Lighting Manufacturer Saves Money with Rapid Implementation of Flexible Acumatica Cloud ERP System
Customer: Fidelux
Website: www.fidelux.com
Location: Hartford, CT
Industry: Manufacturing
Former System: QuickBooks
New System: Acumatica
Customer Profile: Fidelux creates the best, most technologically advanced lighting solutions in the world. They connect light with technology, engineering, architecture, and businesses in new, innovative ways. They conserve energy with products that provide reliable, radiant light at a cost lower than ever before.
Download Lighting Manufacturer Saves Money with Rapid Implementation of Flexible Acumatica Cloud ERP System
Read Acumatica Case Study: Fidelux Lighting Pivots to a New Business Model Leveraging Acumatica ERP
The Challenge:
Fidelux is a manufacturer of top-tier LED lighting solutions to private and public sector clients nationwide. Originally a division of a larger Connecticut-based company, after five consecutive years of growth, it was rebranded as Fidelux Lighting in March 2017. At that time, they decided to upgrade their QuickBooks accounting system to handle more complex inventory requirements and set them up for future expansion.
The Solution:
The evaluation team had originally selected a different ERP product, but the minimum user count was cost-prohibitive. CAL introduced Acumatica as a cloud ERP option. Acumatica met all of their requirements at the right price and was accepted by their corporate and technical teams. Acumatica could be implemented quickly. The company purchased it in the middle of February and the system was live 45 days later. As a startup, it was easy to convert their data from QuickBooks, and the finance team was willing to really dig in and do much of the work on their own with support from CAL Business Solutions.
Leslie Alt, Senior Software Support Specialist, sheds light on the benefits she has seen from the Acumatica system:
The Benefits:
Flexibility to Adapt the System to Our Needs
“A main benefit of Acumatica is being able to do things the way we want to do them instead of just working around what you get out of the box. The fact that we can adapt it ourselves, with minimal outside help, is a big bonus.
For example, I was able to work with the import tables, so I really know where the data is going. It is very intuitive. Acumatica is not secretive about their code, the information is not hidden. I’m definitely not a programmer, but there are times that I need to know what a table name is or a field name is, and I can easily do that with Acumatica.”
“The few times that I did not understand something I was able to do it after asking the CAL team for an overview and then watching a few training videos and reading the Help articles. CAL has tips that I’ve referenced on various occasions just to refresh my memory.”
Automated Commission Payments Saves Time
“In the past, commission calculation was done manually on spreadsheets. In Acumatica, we were able to build a tab into the sales order that integrates with accounts payable. Now, when payment is received for the invoice associated with the sales order, the commission is paid. That way commissions are paid only after we have received the money. In the future, we may make some improvements to handle more complex multi-invoice scenarios, but already it has definitely been a big time saver for us. And the sales teams are happy because they get paid faster.”
Data Can Be Seen Visually
“Our team really likes the Acumatica dashboards. Now we have the ability to see things in a visual way on the sales side. One thing that I love about Acumatica is the Generic Inquiries. I am able to build quick inquiries without a full report, to gather data into one area and see it in a way that can be manipulated and filtered. Multiple pivot tables can be associated with the Generic Inquiries, allowing the data to be seen in even more custom ways. It is amazing.”
Inventory System is User-Friendly
“We have seen a big improvement in the way inventory is handled. It is more flexible, not rigid, so we can adapt it to the way we work. For example, we can set up various types of sales orders based on our unique scenarios. I think everyone agrees that Acumatica is user-friendly and easy to navigate.”
Support Without All the Red Tape
“I would definitely recommend working with CAL Business Solutions. They always get back to me and are available when I need them. If it is urgent, they understand that and if not, they let me know when they can reply so I can plan accordingly. They are flexible and willing to just go ahead and answer a quick question rather than make me go through a lot of red tape and extra steps. Often they will jump on a quick screen share and get it done. I have had the same experience with Acumatica customer service. Sometimes they will just pick up the phone and give me a call because they understand that some things just can’t be answered via email.”
Fidelux was able to save money by getting Acumatica up and running in a minimum number of hours and then learning to improve the system on their own. They continue to expand the rollout to include other divisions as they find new ways that Acumatica can benefit the entire organization.