Growing with a growing company
The Situation
Engineered Custom Coatings (ECC) is a holding company for several small- to medium-sized industrial customers that make paints, finishes, coatings, and other industrial goods. ECC has grown as a company after several acquisitions, and it began using VicinityChem software in 2013. When ECC first implemented the VicinityChem software, it was only using about 30% of the software capability.
Because of this, ECC was not utilizing the inventory or cost analysis programs to help track raw materials and formulas and was not creating batch tickets. With several people keeping track of inventory on paper, it also made it difficult to understand what raw materials were on hand and to plan for orders in advance.
In January 2019, ECC reimplemented the VicinityChem software into Microsoft Dynamics GP financial software and began using the full software package.
We spoke with Mike Weinhammer, Engineered Custom Coatings, Director of Supply Chain, about his experience with VicinityChem.
He shared specifics about the benefits and success after the full software implementation.
“Throughout the implementation process and after, as we worked through internal growing pains of new processes and ways of utilizing the software, Vicinity has been dedicated to understanding the end use of their product in order to cater solutions that could accomplish our goals as a business. They were knowledgeable about the end use of their software products and its application in a variety of industries that matched our needs and were forthcoming with creative ideas that were proven in their experiences with other clients.
For ECC as a company, this gave us confidence that the tools we were implementing would bring value and solve problems we were not able to solve in the past. VicinityChem has given us access to data we did not have access to in the past and as a result has allowed us to make decisions that have positively impacted our bottom line.”
The Solution
With the fully implemented system, ECC has been able to streamline everyone’s efforts and eliminate the old processes that were being done by hand. ECC can now:
- Create batch tickets
- Track materials accurately and in real-time
- Make formula revisions quickly
- Forecast and plan for orders in advance
- Control costs
- Generate several types of reports using common database management vs. other ERP software
- Eliminate manual labor duplication errors and inefficiencies
“Because of the software reimplementation in 2019, it’s been easier to fold in newly acquired companies without spending a lot of time doing it. This is a testament to the software. Other ERP software can get you what you need, but the software becomes very expensive because you have to customize and add on specifics for your business. With VicinityChem, we have been able to grow but still run their software right out of the box! It’s a much more affordable option for a company like Engineered Custom Coatings.”
The Success
The VicinityChem software has been extremely end user-friendly for Engineered Custom Coatings. Its customer service, features and functionality, and affordability is what sets it apart from other ERP software companies. Vicinity is great for smaller companies because the software works hand in hand with lots of financial software that most companies likely already use. Because ECC is a smaller company, it might not get the immediate support response needed from a larger ERP software provider. With Vicinity Software and VicinityChem, ECC gets immediate response to issues that are critical to keeping operational.
“Vicinity’s support is so important – it helps to have a person who stays with you and helps you take the data into a format that can be uploaded. Vicinity’s support also helps you learn the software better. And, their developers encourage end users to go to them with ideas for improving their software all the time. Their FOCUS customer event is a great opportunity for customers to share a laundry list of wishes directly with the developers. Vicinity really takes customers’ suggestions to heart. It’s amazing that a small company can do this.”
If you are interested in learning more about VicinityChem and how it can help your chemical manufacturing processes, connect with our team today.
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