Sage North America announced yesterday that Net at Work received the 2010 Top Five Award designated for Sage Software’s most successful partners.
Net at Work ranked #2 on this elite group of 5 and was also awarded Sage Chairman’s Club and President’s Circle status, a level of distinction for exceptional Sage business partners.
Blog
ERP
Net at Work Named to the 2010 Sage Software Top Five, Chairman’s Club and President’s Circle
Distribution / Manufacturing
ERP
21 Aug 2019
Project Spotlight: Brick It Selects Net at Work and Sage X3 ERP as Part of its Framework for Success
Like many growing manufacturing companies, Brick It had outstripped the capabilities of its older accounting software and needed a solution that provided a combination of broad distribution and deep manufacturing capabilities.
Brick It manufactures and distributes an innovative grid system allowing contractors and even home owners to build their own thin brick walls using user-friendly installation parts and a large variety of brick colors and sizes. The company holds five patents on its proprietary technology, and its products adorn restaurants, shopping malls, retail stores and homes around the globe. As Brick It began laying the foundation for its future growth and expansion, it selected Net at Work and Sage X3 as part of its framework for success.
The company has experienced a meteoric growth between 12 and 20 percent annually for the past several years, and quickly outstripped the capabilities of its older accounting software. “We started with QuickBooks, and later moved to Sage 300,” recalls Robert Dolinski, Managing Member of Brick It. “We recognized we needed robust manufacturing capabilities that were missing from our old system, so we began evaluating new ERP solutions.”
Brick It looked at solutions from Oracle, SAP and Sage, and ultimately selected Sage X3. “The Oracle rep considered us too small to bother with and SAP seemed overcomplicated for our needs,” says Dolinski. “We had worked with Sage before, and Sage X3 perfectly suited our business needs while still being easy to use and quick to implement.”
With Sage X3, the company’s transformation has been nothing short of remarkable. Previously, Brick It had zero visibility into its manufacturing costs until long after the products were completed and shipped. Similarly, forecasting, ordering and allocating inventory were manual, imprecise and time-consuming activities. “Now, we’re able to accurately track costs throughout the manufacturing process,” Dolinski says. “We have a true 360-degree view of our operations that allows us to provide better information to our customers and to optimize our production schedule, saving time, money and improving service levels.”
As a result, not only are the company’s employees and its customers happier, Brick It is saving money through more strategic purchasing, faster order processing, and more accurate insight into the profitability of its products. Armed with an innovative, in-demand product line, a capable partner, and a highly-scalable business management solution, Brick It appears ready to continue its path to success
The full Brick It story can be read below. To learn more on how Net at Work & Sage X3 can bring success to your manufacturing or distribution operations, visit here.
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Blog
ERP
09 Aug 2010
Automated Purchasing in Sage ACCPAC ERP
Automating And Integrating The Purchasing Process Can Result In Significant Cost Savings
In this difficult business environment, smart managers are seeking ways to reduce expenses. Here is a powerful statistic: if a business operates on 10 percent profit margins, a reduction in expenses of just 5 percent has the same impact on the bottom-line as 50 percent higher sales. Is your company paying too much for purchased items? Effective purchasing processes can play a critical role in cost control and its contribution to the bottom-line cannot be overstated. Yet this vital function is often overlooked in the automation process. In this article we discuss the signs of inefficient purchasing processes and how the fully automated purchasing system in Sage ERP Accpac can help. Signs Of Inefficient Purchasing
How efficient are your purchasing processes? The following are signs that you are missing potential savings that can be achieved with an integrated, automated process: Individual departments each make small orders of items, such as office supplies, with various vendors. Paper forms are used to request purchases and gather approvals. In routing, requests are often delayed or misplaced. After a requestor fills out paper forms or spreadsheets for purchase approval, other staff must then key in the information to update the General Ledger and Accounts Payable systems. The formal purchasing process is only required for big ticket items. Smaller purchases are made on an individual haphazard basis. The purchasing process is lengthy, and results in loss of productivity because items are not available when needed. The Purchase Orders Module
