Superior customer service combined with the right technology provider distinguishes Karlsburger Foods from their competition. Started in 1956, this 3rd generation, family-owned distributor and manufacturer of soup bases, sauces and seasonings has made their business from selling their products to restaurants, schools and food manufacturers.

Mike Maher, President and CEO for Karlsburger, has managed consistent growth for several years. Given the continued growth in revenue and the expansion beyond Minneapolis into Detroit and Kansas City, Mike realized the need to extend their system capabilities to support and enable further growth.

"Our existing 3rd party solution used by our salesmen was not getting the job done. It was not scaleable and we consistently had problems with data integrity. Further, we didn't have the needed information in the hands of our field sales and we spent too much of our time supporting field activities. The bottom line, we were not being as profitable with our outside sales as we could have been." Maher stated.

Mike turned to Vormittag Associates, Inc. (VAI), S2K Enterprise Management Software Manufacturer and Business Solutions Group, LLC, (BSG) his local VAI Business Partner for a solution.

Karlsburger had very stringent objectives needing to be met with a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) solution to replace their current third party software. BSG reviewed these business issues and needs with Mike and other key Karlsburger team members. In conjunction, VAI, an IBM Premier Business Partner, had just completed development of a fully integrated remote salesforce automation tool called "SalesLinx". VAI and BSG proposed the SalesLinx software solution as an excellent fit to the stated needs.

The solution addressed Karlsburger's foundational issues of scalability and data integrity. SalesLinx features also addressed integrated inventory control, timelines and completeness of information for field sales.

The relationship between Karlsburger Foods, VAI, and BSG had been formed back in 1997. Mike had approached IBM for assistance and then called on the expertise of BSG, a VAI and IBM Business Partner. Todd Peterson, BSG's Vice President of Solutions recommended the S2K Enterprise solution running on an iSeries AS/400.

"One of the biggest selling points for us purchasing S2K Enterprise was the fact that VAI had a local partner such as BSG that could work with us every step of the way," Maher continued.

BSG, known for their hands on approach in assisting clients with all phases from design through implementation and support, led the implementation of S2K Enterprise. "Our project team worked closely with VAI to insure that Karlsburger's timeline and expectations were fully met" said Todd Peterson.

In April of 2002, SalesLinx was implemented. BSG's knowledge of Karlsburger's business climate and the support of VAI were again called upon to meet the needs. The team was able to integrate and implement the solution in the aggressive timeline specified by Karlsburger.

"Our staff was provided outstanding support by BSG and Gerard Cereola of VAI. The project team adapted to the changing needs and supported us throughout the process." Maher stated.

Karlsburger currently utilizes 9 trucks equipped with laptops and VAI's SalesLinx Software. SalesLinx allows the drivers to be autonomous including managing their sales in real-time and having accurate visibility of inventory. SalesLinx enables them to track account history, giving truck drivers who are responsible for accounts receivable up to date information. In addition to printing invoices with accounts receivable aging, SalesLinx allows the drivers the ability to print a summary list of open invoices. Maher continued, "Using SalesLinx with direct connect has literally saved me and my employees 6-10 hours a week by eliminating duplicate or missing invoices due to dropped lines, etc…It has helped us to drive our company instead of it driving us.