Pierce Chemicals Royal Bond, Inc., occupies an unusual market niche. As the nation’s second largest manufacturer of embalming chemicals, they serve as a comprehensive supplier for funeral homes, selling machinery, instruments, and memorial products like registration books and acknowledgement cards-everything, in fact, except for clothing and caskets.
After decades of tracking its manufacturing processes with manual techniques, Executive Vice President Maureen Julian decided in 1999 that it was time to automate. She selected BatchMaster for DOS. The company was so pleased with the software’s performance that it upgraded to a Sage PFW ERP system in 2004, switching over all of its financials to the new system as well.
“Before, we carried around little notebooks containing formula sheets for the various embalming products we make,” says Debbie Baker, administrative assistant. “Sage PFW dramatically improved both controls and efficiency throughout the company.”
No More Inventory Guesswork
Pierce Chemicals uses Sage PFW to manage its order entry, purchasing, inventory, formulas, payables, receivables, labeling, and shipping processes. Sage PFW tracks the raw chemicals, bottles, caps, labels, boxes, and box labels used in manufacturing, and issues batch tickets based on the formula and materials on hand.
“One of the biggest improvements we’ve seen from Sage PFW is a reduction in inventory levels,” says Baker. “We previously relied primarily on guesswork to determine if we had enough materials on hand to run an order. We also didn’t know for sure how much of each formula ingredient would be required. Now, because Sage PFW integrates the order, formula; and inventory modules, we know exactly what is in the warehouse, and have trimmed our inventory.”
Quicker Order Fulfillment
Pierce Chemicals is also pleased that turnaround time on orders is much faster with the new system. “We used to spend up to five days getting out an order,” Baker explains. “Now we can provide same-day delivery most of the time. Our customers, of course, are delighted.”
“We used to spend up to five days getting out an order. Now we can provide same-day delivery most of the time. Our customers, of course, are delighted.”
The speedy turnaround time was made possible, in part, by printing orders directly from Sage PFW in the shipping department. “Instead of someone in the head office printing out an order and walking it over to shipping, the paperwork goes straight to the appropriate shipping group, which might be here in Texas or in California,” Baker notes. “This has allowed us to increase the volume of orders we handle without adding shipping staff.”
Baker frequently uses the reporting features in the Order Entry Pro module. She prepares analyses on total sales, sales by customer, ship-to locations, commissions, and comparisons between the current and previous years.
Awesome Accountability
“Another thing I like about Sage PFW is being able to see who has done what on an order,” Baker explains. “It tells me who to ask about different functions, so we can tighten up internal accountability, which is essential for strict quality control. We also can make notations about customers in Sage PFW, recording things like shipping preferences, and bringing up the information when they call to place an order. This makes a big difference in strengthening relationships with customers.”
Pierce Chemicals plans on sticking with Sage PFW throughout the foreseeable future. “Each upgrade definitely brings improvements in the product,” comments Baker. “It’s hard to imagine right now, but I know they’ll make Sage PFW even better with new versions that come out down the road.”
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