Success Story

Four Star Salon Services

Summary
Businesses today move fast, which is why it’s essential to accomplish two goals – seamlessly transition from one business function to the next and continually improve in everything from processes to reporting to operations. As such, supply chains are expanding in tandem with business objectives. With supply chains at the core of everyday business operations, the ability to expand at such a rapid pace is only made possible through technology. To help support and grow the business, powerful tech solutions are needed to boost productivity, maintain a competitive edge and steadily increase return on investments.

With Four Star Salon Services, its siloed ERP software systems were responsible for managing everyday processes and reporting at each location. As the company grew over the next two decades into multiple locations across the country, it needed a way to bring together all of the various components to streamline operations and increase productivity. VAI’s unlimited user license feature – where new users are added with no additional fees – provided the stability to help Four Star Salon Services continue its growth trajectory.

Customer Profile
In 1989, Jeffrey Cohen founded Four Star Salon Services to help service the beauty industry by distributing professional salon products. Since its inception, Four Star Salon Services has grown to 38 locations across the country, delivering high-quality products to thousands of beauty technicians.

Four Star Salon Services has become the industry leader in both professional salon product distribution and educational services. From color workshops to retail seminars and receptionist training classes, it offers a variety of services.

Objectives
In its search for a new ERP solution, Four Star Salon Services’ main goal was to find a solution that brought all locations under one system that had a solid support structure in place. The company also sought to invest in a solution that would allow it to continue its growth path.

Problem
With the addition of the new Four Star Salon Services locations, the company became Stars Companies, and added another layer of complexity. Some of these locations were managed by different software solutions that performed different functions, and this system didn’t enable a cohesive way to collaborate or streamline operations. To continue its upward growth trajectory and compete in today’s fast-paced beauty business world, it needed a solution that would fit all of its needs and propel it to the next level.

Finding the Right Partner
As soon as Four Star Salon Services learned of VAI’s unlimited user licensing and industry-leading support offerings throughout the implementation process and beyond, selecting VAI’s S2K ERP software suite became the obvious choice.

“The most important requirement in choosing an ERP solution was to have every location up on one system. We looked at others ERP solutions, and even investigated within our own systems, to see what other technologies could help us grow. Nobody was able to meet the needs that we had from an accounting, manufacturing and distribution standpoint. VAI’s onsite support was beyond anything we could have imagined,” said Herb Chow, IT Director, Four Star Salon Services.

Solution
When Four Star Salon Services installed VAI’s S2K software suite in January 2016, the company made the strategic choice to employees wanted to check the availability of a particular item or view reports, the work process was halted to call another location and conduct additional followups. Through the use of VAI’s S2K ERP software suite, Four Star Salon Services’ team is now able to better service its customers and locations to help expand its business. Benefits test the new solution on just four locations to analyze and adjust the technology before rolling it out to its other branches. Throughout the implementation process, VAI worked alongside the Four Star Salon Services IT team to ensure a smooth transition process. During this trial run, Four Star Salon Services invited its other locations to visit and witness the software in action. This gradual onboarding process helped strengthen the remaining locations’ implementations when they began using VAI’s S2K ERP suite in February. With all of its locations now operating on the same ERP system, and because of the scalability granted by VAI’s unlimited user licensing, Four Star Salon Services has added four new locations in just the past few months.

Using the Solution to Solve the Problem
Four Star Salon Services’ work with VAI’s unlimited user licensing and S2K suite has allowed it to streamline all accounting, manufacturing and distribution processes on one central system.

Before using VAI’s S2K software suite, Four Star Salon Services had multiple software solutions managing its different locations. Each time one of its 250 employees wanted to check the availability of a particular item or view reports, the work process was halted to call another location and conduct additional followups. Through the use of VAI’s S2K ERP software suite, Four Star Salon Services’ team is now able to better service its customers and locations to help expand its busines

Benefits
VAI’s ERP solutions have dramatically improved Four Star Salon Services’ operations and reporting. The company was able to leverage VAI’s unlimited user licensing to add an additional four locations and will continue to utilize it for additional growth. “We weren’t going to spend money on a new system that didn’t allow us to move forward,” said Debra Janas, VP of Operations, Symbiotic Salon Systems, LLC, a division of Stars Companies. “At any given time in my workday, I have seven sessions open at the same time. Because we’re constantly switching focus from one of our locations to another, we must be able to toggle between different functions rapidly and seamlessly. Rather than backing out of one issue to address another, VAI’s comprehensive solution allows us to keep multitasking effectively.”

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