight shipping software.

"I'd heard of Compaq's good reputation before the sale," said Glunz, but only after the sale did she fully understand its speed, quality, and reliability.

"We could process orders in half the time," added Sappington, describing the difference Compaq made. The speed of verifying information and checking ZIP codes helped reduce errors, too.

With Compaq, Malnati's could handle 25 percent more orders using the same number of employees. And they expanded the number of hours in which an order could be accepted for next-day delivery.

"Our computers are up and running all the time, 24/7," said Glunz. There were also plenty of intangible benefits, Glunz explained. "Now we can get our pizzas to more people."

Sappington also defined their Compaq support as "number one. You call, and you can really get through."

Lou Malnati's Priority Pizza is now the world's largest overnight pizza shipper. Of course, Compaq can't take all the credit -- maybe the made-in-Chicago, mouthwatering, old family recipe plays a part.