Ali Arc Industries LP Drives Growth with Sage Accpac ERP and SageCRM

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For over 20 years, Ali Arc Industries LP has focused on manufacturing the best aluminum bumpers to protect large trucks and pickups from damage in accidents involving animal collisions. With a strong commitment to product development, the company has added a line of aluminum truck accessories, as well as marine-grade aluminum dock ladders.

Ali Arc Industries LP's two largest trading partners are PACCAR, which installs its bumpers and truck accessories on Kenworth and Peterbilt trucks, and Costco, which purchases dock ladders. To provide these key partners with the best possible service, the company knew it needed more sophisticated customer relationship management, as well as Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) capabilities.

Ali Arc Industries LP asked 21st Century Systems, a Sage Software Authorized Partner based in Winnipeg, Manitoba, to recommend software solutions that could enhance the company's capabilities of tracking of customer orders, production, and invoicing. After comparing software packages, Sage Accpac ERP and SageCRM, along with the EDI module, Accpac Exchange, emerged as the ideal solution to meet Ali Arc Industries LP's specific needs and accommodate future growth.

The first step toward more robust automation involved upgrading Ali Arc Industries LP's existing Sage Accpac Plus accounting system to the more robust, full-featured Sage Accpac ERP. Since upgrading, Diane Pischke, responsible for accounts receivable, has enjoyed a faster, easier way to enter payments and review unpaid invoices.

"I like using the software and have no problems moving around," Pischke relates. She generates monthly and year-end reports with a click of the mouse. "When it's time to process end of the month reports, I simply click on a few dates, and it's done."

Taking Care of Customers

Once the new accounting system was in place, Ali Arc Industries LP implemented SageCRM for Sage Accpac ERP to accommodate the growth of the company as it generated new business. "The system that we were using to manage sales prior to SageCRM was just a small little program that we totally outgrew," relates Sales Coordinator Kevin Cook. "We needed to have something that would grow with our company."

SageCRM is an easy to use, feature-rich CRM solution that offers rapid deployment and enterprise-wide access to vital customer information. SageCRM enables companies like Ali Arc Industries LP to achieve maximum profitability by integrating field sales, internal sales, customer care, and marketing information.

Cook uses SageCRM every day and finds it to be a user-friendly tool to manage customer sales, check order and production status, and create reports. "I use it for all CRM activities, from entering customer orders to scheduling production on a daily basis," explains Cook. He emphasizes the convenience of its simple navigation. "One minute I can be in a customer's profile, and the next I can be reviewing sales reports from the previous week," he reports.

Sage CRM has made more information available to sales representatives on the road. "Our outside sales representatives drum up new business. With their laptops, they can log on to the system and have immediate access to customer information," Cook relates. This capability is essential in today's competitive market, where it is important to show potential and current customers that you are responsive to their needs.

Doing Business Electronically

To work with large distributors like PACCAR and Costco, Ali Arc Industries LP needed reliable EDI technology that could successfully integrate with other systems, such as production, inventory control, and accounting. Sage Accpac Exchange complies with traditional EDI technologies and integrates back-office automated transaction processing, Internet trading, and the global EDI network. It makes exchanging data with trading partners easy, no matter what EDI system or value added network (VAN) they are using.

EDI Coordinator, Rob Staerk explains the process. "On inbound EDI, I receive the purchase orders from our trading partners. Our system converts the information into data that Accpac understands. I then add information to the order, which prepares it for input into the CRM module to track production. Once the order is ready for shipping, it goes back to Accpac for processing and invoicing. I then use the outbound side of EDI to send the invoices to our trading partners."

This method of receiving and fulfilling orders and creating invoices requires specific steps and precise information to ensure a successful transaction. To accomplish this, 21st Century Systems configured a software system tailored to the company's exact needs. "Traditionally, CRM data transfers to Sage Accpac, but 21st Century Systems made it possible for Accpac to transmit information to SageCRM," Staerk relates.

Dave Burnside of 21st Century Systems was involved in the customization process. "We developed and implemented a specific script to transfer Accpac orders to SageCRM so Ali Arc Industries LP could perform production scheduling and monitoring through SageCRM," he shares.

With this customization, Staerk can follow orders through the system and coordinate the company's Quality Assurance program. "If I need to trace an order, I can use the CRM module to track it and get the information I need to determine if an error occurred and where it happened in the process," Staerk relates.

Training and Support

Ali Arc Industries LP personnel are impressed with the customization services, training and on-going support they receive 21st Century. "The company president, Stuart McKelvie, has visited with me one-on-one to help me with a few issues," says Staerk. "Dave Burnside was key in helping me learn and understand the EDI process, and he was instrumental in integrating it into the Accpac and CRM portions of the system."

Employees across the organization enjoy the user-friendly features of Sage Accpac ERP and SageCRM, and remain convinced that it is the best solution for their company. "I don't think I could use another system as easily as SageCRM," asserts Cook.