Fore-Kast Sales Company Accelerates Internal Business Processes by 50%

Fore-Kast Sales Company, Inc has been a distributor of plumbing parts to plumbing and heating wholesalers for 40 years.  The Forekast family started the company in 1967.  In an industry where substitutions and knock-off hardware are common, Fore-Kast Sales Company takes pride in their guarantee to provide only brand name, quality parts.  They have 7000-8000 items in stock, as well as approximately 40,000 items available by order.  They promise a one-to-two day turnaround, and over the years, have become known within the industry for their reliability as well as their integrity.

Situation
As the business has grown, an unstable operating system and outdated accounting software have impacted their ability to deliver on their promise to their customers.  Payment to vendors and management of their accounts was slow and occasionally inaccurate, affecting their relationships with their vendors.

Fore-Kast’s existing DOS-based operating system was very old, slow and incompatible with new software.
 
The operating system was also unstable.  Computer crashes were time-consuming, difficult to diagnose and resulted in significant downtime.  This downtime had a negative impact on all departments of the company.

Fore-Kast’s accounting needs had grown considerably beyond the abilities of their existing software.  Invoicing and other business procedures were being done manually.

There was no back-up system in place, and the ongoing growth of the business increased the threat of data loss during a disaster.

Solution
Fore-Kast had spent a year researching a business solution that would best serve the particular requirements of their business.  They had investigated several different software options. Most of the alternatives were either not sophisticated enough, or offered much more functionality than they needed.  Forecast had been using an early version of Great Plains accounting software.  They decided to implement Microsoft Dynamics GP, because of its flexibility, but also because they expected the transition to be easier.  Microsoft  Dynamics GP was more sophisticated than the solution they had been using, but “not too sophisticated”.  Fore-Kast liked how easily Dynamics GP could be customized to suit their current requirements, while allowing room for growth in the future.  And it didn’t include a host of irrelevant features – or a high price tag.

Benefits
Seamless Integration -Real-time accounting created seamless integration between billing and general ledger processes.  This integration eliminated manual input, creating detailed audit trails.  Financial analyses provided for greater reporting flexibility and extensibility, and the ability to analyze transactions efficiently.  The time required for reconciliation between accounts receivable and general ledger was cut by more than 50%.

Efficient Invoicing Process - No longer dependent upon manual procedures and paper-based processing, Fore-Kast reduced the time spent in producing, reconciling and filing invoices by more than 50%.  The company realized significant savings because personnel were relieved of the time-consuming task of invoicing by hand.  Because their old invoicing methods used an enormous amount of paper, Fore-Kast also saw savings in office supplies.

Centralized Record Keeping - All of Fore-Kast’s data resides in a central area in their computer system, ensuring that all of the employees are seeing the most current data in their reports.  Errors have been vastly reduced, as well as the time spent correcting them.

Dependable Inventory Management - Now able to take control of their inventory data, Fore-Kast has regained the fast, efficient fulfillment that they promise their customers.  By controlling inventory effectively, they have been able to reduce operating costs by 20%.

Compatible and Reliable Operating Environment - The new Windows operating software increased the overall efficiency of the system by 50%.

Microsoft Dynamics
Microsoft Dynamics is a line of integrated, adaptable business management solutions that enables you and your people to make business decisions with greater confidence. Microsoft Dynamics works like familiar Microsoft software such as Microsoft Office, which means less of a learning curve for your people, so they can get up and running quickly and focus on what’s most important. And because it is from Microsoft, it easily works with the systems your company already has implemented.
By automating and streamlining financial, customer relationship and supply chain processes, Microsoft Dynamics brings together people, processes and technologies, increasing the productivity and effectiveness of your business, and helping you drive business success.
For more information about Microsoft Dynamics and eIS Business Solutions products and services, call (800) 585-5160 or visit our web site at: www.eisBusinessSolutions.com.