Kodiak Northwest, a leading snow removal equipment firm, experienced rapid growth, expanding eight-fold in just five years. This growth led to increased volumes and more complex business processes. The company had been relying on Sage DacEasy, an accounting package designed for small businesses. However, as the company grew, so did its accounting needs. Kodiak Northwest realized that it had outgrown its Sage DacEasy package and needed to upgrade to a more robust system, Sage 100 ERP. The company was concerned about the integrity of data during the transition from the flat Sage DacEasy database to the modular Sage 100 ERP version.

As a new company, iS5 Communications had complex needs and sought a powerful ERP solution that offered all the required functionality in an integrated, scalable offering. The company designs, manufactures, installs, and services network routing equipment for use in harsh environments, such as those encountered in the utility, transportation, industrial, military, and surveillance industries. The management team, although experienced, was looking for a solution that could take the company from start-up to success. They wanted to avoid integration challenges when selecting ERP software for their enterprise.

Savoury Systems International, Inc., a rapidly growing food manufacturer, was facing challenges with inventory management and forecasting. The company was often overstocking to protect against stock outs, which proved to be costly and wasteful. As the company grew, the spreadsheets they were using to manage forecasting and replenishment tasks became more unwieldy and ineffective. The company was in need of a comprehensive solution that could handle their quote-to-cash integrated fulfillment system.

When Dan Calandro joined Smokey Mountain Chew as CFO in January 1999, he discovered that a great product doesn’t automatically provide great margins. After conducting a thorough financial and operational review, he found that Smokey Mountain’s quality and profitability fell way short of its tremendous potential. Its inadequate off-the-shelf accounting package was part of the problem. It had to be replaced with a system that could handle Smokey Mountain’s complex manufacturing and distribution operations. Quality assurance was Calandro’s initial concern. Product taste and texture were inconsistent from batch to batch. This called for tighter manufacturing controls, closer production monitoring, and batch analysis.

Leahy IFP, a company that manufactures shelf-stable beverages, was in need of a robust ERP solution to replace its legacy system. The company required a system that could manage all aspects of its operation, from back-office accounting to sales forecasting and shop floor production. The company also needed a system that could accommodate nearly any conceivable business process, including Electronic Data Interchange (EDI), a requirement for doing business with many of Leahy IFP’s customers. The company also sought a system that could provide more accurate, detailed, and current cost data.

Tampico Spice, a multimillion-dollar company that imports a full line of seasonings from 22 countries around the world, had outgrown its DOS-based accounting package. The company was in search of a stable, end-to-end business solution that could strategically manage its manufacturing and distribution operation for maximum quality and profitability. The company needed a system that could track everything from anise seeds to turmeric, manage receivables, generate labels for promotional mailings, and verify fixed asset calculations prepared by the CPA for monthly journal entries showing the current valuation of machinery, office equipment, cars, and trucks.

Ganong Bros. Limited (Ganong) has been producing some of the finest chocolate and confectioneries in Canada for the past 140 years. The company operates from three locations across the country and ships its products to various mass merchandisers, drug stores, and grocery chains. Despite its long history and tradition, Ganong's operations are decidedly twenty-first century, with the company continually investing in tools and technology that enable it to run in a lean and efficient manner. However, Ganong was facing a challenge with its complex financial statements, which include more than nine million entries. The company was using Sage ERP X3 as its financial, manufacturing, and distribution solution, but it lacked a more efficient way to produce its complex financial statements.

The Game, a leading sportswear brand, experienced significant growth and its warehousing functions became increasingly complex. In 1999, the company built a new 120,000 square-foot building to house warehousing and distribution, hoping for economies of scale. However, the move resulted in the opposite effect. The building was so large that it was difficult to find anything. The company needed a warehouse management system that would integrate with their existing Sage 100 ERP to provide a comprehensive solution that features streamlined efficiency and seamless data flow.

Rudy’s Tortillas, a 65-year-old, family-owned company that sells primarily to restaurant chains in 35 states, was facing challenges due to lack of integrated systems. The company was managing production and inventory in spreadsheets while customer service, purchasing, and accounting were managed with basic accounting software. This lack of integration resulted in the absence of meaningful data necessary to run a successful business. The company was unable to easily determine what stock they had on hand or what they needed to produce based on customer demand. There were also delays in finalizing monthly financial statements and cost analysis was a time-consuming process.

Aceto Corporation, a global leader in the importing and distribution of over 1,000 chemically derived pharmaceuticals, biopharmaceuticals, specialty chemicals, and agrochemicals, was operating on an antiquated legacy system that lacked integration. The company was subject to a myriad of U.S. government regulations, including MSDS requirements for the handling of hazardous materials and intense scrutiny by the FDA. In addition, the company faced new demands stemming from the Bioterrorism Act and the Customs Trade-Partnership Against Terrorism (CT-PAT) program as well as the enactment of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. Many of the compliance activities were handled by manual processes with various spreadsheets, leading to insufficient controls with limited real-time reporting. The company recognized the need to implement a new back-office system, but the increasing demands placed on publicly traded companies absorbed available corporate resources.

