The Solution
Champion had made the decision to invest in new technology as they have expanded, including an ERP software system with warehouse management. Champion selected VAI because of its user-friendly software and cloud-based apps, which are essential to the company's operations.
“VAI Cloud ERP is a great benefit to us as a company because not only is it safe and secure, but we also have a lot of our sales reps that work out of state, and they can log in from anywhere,” said Diane Ruggiero, VP of Finance at Champion Cutting Tools. Prior to VAI, the company was running their software on premises and had to maintain the system every night with backup tapes, which were taken off premises each night.
Security is very important to Champion as well. “We've seen in the news that a lot of companies are being attacked by ransomware,” continued Ruggiero. “The VAI Cloud works on IBM servers that we feel are very safe and secure. I'm responsible for the computer system and with everything being on the cloud, it makes my life a lot easier, so I can focus on day-to-day operation without worrying about the storage and safety of our system.”
As part of VAI’s financial management, the company is leveraging the general ledger and the financial statement program. The company generates a detailed monthly financial statement and balance sheet by linking the main ledger to sub-reports. The reports can include several places, allowing Champion to assess their overall performance as a business.
The ability to train new hires on S2K is another advantage Champion appreciates about it. Said Ruggiero, “Everything that you want to see is on the left-hand side, and it makes it a lot easier to train people.” Each of Champion’s products have a photo, which is helpful for new hires who aren't familiar with certain items. The objects that display the color are coded so that customers can request a specific color over the phone.
Orders are received by the company via phone calls, email, and FATS. After customer service enters the order, it is forwarded to the back. Champion employs layout personnel to come into the warehouse, pick orders, and then circle the space, picking orders and scanning each item to ensure they are selecting the right one. After that, they take it to a packing station where another worker scans the products to make sure they are sending out the right ones. Champion then shuts the package and sends it to the shipping station via the shipping line.
The shipping station is connected to S2K so that the address is fed into the UPS machine when the order is scanned there. The tracking number can then be sent back to S2K when the order is sent, enabling both customer care and the customer to view it. Champion ships it, then it is returned to the office where customer care emails the customer an invoice.
“One of the major reasons that we initially switched to VAI was for the S2K Sales Force module,” said William Ruggiero, Operations Manager, Champion Cutting Tools. “It's an extremely useful tool for both our sales and management teams. Before the switch to VAI, the biggest weakness for our sales team was time management as well as organization, and the CRM module was able to provide a solution for both issues.”
Sales can log in and see their activity directly in their calendar, allowing them to monitor any follow-ups that may be required and ensure that all opportunities are captured. They utilize VAI’s Sales Force opportunity dashboard for larger jobs. Champion's sales team can see what opportunities they have open, and the management team can quickly view all the opportunities across the company. The dashboard has multiple stages where users can drag and drop the opportunities depending on where they're currently located.
“The major benefit of having it all in one central database is that it's easy for our sales reps to find all the information they need,” continued William. “They can get sales figures, look at open orders and past activity, and it also helps us as a company because if there's ever a change in the position, we have all the information that we could pass on to the new sales rep.”
Having sales data for their sales reps in the CRM tool is a great feature for Champion. They can go to the customer level and drill down from what divisions they're buying all the way down to the item level to keep track of which customers are hitting their goals and/or who's behind, and then be able to follow up. On the flip side, they could also begin on the item level and see what customers are buying, quickly see who's up and down, and have a good sense of the territory.
For example, Champion has a quarterly process where they review their numbers. They can go to the item analysis tab, filter drill bits, and see who the customers are that buy drill bits, who's up, who's down, and then dive in from there. VAI’s CRM solution provides sales reps with all the tools necessary for them to succeed. They can go into item inquiry and see what items are in stock and what the pricing is for their customer, as well as track open orders. They are also able to go and see invoices to provide tracking information for the customers.
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