How this tech-phobic workforce became automation champions
Beer distributor Bond’s outdated software and system disintegration caused a lack of real-time inventory management — a key driver for change — and created additional work for the administrative staff as they had to manually reconcile driver deliveries each day. Inventory reports often lagged 24-48 hours, impacting order fulfillment, and drivers lacked the ability to modify invoices on the road via handheld devices. Without the proper systems in place, Bond could not deliver on the growing complexity of vendor reporting requirements.
Bond worked with Hartman to lead and manage the process of procuring new IT systems from initial requirements definition through user adoption. Hartman’s IT leadership team worked alongside Bond executives to evaluate key business challenges and objectives that needed to be addressed by the new systems, and ensured that it would align with and improve standard business processes.
Following a 12-month selection and implementation process, Bond saw operational benefits that provided almost immediate ROI and allowed the new system to practically pay for itself in less than two years. Now, modern reporting capabilities can deliver key outcomes reports to the state and their manufacturers quickly and accurately, and more efficient delivery, inventory and warehouse management has resulted in less overtime and more dollars toward the bottom line.
Equally important as selecting the right systems was creating a new culture of automation, efficiency and process improvement in a company whose culture had long been one of “we’ve always done it this way.” The real impact is still to come. As Leslie Schaller, Bond’s director of media and marketing said, “We achieved a great deal already from the new system, but the really exciting thing is the flexibility it gives us in the future to take advantage of new opportunities.”
