Sometimes the best way to answer that type of question is with a case study.
We recently met with a new prospect – a steel distributor – who wanted to add a new location but couldn’t grow with their the current technology.
They were running on an old DOS-based accounting system that is no longer supported by any vendor or consultant. Over time, their processes had grown extremely inefficient – manual data entry and re-entry and tracking a good deal of critical operational information in spreadsheets. And, if you are old enough to remember DOS, you know you can't have multiple screens open, so many of the things we take for granted today, like cutting and pasting from one application to another, could not be done.
When you distribute steel, you have to track a lot of information on each lot, which is very time consuming. In addition, the company keeps detailed notes on each customer and shipment – all of it tracked and associated manually. Again, very time consuming as well as error prone.
So our goal in working with this company was to gain efficiencies that offer growth opportunities with no additional employees at the corporate office and to put in a system that can grow with them.
What we proposed was a Sage 100 solution. Sage 100 offers:
- fully integrated shipping and invoicing
- all of their information in a single database where all employees can see it
- access to their information on mobile devices
- a fully integrated customer relationship management system
- alerts to assist with communication
- automation
- an organized interface for their order process
Many times we become accustomed to the way we have been doing business, and forget – or don’t know – that a better way may be available. To learn about new options available to you, contact Oates & Company today.
