Kloter Farms a Retail Distribution Company Uses Microsoft Dynamics GP to Manage Growth, Increase Sales and Simplify Maintenance

 

Customer:  Kloter Farms
Website: www.kloterfarms.com
Location: Ellington, CT
Industry: Distribution		 Kloter Farms

Customer Profile

Kloter farms is a family-owned business operating in Connecticut since 1980 selling in stock and custom-made indoor and outdoor furniture, sheds, gazebos, garages and play structures.

Download: Retail Distribution Company Uses Microsoft Dynamics GP to Manage Growth, Increase Sales and Simplify – Kloter Farms

“We have steadily increased our business since using the Microsoft Dynamics GP system, and we’ve radically cut down on the amount of time we spent doing it.”
Jason Kloter, President

The Challenge

From humble beginnings selling horse carriages and harnesses, family-owned Kloter Farms has grown to become one of the most successful retailers of heavy-duty indoor and outdoor furniture, storage sheds, and accessories in northeastern United States.

Kloter Farms had previously relied on a DOS-based accounting system. “It was meeting our needs on a very basic level, but it did not give us the technology to better manage our business and continue to grow,” explains Jason Kloter, President of Kloter Farms . In addition, the old accounting system wasn’t well integrated with other critical systems, including the company’s retail point-of-sale (POS) system and GoldMine customer relationship management (CRM) system. As a result, many processes were performed manually and the company lacked a complete view of its business and up-to-date, decision-driving information about sales, orders, customers and inventory.

Kloter Farms sought an updated IT infrastructure that would allow the company to continue to grow and realize its vision to streamline business processes, improve management information, and reduce maintenance costs. All at a price that it could afford.

The Solution:

Kloter Farms chose CAL Business Solutions to implement a Microsoft Dynamics GP (formerly Great Plains) accounting system. After a comprehensive evaluation, an integration was added to connect Microsoft Dynamics GP with Goldmine.  Now, customer and order data can flow back and forth through both systems. This eliminates paperwork and manual double entry, which was tedious and prone to error. CAL also implemented a new point-of-sale system from Compass Technologies that integrates seamlessly with Microsoft Dynamics GP and GoldMine. This system provides fast, efficient sales entry and shows up-to-date sales and inventory data.

The Benefits:

“Automated Processes Reduce Delivery Time”

Microsoft Dynamics GP helped this retail distribution company eliminate costly, time-consuming paperwork and speed the flow of information from the point at which the order is configured and placed to the point it is received by manufacturing. This helps Kloter Farms reduce delivery times, serve its customers better, and sell more products.

“Better Information Makes Us More Profitable”

Kloter Farms now has access to the information it needs to run the business more efficiently. “The system provides all the data we need,” says Jason Kloter. “If there is a number I need to get a hold of, I can get it out of the system easily. That means we’re better able to understand where our profit comes from and increase our potential for profit.”

“Easy For Us to Maintain”

The company credits CAL Business Solutions with setting up a system that, despite its size and power, can be managed by just one full-time IT Systems Administrator. “My vision was to have a system that we didn’t need a consultant for—one that we could run ourselves on a day-to-day basis. CAL has done a great job in accomplishing that. It has succeeded in making us self-sufficient.”  And in situations when technical issues have arisen, Kloter Farms says that CAL Business Solutions has provided support quickly and professionally.  “CAL Business Solutions has delivered everything it said it would,” says Jason Kloter. “All that forward-looking thinking CAL came up with is in place, working for us and helping make us profitable.”

Kloter Farms now has an updated technology infrastructure that is affordable for a small company and is yet powerful enough to accommodate the accounting, distribution, point of sale, custom relationship management and reporting needs now and into the future.

“CAL Business Solutions researched our dream list realistically and brought to the table solutions that were forward-looking and could be implemented in a realistic timeframe. They had what it took to make it happen.”
-Jason Kloter, President, Kloter Farms

If you are a distribution company that is looking for a new ERP system, contact CAL Business Solutions.