The Armed Services Mutual Benefit Association (ASMBA) was in need of an easy-to-use accounting solution that could integrate with its industry-specific software systems. The organization had been using Sage PFW ERP for over a decade, but when it came time to update its information technology systems, ASMBA decided to consider alternatives. They were looking for a solution that focused more on the core accounting tasks that they rely on and offers flexible, intuitive financial reporting tools.

Point No Point Casino, a newly built casino owned by the Port Gamble S’Klallam Tribe, was embarking on a large-scale business operation for the first time. They needed a robust accounting system that could seamlessly integrate with human resource, payroll, and security systems. The system also needed to be flexible enough to handle the complexities of two separate casino operations, as the same management group was also launching the Silver Reef Resort for the Lummi tribe across Puget Sound. The management group wanted a single accounting solution that could cater to the unique needs of both casinos.

PRD Management, a professional property management company, was facing issues with its existing business software. The system was inflexible and riddled with bugs, leading to a loss of over $20,000 due to a software error. The company needed a reliable and automated solution that could manage the complex financial operations of a large management company with properties in two states. The software needed to be capable of posting deposits, cutting checks, reconciling bank statements, and creating government reports.

Union Payroll Agency (UPA) was facing growth challenges due to its DOS-based accounting software and paper-based binders. The company's growth was hindered and prevented expansion to other states. The company had to manage 23,000 employees, 128 different union codes, 1,200 labor codes, and 432 deduction codes. The company was also facing challenges in bringing new employees up to speed due to the complexity of the system. The company was also facing challenges in managing the large amount of paperwork and maintaining the integrity of their service.

Statile and Todd, a landscaping, nursery, and wholesale nursery products firm, was facing a challenge in managing their extensive inventory and data due to their aggressive growth. They were using a limited DOS accounting system which was not able to handle the increasing demands of the business. The company needed a high-powered solution that could smoothly transition from the DOS system to a more robust and efficient system that could handle the extensive inventory and data.

Marathon Brake Systems, a distributor of heavy-duty brake lining products, was in need of a modern and robust business management solution to replace its previous version of Sage PFW ERP. The company wanted better inventory control tools and an integrated customer relationship management (CRM) system. The company's sales professionals are stationed across North America, the Caribbean, and Mexico, making it crucial for the company to process orders quickly and efficiently to maintain its service levels.

K.K. Penner Tire Centers, Inc. has been providing quality tires and service to its wholesale and retail customers for over 80 years. The company serves a vast area from central Alberta to central Ontario, and from the Canadian/U.S. border to the Northwest Territories. Despite its large inventory and fast and knowledgeable service, K.K. Penner faced the challenge of computerized inventory tracking. The company needed a reliable system for inventory tracking that could offer more functionality. Additionally, the company needed to submit detailed sales reports to its suppliers to show how many of what model were sold in a particular time frame. Suppliers frequently offer K.K. Penner rebates or bonuses based on their sales volume, making these reports of vital importance.

Vineland Estates Winery, located in the heart of the Niagara wine country, produces 47,000 cases of wine each year. The wine is shipped across Canada and to more than a dozen other countries. The winery is regulated by a number of agencies, each requiring detailed reports concerning production and distribution. The winery also needed accurate field-to-glass cost information. The wine industry is complex and highly regulated, and Vineland Estates Winery faced unique business challenges. The company operates a Wine Club, where members pay a flat monthly fee to have bottles of Vineland Estates wine delivered to their homes. The program quickly caught on, and now boasts more than 1,000 members. Most members pay their monthly fee by credit card.

Clarke Phillips Safety Supply Ltd. (CPS) was using an outdated DOS-based system for its financial operations. This system required up to three days to relieve sales from inventory and did not allow employees to view inventory available in other stores. The company recognized that to continue to grow, they would need a more powerful, modern business management solution. The main criteria for the new software were ease of use, intuitive screens, and seamless integration between modules.

Caprock Home Health Services, Inc. (Caprock) has been providing attendant and skilled nursing care for over 30 years, enabling its clients across Texas to remain in their homes. However, the company faced challenges with its older accounting software package. It needed a robust financial accounting application capable of handling its multiple locations and myriad of programs. The company's financial reporting requirements were complex and extensive due to its 12 locations and 30 programs. The company needed the ability to slice and dice the data in various ways, which it couldn't achieve with its old software and had to rely on spreadsheets.

