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Agribusiness with Multiple Brands Digitally Transforms Operations with Acumatica ERP
Technology Category
- Functional Applications - Enterprise Resource Planning Systems (ERP)
Applicable Industries
- Agriculture
Applicable Functions
- Discrete Manufacturing
- Procurement
Use Cases
- Inventory Management
- Manufacturing System Automation
Services
- System Integration
The Challenge
Kelly Products, Inc. is a holding company for 13 diverse agribusiness brands. The company was operating on a legacy ERP system, with each new division having its own instance of the ERP. These instances were not connected and were managed by different people among the various businesses. This led to inconsistencies and difficulties when someone was out, as others were often unfamiliar with the specific business system’s coding and transaction process. Tracking inter-company transfers was also a challenge, as many transfers between businesses were paper-based and physically mailed from one company to another. This held up monthly reporting and increased chances for manual-entry errors. With its ERP solution nearing the end of its life, Kelly Products began looking for a new software solution.
About The Customer
Kelly Products, Inc. is an agribusiness company based in Covington, Georgia. The company began in 1993 with two goals: to produce a more efficient formulation and distribution system for plant protection products, and to create software to streamline the product registration process. This innovative spirit led to the creation of 13 businesses and brands, including Kelly Packaging, Contract Packaging, Kelly Registration Systems, Great Estates Landscaping, Christmas Décor by Great Estates, Farmview Market, Kelly Farm Operations, Kelly Outdoor Products Group, and AJC Precision. These businesses range from manufacturing services for formulation, packaging, and distribution, to offering licensing and registration software, to residential and commercial landscaping, to farming grass-fed cattle, hogs, heirloom corn, and commercial crops, to manufacturing hunting supplies, to providing custom fabrication.
The Solution
Kelly Products chose Acumatica, a modern, cloud-based ERP system with a robust intercompany module, that connected Kelly Products’ entire operation. Acumatica was affordable and easily handled intercompany transfers, allowing Kelly Products to automate financial reporting, inventory transfers, vendor payments, as well as cash management across its multiple related companies. From an IT perspective, Acumatica’s Cloud xRP platform and its open API, which enables developers to easily and quickly create customizations, connect external systems and build add-on solutions, impressed the team. Kelly Products has a software development business that built its own inventory control system and manufacturing resource planning package, both of which have been integrated with Acumatica.
Operational Impact
Quantitative Benefit
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