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Award Winning Tea Manufacturer Uses Fishbowl to Track More Than 200 Tea Blends
Technology Category
- Functional Applications - Inventory Management Systems
Applicable Industries
- Food & Beverage
Applicable Functions
- Discrete Manufacturing
- Warehouse & Inventory Management
Use Cases
- Inventory Management
- Track & Trace of Assets
Services
- System Integration
The Challenge
Teas Etc., a specialty tea importer and manufacturer, was facing challenges with its inventory management. After a decade of using QuickBooks, the company found that it was unable to keep up with their growing inventory needs. They needed a solution that could help them know when to reorder base teas, which are used in more than 200 SKUs, and be able to track locations and quantities of those teas. Often, they only discovered they were out of a particular tea after an order had come in for it. This led to delays and other serious customer service problems. The company's orders, inventory load, number of customers, and regulatory requirements were too great for their current inventory management system to handle.
About The Customer
Teas Etc. is an award-winning specialty tea importer and manufacturer based in West Palm Beach, Florida. The company was established in 1998 by Beth Johnston, who serves as the founder and CEO. Teas Etc. sells its products through retail and wholesale channels. The company is actively involved in the tea industry, with Johnston serving on the World Tea Expo Advisory Board, contributing to various trade publications, and being an educator at World Tea Expo since 2008. Despite her busy schedule, Johnston still finds time to run her growing business, maintaining high quality standards for all of her products.
The Solution
Teas Etc. found the solution to their inventory management problems in Fishbowl Manufacturing. This tool allowed them to create recipes for all of their tea blends, which include not just the amount of each base tea to put into them and what containers and packaging to use for delivery. Fishbowl Manufacturing keeps track of how much base tea is left after blends are put together and sold. This allows Teas Etc. to see when they are getting low on certain ingredients and when it’s time to reorder. Mobile barcode scanners allow warehouse workers to scan in inventory and check where to find various ingredients for production and final products for sending to customers. This system has dramatically improved Teas Etc.’s ability to stay organized and consistently please customers.
Operational Impact
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