Case Study Highlights Boat Cover Manufacturer Reduces Packaging and Shipping Time by 40%
Petaluma, CA (PRWEB) June 19, 2014 -- A case study finds that using AccountMate software and third party vertical solutions to control fabrication processes, Carver Industries, Inc. dramatically reduces production time and costs. “Before implementing AccountMate, it took 3-4 hours to place shipping labels on 300 boxes,” recalls April Fisher, Vice President and General Manager, Carver Industries. “Now all the guesswork is eliminated and we’ve reduced packing and shipping time by at least 40%. Order accuracy has increased by a minimum of 50%.”
Located in Landrum, South Carolina, Carver manufactures, fabricates and distributes boat covers and bimini tops through local marine dealers and internet retailers throughout the United States, Canada, the Caribbean and Europe.
For the past 30 years Carver has fabricated quality-made products that withstand the rigors of boating. By constructing their products in a state-of-the-art manufacturing facility in the United States, the company can control quality, promptness and customer satisfaction with every item carrying the Carver name.
Over the years Carver experienced explosive growth which led them to re-evaluate their entire business process. Far too many manual steps occurred in different areas of the business and Carver turned to Elite AccountMate Business Partner, Personal Computer Accounting, for a solution.
The first step in the Carver’s technology make-over included an overhaul in the batching, routing and processing of all orders. To handle these transactions, Personal Computer Accounting built a highly customized system within AccountMate’s Sales Order and Inventory Control modules that communicates directly with Carver’s material handling system. As a result, the necessary internal processes required to place, fabricate and build custom orders increased production efficiency by 25-30% and allowed Carver to expand from 10 to 15 work stations without adding additional costs.
To expand Carver’s capability to accept order requests via the internet, AccountMate’s sales import functionality links to the company’s website where internet retailers place their orders with the data uploaded to an FTP site. In the past this process was handled manually, which was extremely inefficient. “Previously it took 20 days to ship several hundred orders in bulk from the warehouse to distributors”, said Fisher. “Now these orders can ship in 10 days.”
Next, Carver modified their packing and shipping process to reduce delays. They implemented an order fulfillment solution that automated the pick, pack and ship processes. With the integration of the Accurate Direct Access Remote Terminal system (ACCU-DART), radio-frequency bar-code scanning technology scans orders as they move through the warehouse. Then, order information is transferred to the Ship-IT system, which automatically prints shipping labels. Integrating directly with UPS and FedEx, shipping and tracking information is available to authorized Carver personnel and internet retailers instantly.
The final step in Carver’s technology update involved streamlining communications. Previously, company personnel manually e-mailed order acknowledgments and mailed invoices to their customers. AccountMate’s Business Alerts Powered by Info-Alert module provides real-time data monitoring and sends automated e-mail alerts and reports to predefined users based on event driven activities.
With Business Alerts, Carver e-mails an acknowledgement to customers every hour and automatically e-mails invoices at the end of each day. Recalls Fisher, “Business Alerts has added a significant improvement in our customer service at no cost, increased our office productivity an hour a day and provided over $4,000 a year savings in postage.”
Leveraging AccountMate’s award winning, scalable program design as its backbone and industry-specific solutions for warehouse functions, Carver has a comprehensive front-to-back office solution that reduces production time, costs and inefficiencies.
About AccountMate
Founded in 1984, AccountMate develops and markets fully modifiable business accounting software. Systems range from single user versions to those that support hundreds of users simultaneously. AccountMate software is available for local installation or as SaaS. It is distributed exclusively through a worldwide channel of authorized solution providers. AccountMate can be reached at (800) 877-8896 or at http://www.accountmate.com.
Donna DeRosa, AccountMate Software Corp, +1 (707) 774-7548, [email protected]
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