Major Drilling Group International Inc., a global metals and minerals contract drilling company, operates in various countries and deals with multiple currencies. The company needed a robust accounting solution that could handle its multicurrency and consolidation requirements. The company also needed a system to accurately order and track the stock of repair parts used to keep the drilling equipment operational. Additionally, as a publicly traded company, Major Drilling Group International needed to maintain impeccable financial records.

CPS, a sales and service group of companies based in Ontario, Canada, was facing widespread inefficiencies due to a lack of integration between its various databases. The company's outside sales staff had no way to download the sales information contained in their mobile devices into a centralized database that could be made accessible to inside staff. Instead, data had to be rekeyed into a separate database in order to generate weekly and monthly reports. In addition, a lack of database integration meant that staff had to use a word processor to create quotes and, when a quote turned into an actual order, had to rekey the information into the company’s accounting system.

Radisson Hotels & Resorts, part of the Carlson Rezidor Hotel Group, was facing a challenge due to the wide variety of business management systems used in its portfolio of managed hotels. The company regularly acquires properties with unique backoffice systems, and the resulting consolidation of financial data was a labor-intensive and inefficient process. Lack of standardization constrained the quantity and quality of management information. It was difficult to perform in-depth analysis or generate customized and standardized reports. Like many companies, Radisson needed to continue accommodating change while finding an economical means of converting geographically distributed legacy business systems. The challenge was streamlining the accounting process while ensuring the operational efficiency and reliability of support systems—without growing infrastructure, staff, or budget.

Grant Thornton LLP, a member of Grant Thornton International Ltd., is a leading organization of independently owned and managed accounting and consulting firms. The Canadian firm operates from locations spanning from Victoria, B.C., to St. John’s, N.L., and employs more than 4,000 professionals. The firm standardized its operations on Sage 300 back in 1999. However, until 2005, each of the firm’s business units ran a separate instance of Sage 300 software, sending summarized data to the company’s headquarters in Toronto. This led to inconsistencies in account structure, security issues, and control of the database. The firm also found that the administration and reporting of Harmonized Sales Tax (HST) was more easily managed.

Posera, Inc., a leading provider of point-of-sale software and hardware to the hospitality and restaurant industries, was struggling to manage several different software packages across various office locations and departments as it grew rapidly. The company needed an integrated business technology solution that would serve the entire organization, providing a 360-degree view of its customers for sales, service, support, and accounting-related interactions. The front office was the primary concern, yet a powerful back-office business management system was also needed. Posera considered three integrated Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) and Customer Relationship Management (CRM) solutions before deciding on Sage 300 and Sage CRM.

Power Curbers, Inc., a leading manufacturer of slip-form pavers, was struggling with its existing Baan ERP system. The system was inflexible, difficult to customize, and expensive to maintain and upgrade. It was also very hard to learn, leading to high turnover among order-entry clerks. Month-end closing procedures were complex and time consuming, often taking 20 business days. The company was looking for a solution that would allow it to implement lean production techniques, curb costs, and increase efficiency.

SkyGolf, a busy distributor, needed a sophisticated solution to optimize its distribution and customer service operations. The company prides itself on efficient order handling, and its high volume of orders tests that capability daily. Each SkyCaddie unit is serialized, and that serial number becomes the key data element that enables the company to track the unit from receipt through distribution all the way to retail purchase, service, and repair. As retail customers purchase a new unit and register it online, that data flows into Sage SalesLogix, completing the cycle.

Haremar Plastic Manufacturing Limited, a leading Canadian manufacturer of polyethylene products, was facing a continuity gap due to the use of two separate software systems to manage its accounting and manufacturing tasks. This disconnect was stifling the company’s growth as the software was not able to keep up with the speed of the business. The lack of transparency and free flow of information led to a lack of insight into operations and direction for decision making. The company was also facing issues with inventory inaccuracies which often consumed up to 15 percent of the company’s raw material costs. The purchasing decisions were based on inaccurate data and often resulted in waste.

Luzenac America, a division of the Luzenac Group, was using a tier-one financial system (JD Edwards, now Oracle’s PeopleSoft) on an IBM AS400 to manage its operations. However, the system was complicated and unwieldy due to numerous layered customizations. It was easy to enter data but hard to extract usable information. Plus, the system was expensive to upgrade and required dedicated IS and IT departments for support. The company was spending too much on the system, even for a company of its size. They needed a new system that could address most of their needs out of the box, wasn't buggy, and had superior warehouse and inventory management capabilities.

Nylene Canada, a nylon manufacturer, was spun off from Honeywell Nylon Canada and had to find a system to support its own financial management quickly. The company needed an economical ERP system that could be installed in just three months to manage all aspects of business and manufacturing operations. The system had to be capable of handling cash management, a function previously handled by the treasury department at Honeywell. The transition had to be seamless to customers and not disrupt the ongoing workflow of users.