CapsCanada: No Bitter Pills With Sage PFW
We started our company with the understanding that Sage PFW would be our foundation.” Dale Martin, CFO of CapsCanada Corporation, had many years experience using Sage PFW financial software’s predecessors. The parent company of CapsCanada had used the DOS version predecessor to the Sage PFW process manufacturing software since its inception. So Sage PFW ERP was the only system he considered when the Windsor-area capsule manufacturer was spun off as its own entity in 2001. “Our only issue was locating a Sage business partner nearby,” explains Martin. “Fortunately, we found one of the most competent and knowledgeable resellers in all of Canada. Their partnership has been a key ingredient in our system’s success.”
Automated Formulas and Inventory
CapsCanada makes the two-piece hard gelatin capsules used by pharmaceutical, health, and nutritional manufacturers. Most of its orders require special colors, sizes, and specific logos or terminology printed on the capsule itself. It uses Sage PFW to enter new orders, set up formulas for production, generate production tickets, code dye solutions for correct coloration, track lot numbers, release material from inventory, close batches when they are finished, move product from work-in-process to finished goods, and release products for shipping.
“Sage PFW gives us full access to information on inventory, and is infinitely better than the manual tracking systems I’ve used in the past,” Martin says. “We can make wise and timely decisions about when to move inventory from one warehouse to another.” He estimates that CapsCanada is able to carry 10 percent less inventory because of the accuracy and efficiency in Sage PFW.
Happier Customers
When manufacturing is finished, Sage PFW notifies the customer service group of product availability, who then prepares shipping documents. The software also generates invoices from the order entry system. “If customers have questions about their order, we can provide answers immediately by clicking onto Sage PFW,” Martin notes. “Overall, the software eliminates paperwork and frees up a great deal of time, which we can spend with customers, increasing our customer satisfaction rates.”
“Sage PFW reduces our total production time by at least 25 percent. It trims the time from receiving an order to putting the order in production by about 20 percent.”
Because CapsCanada sells to the United States, Europe, Israel, and Mexico, in addition to Canada, it uses the Multi-Currency Manager module. This makes it easier to convert funds quickly, prepare company-wide financial reports, and pave the way for further expansion in international markets.
Total Traceability
“Our products are classified as drugs or food products,” says Martin. “That means we are very closely regulated. It’s essential that we be able to account for the contents of every batch. Sage PFW automatically documents everything, for full lot traceability.”
CapsCanada has enjoyed stellar growth, increasing production capabilities by 250 percent, and tripling its employee base in less than two years. Much of the credit, Martin believes, goes to its software. “Sage PFW reduces our total production time by at least 25 percent,” he states. “It trims the time from receiving an order to putting the order in production by about 20 percent. And the financial and manufacturing sides of the product integrate so seamlessly that sometimes we forget which one we’re using.”
Martin has as much praise for his Sage business partner as for Sage PFW itself. “I can’t say enough good things about our reseller,” raves Martin. “They can get their arms around almost any technical issue, and have had the patience to help us persevere through implementation until our employees experienced the benefits of the software. Best of all, if we come up with a question, they’ll come up with an answer - and even tap into our system remotely to do off-site troubleshooting. What more could anybody want?”
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