“Not a day goes by that someone doesn’t comment on how much they appreciate this program.” -Claire Wade, Director of Operations, Skip Gambert & Associates
When Skip Gambert & Associates contacted the developers of aACE, they were in a day-to-day battle with their existing solution. It was unstable, did not accommodate their fast-paced manufacturing operations, and yielded unreliable data. Their experience with previous systems was not much better. Moving to aACE made a huge difference.
CHALLENGES & aACE SOLUTIONS
Order Entry
The large volume of shirts made each week necessitated that order entry be quick and painless, and it had to feed directly into their inventory system to reduce delays related to stock shortages. aACE is a fully-integrated business management solution that’s fast and easy to use.
Inventory Management
Tracking inventory for thousands of items, including rolls of fabric, left the managers at Skip Gambert & Associates with a daunting task. Inventory usage per shirt had already been estimated fairly accurately, but knowing when inventory was low or certain items were out of stock often came as a surprise. aACE tracks inventory in real-time so you always know what you have on-hand.
Production
Skip Gambert & Associates uses several manufacturing tools specific to clothiers, but none of those offered solutions for managing overall production or quickly accessing data crucial to providing a high level of customer service. If a customer called to inquire about the status of an order or to request a change, a time-consuming process ensued. aACE is an all-in-one solution offering a 360° view of your business so you and your customers always have the information needed.
Accounting
Skip Gambert & Associates needed to easily tie together their order management, production, and procurement solutions to accurately calculate cost and revenue levels by individual order, by customer, as well as overall business by day, week, month, or year. aACE’s accounting software is fully integrated with the CRM and ERP portions of the solution so that you always have an accurate picture of your company’s finances.
RESULTS
Streamlined Operations
The Director of Operations at Skip Gambert & Associates worked closely with aACE developers to automate and streamline their operations as much as possible to eliminate waste and improve production efficiency.
Improved Customer Service
Each shirt‘s production status is now displayed on the order line item, allowing customer service to quickly report the status of an order to an inquiring customer. Customers are also emailed automatically at pre-set intervals, allowing them to be easily updated on their order’s progress.
Simplified Order Processing
Users can now move a shirt into the production stage with a single click, saving them a substantial amount of time. Additionally, the status of an order is automatically updated based on the production status of each line item.
Faster Shipping
Orders are automatically marked “Ready for Shipping” when all shirts have completed production. The shipping department builds shipments by client, facilitating batch shipments, and shipping an order automatically closes it.
Credit Card Integration
By integrating credit card processing with aACE+ XCharge, Skip Gambert & Associates was able to save time by eliminating the need to process credit cards using a separate, standalone terminal located on the other side of the office. Now every user has a virtual terminal right inside the order window, saving the equivalent of 150+ hours per month.
IN THEIR OWN WORDS
Here is what Claire Wade, Director of Operations at Skip Gambert & Associates, has to say about their aACE implementation:
“For too many years we suffered the inadequacies of ‘canned’ programs. We worked with programs that weren’t stable, and others that simply couldn’t offer us the ability to extract information necessary to operate efficiently. We had priced ‘custom’ programs from a variety of vendors, all ranging in cost from $25,000 to $100,000. It was dreadfully discouraging.
“We were familiar with FileMaker and I contacted them about our situation. They referred us to aACE. Some 10 months after going live with aACE, we are all absolutely thrilled with the accuracy and stability of this program. To date our numbers are correct, from the yardage on our shelf to the money in the bank. This in itself makes the program incredible and invaluable.
“I would recommend aACE to anyone who wants to eliminate their time spent troubleshooting problems with other programs. We have twelve users, and a day doesn’t go by without someone commenting on how much they appreciate this software.”
Do you or someone you know need a change from one-size-fits-all ERP tools? Check out our feature highlights to learn more about whether aACE business management software for Mac and PC can help accelerate your company.