The key to simplifying purchasing is integration. Purchase Orders is a comprehensive, automated purchasing system that is fully integrated with your Sage ERP Accpac system enabling you to: Manage suppliers better Negotiate lower prices Establish effective internal controls Maintain optimal inventory levels Maximize purchasing power Reduce time in the purchase cycle Analyze spending data Negotiate Better Prices
The first benefit of centralizing purchasing with the Purchase Orders module is the ability to set up standard supplier lists and develop relationships with preferred vendors. You can negotiate better prices for high volume supplies or inventory items. This module allows you to set up contract pricing for each vendor to track special pricing agreements. You also can create message templates to speed the process of sending purchase orders and returns to vendors by e-mail. Maintain Optimal Inventory Levels
To achieve optimal inventory you must have the right products on hand when needed, while avoiding overstocking to minimize carrying costs. The Purchase Orders module can be configured to automatically produce purchase orders based on Inventory Control reorders or from Order Entry backlogs. It also allows you to smoothly drop-ship items directly to the customer from your preferred vendors. Integrating the inventory, purchasing, and order entry processes helps you maintain the delicate supply/demand balance. Purchases can be made quickly based on real-time order information. Fresh inventory can be ordered just-in-time, so that you maintain adequate stock while avoiding overstocking items and the associated storage costs. Flexibility In Purchase Order Creation and Receiving
Features in the Purchase Orders module make creating purchase orders fast and easy. You automatically can produce purchase orders from Inventory Control reorder information or from Order Entry back orders. Templates can be set up for frequently ordered items to improve productivity. A single purchase order can be created from multiple requisitions, to give you more purchasing power with your suppliers. Various purchase order types are supported. You can create standing and blanket purchase orders, and you even can set up future purchase orders. Choose from seven costing methods for the default item cost that prints on purchase orders. The costing methods include: Most Recent Cost, Standard Cost, Average Cost, Vendor Cost, Last Unit Cost, and two alternate amounts for added flexibility. Productivity gains are realized during the PO receiving process as well. You can combine multiple purchase orders on a single receipt and multiple receipts on a single invoice. You can process adjustments to quantities, item costs, and additional costs directly on the receipt, rather than as separate inventory adjustments, and allocate additional charges manually or by quantity, weight, or cost. Once goods are received, the Shippable Backorder report helps identify the customer orders that can be shipped. Leave purchase orders open indefinitely until all items are received, or cancel any remaining ordered items at any time. Analyze Spending Patterns
Another important benefit of an integrated purchasing system is the insight it provides into your companyís spending patterns. You can review current status and spot patterns using built-in purchasing reports such as Purchase History, Transaction and Audit Lists, Purchase Statistics, and Aging Reports. The Purchase Orders module information also will flow into your business intelligence solution so that you can analyze your spending using graphical views. Purchase Globally With Ease
Is your company sourcing materials, parts, or finished goods in other countries? If so, the Purchase Orders module can make your day-to-day job much easier. Used along with the Multi-Currency module you can create POs in multiple currencies and translate them back into your home currency before posting to Accounts Payable and General Ledger. The module also allows you to report on purchases across currencies by translating them into a single currency for analysis. While it adds efficiency, you do not need to use the Inventory Control module to take advantage of automated purchasing with the Purchase Orders module. As the economy recovers, your integrated purchasing system will help your organization continue to control costs and improve purchasing power. If you can purchase more goods and services than your competitors do for the same money, your company will gain an advantage that directly impacts the bottom-line. Give us a call to learn more about the Sage ERP Accpac Purchase Orders module.
