“The impact on customer service was immediate, as the order department began a shift from dealing with inaccurate order issues to proactively connecting with customers.”

Mike Pietsch, VP of Sales and Marketing Carma Laboratories, Inc.

Carma Laboratories Inc.

Throughout the past 10 years, Carma Laboratories Inc. expanded internationally. After upgrading to Microsoft Dynamics GP 9.0 and a fully integrated EDI solution, order-entry staff could electronically process its 10,000 annual inbound and outbound documents, rather than re-keying them manually. The Microsoft Business Portal saved 80 hours monthly in generating sales reports, allowing the staff to handle growth of trading partners and shipments.

This case study is for informational purposes only. MICROSOFT MAKES NO WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, IN THIS SUMMARY.
Document published April 2008


Business Needs

Carma Labs, headquartered in Franklin, Wis., has manufactured Carmex lip balm and related products since 1930. The company had implemented Microsoft Dynamics GP 7.5 standard edition but was experiencing explosive growth and needed to better manage its expanding business.

The company realized that its current solution needed to expand very quickly to handle a surge in trading partners, product shipments and the need for their new sales force to have access to real-time reporting.

After 69 years with no direct sales force and virtually no marketing, Carmex was losing ground in a rapidly growing category. Carmex lip balm had been sold years ago via handshake deals with buyers from retail and pharmacy chains. Carma Labs hired its first salesperson in March 2006 and then continued to expand its sales staff.

With a new sales force in place, it became apparent that information needed to be reviewed daily and in real-time to allow the outside sales staff to keep on top of opportunities and to identify purchasing trends. The number of sales representatives and different reports that were needed consumed more than 20 hours of the accounting staff’s time per week. This information then needed to be uploaded to the group’s Web site.

In addition to fulfilling the needs of the sales force, Carma Labs moved quickly to secure a site and begin construction on a new warehouse about a half mile from their existing offices and warehouse. The staff realized that shipping orders from a separate building could have a negative impact on customer service if they didn’t know when and if an order had shipped.

Solution

Carma Labs reviewed its requirements with SVA Consulting LLC, which then drew upon its expertise in manufacturing to propose ideas where technology could create efficiencies within Carma Lab’s business and manufacturing processes.

SVA Consulting upgraded Carma Labs to Microsoft Dynamics GP 9.0 professional edition and added SmartList Builder, Extended Pricing and Business Intelligence Layer. In addition, all shipping functions were integrated with Microsoft Dynamics GP using StarShip from V-Technologies. SVA also brought Carma’s email in-house with Microsoft Exchange Server.

Carma Labs leveraged Microsoft Dynamics GP and vSync’s integrated EDI solution to maximize the existing order-entry staff’s efficiency, providing for electronic processing of inbound and outbound documents.

Adding a fully integrated shipping solution further increased customer service. The warehouse staff now updates orders with shipping information, giving the order-entry department real-time visibility into order and ship status.

Benefits

Carma Labs has gained substantial time savings by upgrading to Microsoft Dynamics 9.0 and integrating EDI into the solution. Manual entry of thousands of forms has been eliminated, sales reports have been automated, and customer service has improved with greater visibility into order and shipping status.

• Order entry. The order-entry staff saved approximately 877 hours in 2006 by implementing a fully integrated EDI solution. The technology electronically processes the company’s 10,000 annual inbound and outbound documents, eliminating manual re-keying of the information. Staff now has time to handle the anticipated growth of trading partners and outbound shipments.

• Time savings. Approximately 80 hours per month generating sales reports were eliminated with the implementation of business portal for the sales force. This time is now spent on managing the increased volume of EDI orders and overseeing customer service.

• Customer service. Carma Labs now can promise delivery dates more reliably with its new level of visibility into shipments.

• Communication. Bringing e-mail in-house has given Carma Labs greater control over communications with its business-to-business customers, vendors and even consumers who buy Carmex.

To connect with partners that extend Microsoft Dynamics solutions for specific business needs, visit the Microsoft Dynamics Marketplace: dynamics.pinpoint.microsoft.com

About Certified for Microsoft Dynamics Solutions

Microsoft set the bar high by developing the Certified for Microsoft Dynamics accreditation for business solutions built on Microsoft Dynamics software by partners. It sets a small group of proven, tested, and recommended business solutions apart from thousands of other solutions that have not met the rigorous requirements. Solutions that are Certified for Microsoft Dynamics are:

Designed to meet your unique business and industry needs.

Tested and seamlessly integrated with Microsoft Dynamics products.

Used and recommended by other companies like yours.

This case study is for informational purposes only. MICROSOFT MAKES NO WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, IN THIS SUMMARY.
Document published April 2008