Since 2009, waste disposal system manufacturer Janibell has relied on aACE to navigate the ever-changing landscape of business operations. From streamlining order entry and adapting to a changing business model, to simplifying complex shipping requirements and integrating seamlessly with platforms like Amazon, aACE has been there every step of the way. With their recent expansion into Europe, Janibell faced new challenges, including third-party logistics management, VAT compliance, and establishing a new office in Germany. Through it all, aACE’s flexibility and robust capabilities have ensured that Janibell’s operations run smoothly, allowing them to focus on growing their business on a global scale.
Streamlined Order Entry
Founded as Sinclair Worldwide in 2002, Janibell was originally a direct-to-consumer business selling products through direct response TV ads. When they implemented aACE 3 back in 2009, they were transitioning to a B2B wholesale distribution model but were still taking orders by phone from longstanding individual customers. Bumkee Kim, Janibell’s founder, knew that he needed a solution that could support his company’s evolving requirements.
Luckily, aACE could be easily and affordably customized to help Janibell serve all their customers. “Direct response means making the ordering process as efficient as possible,” Bumkee explains. “Entering the order and processing the payment should not take more than two or three minutes per order, so aACE was customized to make that happen.”
A Flexible Solution for A Changing Business
Over time as Janibell’s business model changed, it became apparent that some prior customizations no longer served their intended purpose. With most other ERP solutions this might be seen as a big problem. But since aACE can be easily and affordably customized and re-customized, as Janibell’s processes evolved, so did their aACE system. Over the last 15 years, the solution has been optimized to perfectly fit their requirements at the time– no matter how much those requirements continue to change. “We’ve been using it so long it’s almost become like home,” says Bumkee. “Our business has changed quite a bit, and [the aACEsoft team] is always open to hearing what we have to say and adapting the program to that new environment. It’s been amazing.”
Shipping Made Simpler with Amazon-Friendly Customization
Amazon has long dominated the ecommerce market, but selling on the platform isn’t always easy. With strict requirements for everything from the number of pallets on a truck to exactly how those pallets are stacked, it can be hard for a small business to keep up. But with some customization, Janibell’s aACE solution ensures that their products are packed and shipped perfectly every time.
“Running Amazon is particularly a handful,” Bumkee says. “They have a lot of regulations, and they always try to simplify the operations on their side. This can mean pushing time-consuming tasks out to the vendors.” For example, when loading a truck for delivery to an Amazon warehouse, Janibell needs to tell them precisely how many pallets are being shipped, how many cartons are in each pallet, and how many items are in each carton. aACE automates those calculations and generates the appropriate labels. “We try to automate and simplify our own operations as much as we can,” Bumkee adds. “aACE helps us with that a lot.”
aACE+ TruCommerce EDI Integration Makes Retail Sales a Snap
Of course, aACE’s smart automation doesn’t stop at Amazon. With Janibell’s aACE+ TrueCommerce EDI integration, orders placed by retailers like Chewy are downloaded into aACE automatically. From there, aACE has been customized to store each customer’s specifications so that every order ships exactly the way it needs to.
“Each customer has their own particularities, so we have to meet their needs each time,” Bumkee explains. “For example, each customer has their own pallet height restriction based on the height of their storage shelving.” When an order comes in, the Janibell team sees how many items need to be loaded onto a pallet in order to meet that particular customer’s needs. “aACE automatically calculates how to ship the order, what to prepare, and how many pallets [we’re going to use],” he adds.
Expanding to Europe
After successfully running Janibell from California for decades, Bumkee felt the company was ready for a new challenge. The company’s expansion to the European Union started with an office in Germany and a partnership with a third party logistics company (3PL). “Opening up the German side meant dealing with an entirely new environment. The tax laws and requirements are all different, the regulations in the EU are different” than they are in the U.S., Bumkee says. A new regulatory and tax environment (and its reporting and documentation requirements), a new office (and its operations and personnel requirements), and a 3PL partnership (and its operations and accounting requirements) made for much to navigate and accommodate. Luckily, Bumkee had aACE.
Currently, the Germany office has minimal staff managing its entire operations. Bumkee credits aACE with allowing them to keep their new venture so efficient. Being able to host aACE in the cloud has made it easy to access from anywhere, a necessity for a newly-international organization. “I travel a lot,” Bumkee says, “And having aACE available in the cloud on the European side makes it a lot simpler.” Janibell’s deployment of aACE’s browser-based version, new in the latest version of the software, will reduce the required hardware required in the EU office by half.
Third-Party Logistics Management Made Easy
Janibell’s German office doesn’t keep inventory on hand; instead, they work with a third-party logistics (“3PL”) company to deliver products directly to their customers. “Order processing with the 3PL can be really time-consuming,” Bumkee explains. “But with aACE’s automation, sending records out to them and receiving information back is very easy for us to do.”
When Janibell EU receives an order, aACE packages up the file and sends it to the 3PL company. When they send the product out to the customer, the shipping information is automatically transmitted back to aACE, which updates the order accordingly. “Proof of delivery is very important,” Bumkee says. “Knowing the way that it was shipped, who actually received it, and getting that confirmation that it was actually delivered has helped a lot. It’s super efficient.”
VAT Customization Makes European Taxes a Breeze
In the EU, sellers are responsible for collecting Value-Added Tax (“VAT”) and remitting it to the government. The 3PL company that Janibell uses to deliver their products in Germany also acts as their fiscal representative in Europe, remitting the VAT on Janibell’s behalf. But, whether they submit their taxes directly or through a third party, Janibell is obligated to keep extremely detailed records to ensure that their filings are correct. For a business trying to get started in a new market, these requirements can be overwhelming, and the consequences for getting it wrong can be severe. Luckily, Janibell had aACE.
Though not an out-of-the-box capability, the aACEsoft team is familiar with VAT requirements. They not only customized Janibell’s aACE solution for VAT reporting, but automated this tedious process so that Janibell can easily run reports on VAT to ensure that they’re remitting the right amounts. “We have to submit monthly reports” to the fiscal representative, Bumkee explains. “And then each quarter we have to file VAT reports to the German government. aACE has let me make that job very, very easy and efficient.”
In Their Own Words
Here’s what Bumkee has to say about the results of Janibell’s aACE implementations:
“The total integration of aACE has been great. I don’t have to have separate programs to do different things because everything’s in one place. It’s very cohesive. I love the reliability; it’s always there when I need it, and if there’s a problem the aACEsoft team jumps in and takes care of us.
“The customer service is excellent. It can be very difficult to get a response from very large companies sometimes, but the response from the aACEsoft team is incredible.
“I would recommend aACE to any kind of business, particularly distribution. aACE is being used by many different types of businesses already. But for any company that wants to venture into the EU market from the US side, this is a super easy, seamless transition. It would have been a very different, difficult challenge to manage a different solution.
“One of the colleagues that I work with has helped many other companies get situated in the EU market. She’s worked with aACE for years now, and she told me that this is one of the best programs she’s ever used. Overall, everyone’s just so happy with it.”
Interested in learning more about what aACE can do for your SMB? Read our feature highlights to see how aACE can help you take your operations to the next level.