In this difficult business environment, smart managers are seeking ways to reduce expenses. Here is a powerful statistic: if a business operates on 10 percent profit margins, a reduction in expenses of just 5 percent has the same impact on the bottom-line as 50 percent higher sales. Is your company paying too much for purchased items? Effective purchasing processes can play a critical role in cost control and its contribution to the bottom-line cannot be overstated. Yet this vital function is often overlooked in the automation process. In this article we discuss the signs of inefficient purchasing processes and how the fully automated purchasing system in Sage ERP Accpac can help. Signs Of Inefficient Purchasing
How efficient are your purchasing processes? The following are signs that you are missing potential savings that can be achieved with an integrated, automated process: Individual departments each make small orders of items, such as office supplies, with various vendors. Paper forms are used to request purchases and gather approvals. In routing, requests are often delayed or misplaced. After a requestor fills out paper forms or spreadsheets for purchase approval, other staff must then key in the information to update the General Ledger and Accounts Payable systems. The formal purchasing process is only required for big ticket items. Smaller purchases are made on an individual haphazard basis. The purchasing process is lengthy, and results in loss of productivity because items are not available when needed. The Purchase Orders Module
The key to simplifying purchasing is integration. Purchase Orders is a comprehensive, automated purchasing system that is fully integrated with your Sage ERP Accpac system enabling you to: Manage suppliers better Negotiate lower prices Establish effective internal controls Maintain optimal inventory levels Maximize purchasing power Reduce time in the purchase cycle Analyze spending data Negotiate Better Prices
The first benefit of centralizing purchasing with the Purchase Orders module is the ability to set up standard supplier lists and develop relationships with preferred vendors. You can negotiate better prices for high volume supplies or inventory items. This module allows you to set up contract pricing for each vendor to track special pricing agreements. You also can create message templates to speed the process of sending purchase orders and returns to vendors by e-mail. Maintain Optimal Inventory Levels
To achieve optimal inventory you must have the right products on hand when needed, while avoiding overstocking to minimize carrying costs. The Purchase Orders module can be configured to automatically produce purchase orders based on Inventory Control reorders or from Order Entry backlogs. It also allows you to smoothly drop-ship items directly to the customer from your preferred vendors. Integrating the inventory, purchasing, and order entry processes helps you maintain the delicate supply/demand balance. Purchases can be made quickly based on real-time order information. Fresh inventory can be ordered just-in-time, so that you maintain adequate stock while avoiding overstocking items and the associated storage costs. Flexibility In Purchase Order Creation and Receiving
Features in the Purchase Orders module make creating purchase orders fast and easy. You automatically can produce purchase orders from Inventory Control reorder information or from Order Entry back orders. Templates can be set up for frequently ordered items to improve productivity. A single purchase order can be created from multiple requisitions, to give you more purchasing power with your suppliers. Various purchase order types are supported. You can create standing and blanket purchase orders, and you even can set up future purchase orders. Choose from seven costing methods for the default item cost that prints on purchase orders. The costing methods include: Most Recent Cost, Standard Cost, Average Cost, Vendor Cost, Last Unit Cost, and two alternate amounts for added flexibility. Productivity gains are realized during the PO receiving process as well. You can combine multiple purchase orders on a single receipt and multiple receipts on a single invoice. You can process adjustments to quantities, item costs, and additional costs directly on the receipt, rather than as separate inventory adjustments, and allocate additional charges manually or by quantity, weight, or cost. Once goods are received, the Shippable Backorder report helps identify the customer orders that can be shipped. Leave purchase orders open indefinitely until all items are received, or cancel any remaining ordered items at any time. Analyze Spending Patterns
Another important benefit of an integrated purchasing system is the insight it provides into your companyís spending patterns. You can review current status and spot patterns using built-in purchasing reports such as Purchase History, Transaction and Audit Lists, Purchase Statistics, and Aging Reports. The Purchase Orders module information also will flow into your business intelligence solution so that you can analyze your spending using graphical views. Purchase Globally With Ease
Is your company sourcing materials, parts, or finished goods in other countries? If so, the Purchase Orders module can make your day-to-day job much easier. Used along with the Multi-Currency module you can create POs in multiple currencies and translate them back into your home currency before posting to Accounts Payable and General Ledger. The module also allows you to report on purchases across currencies by translating them into a single currency for analysis. While it adds efficiency, you do not need to use the Inventory Control module to take advantage of automated purchasing with the Purchase Orders module. As the economy recovers, your integrated purchasing system will help your organization continue to control costs and improve purchasing power. If you can purchase more goods and services than your competitors do for the same money, your company will gain an advantage that directly impacts the bottom-line. Give us a call to learn more about the Sage ERP Accpac Purchase Orders module.
