Packaging Distributor Improves Inventory Turns, Simplifies Accounting, Streamlines Order Entry.

Packaging Specialties, Inc. is a $15 million Milwaukee-based distributor with 18 employees. They provide packing stretch and shrink wrapping film and the machines that apply the film to their customers throughout Wisconsin. Jim Benton, CFO, was under pressure to get Packaging Specialties' system Y2K ready. They chose VAI’s S2K Enterprise as their inventory management system.

Mr. Benton says, "Y2K was the original impetus to start looking for something to replace our current system. We looked at VAI’s S2K Enterprise. It just seemed to work better. It looked like it fit our business."

"We also looked at another system. It seemed like it was written 10 years ago with little tweaks along the way. VAI looked far more advanced, flexible and state-of-the-art."

"We made the decision to go ahead with S2K Enterprise in late August, 1999. The AS/400 and the VAI software came in October and we went live January 1, 2000. With the fine support of VAI, the implementation went well."

"S2K Enterprise has helped us in several areas. We had already been doing a pretty good job with our inventory. But VAI gave us more information to see what's really going on. As a result, we have increased our inventory turns from thirteen to fifteen times per year. S2K Enterprise has helped us to do a better job with our inventory. Additionally, we have seen our inventory accuracy improve form 95% to 99%."

Jim continues, "I'm a finance man, so I really like the way VAI designed the general ledger. Budgeting is so much easier. The general ledger reports, online real-time updating and tight integration of the complete system are superior to our previous system. It used to take me two and one-half months to do year-end and I could not close the general ledger. With S2K Enterprise, I can now do the year-end close in four weeks. I can do "soft" closes for the year and continue posting into the New Year before I do the final close. This has made my job so much easier."

"Order entry is so much easier to use. With a single keystroke, the order entry clerk can access a "shopping list," a complete history of what each customer buys, in what quantities, and at what prices. With S2K Enterprise, we just point and click from the customer's shopping list and the order entry is done. And it is easy to make changes on the fly. This past summer we lost a very experienced, 10-year employee. With the easy to use S2K Enterprise Edition order system, our new employee was functional in days. I have never had training go so fast."

"Another nice feature is the credit and collection system. Credit notes can easily be posted to the system. Now, anyone can go into the system and see the history of comments and credit notes related to any customer or any transaction. This really helps a lot. Before S2K Enterprise we had lots of little paper notes floating around."

Jim joked, "I don't think a salesman ever admits to working less. But now the salesmen get better information and work more effectively. For example, they will ask customer service for a list of all the customers that buy a specific stretch film for advance notice of a price increase. We never had this type of information available to us before VAI and S2K Enterprise."

For more information about VAI’s inventory management system, call VAI at 1.800.824.7776 or email sales@vai.net.