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Tropical Sno Shaves Ice (and Costs) With Sage 100 ERP
Technology Category
- Functional Applications - Enterprise Resource Planning Systems (ERP)
Applicable Industries
- Food & Beverage
Applicable Functions
- Sales & Marketing
Use Cases
- Inventory Management
- Supply Chain Visibility
Services
- System Integration
The Challenge
Tropical Sno, a division of Pioneer Potato Company, Inc., is a family business, with a family culture that’s inclusive of dealers, employees, and young-at-heart fans. A major priority is keeping satisfaction high among these diverse groups with consistent, top-quality products and efficient service to customers and distributors alike. Meeting service and internal management goals had become particularly difficult given Tropical Sno’s previous accounting package. The behemoth standalone product was based on DOS and was awkward, clumsy, and too difficult to use. In addition, it couldn’t support the company’s growing inventory management needs. As Debra Didier, Tropical Sno’s comptroller, puts it, “We definitely wanted a change.”
About The Customer
Tropical Sno is a division of Pioneer Potato Company, Inc., a family business that sells Hawaiian Shave Ice. The company has sold over 200 million servings of this chilly delight around the world since its introduction in 1984, and dealers are now located throughout the United States and in 30 foreign countries. Some of Tropical Sno’s 38 “real-to-life” flavors include margarita, kiwi, passion fruit, and tutti frutti. Flavors come in convenient dry powder packs and are easily mixed with sugar and water to make syrup. Nondairy cream toppings offer an even wider selection of taste possibilities. The company is based in Texas and has 13 employees.
The Solution
Tropical Sno’s executive group selected Sage 100 ERP* as its new financial system on the recommendation of their accountants and have been more than satisfied ever since. All of the company’s business functions are now automated on Sage 100 ERP, with end-to-end integration of everything from payroll to sales order entry and billing. Even inventory is now tracked using the new system. Didier says the result has been a major decrease in bookkeeping costs—and fewer headaches in keeping the company’s finances straight. When Tropical Sno’s customer service team members take a call, they write the order and enter the data directly into Sage 100 ERP. The system prints out a picking sheet that is used to pull orders in the Sales Order module. Invoicing is performed through the same module, and inventory and accounts receivable are updated without additional effort.
Operational Impact
Quantitative Benefit
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