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CRM
04 Apr 2022
Creating a Next-Gen Customer Experience Must Become Your Top Priority
We’re living in a time of superlatives. Good is not good enough – we want the best. Fast is not fast enough – we want it now. It’s a shift that predates the pandemic, one which many trace to retailers like Amazon, Nordstrom, and Costco. These powerhouses conditioned us to expect superior service and expedited delivery. Regardless of who’s to blame (or credit), it’s the ecosystem where every small and midsized business (SMB) now finds itself swimming. We’re not being overly dramatic when we say that providing a Next Generation Customer Experience (CX) is a sink or swim choice. Will your company keep treading water — or will it take the plunge?
What is Next Gen Customer Experience?
In our continuing series on Next Gen technologies’ transformational capabilities, we’ve drawn a direct connection between these technologies and the Cloud. It’s not that the Cloud itself is so transformational (although we think it is), it’s that cloud-based applications are faster and more agile than legacy applications. That speed and agility permit Next Gen applications to integrate and interact seamlessly in ways never before possible. That integration is essential to providing a personalized customer experience. And personalization is at the heart of Next Gen Customer Experience.
For our purposes, a personalized experience is one that recognizes, acknowledges, and respects an individual at each point of contact. It’s an experience that meets the customer where they’re at and guides them seamlessly through the interaction. It’s an experience that does not include putting them on hold repeatedly to look something up in another system or call the accounting department for an updated balance.
Today’s customers demand personalized experiences. Research from Salesforce found that 84% of customers say that being treated like a person – not a number – is very important to winning their business. And speaking of Salesforce — integrating your company’s CRM with its ERP is one big step toward providing Next Gen CX.
What do customers consider good and bad service? Consider these metrics from a recent global survey:
Good CX is:
Friendly, helpful and knowledgeable customer representatives (55% of respondents)
Responsiveness and fast service (45%)
Communication that informs every step of the way (35%)
Bad CX is:
Being transferred multiple times and having to re-explain oneself (48%)
Being placed on hold (46%)
Having too many steps to navigate (35%)
Next Gen CX — just hype or a true marketplace advantage?
Sometimes tech buzzwords gets tossed around so much that their original meaning gets lost (here’s looking at you “actionable insights”). Is Next Generation Customer Experience one of those terms, or does it provide companies with a true marketplace advantage?
A recent PwC research study found that 32% of all customers would stop doing business with a brand they loved after one bad experience. Another report found that 83% of customers will switch brands because of bad customer service. Yikes. No forgiveness there.
On the other hand, here’s a gem from a 2020 report by McKinsey, “Organizations that use technology to revamp the customer experience can carve out significant differentiation—increasing customer satisfaction by 15 to 20 percent, reducing cost to serve by 20 to 40 percent, and boosting conversion rates and growth by 20 percent.”
The evidence surrounding the importance of providing exceptional customer service is irrefutable. Therefore, Next Gen CX is not simply a business advantage — it’s a business mandate.
Unleashing the Power of Next Gen CX
Unleashing the power of a Next Generation Customer Experience isn’t as simple as trying harder and being nicer. Success requires a combination of well-trained and well-intentioned people, consistent yet flexible workflows, software designed for the task, and an experienced partner than can unite the three.
If your organization is considering a generational shift in its customer experience strategy, we would welcome the opportunity to assist you in selecting and unleashing the best CRM solution for your needs. In the meantime, be sure to check out the other posts in this series: The Business Imperative for Next Generation Business Management Software, Next Generation ERP, and Your Business Management Software Has a Lot to Say About You. And subscribe to our blog so you don’t miss the next article in the series where we look at Next Gen Workforce Management.
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