E25 – Nice Link Part Two
Jay Carlson
Believe it or not, it’s Episode 25 of the ERPodcast
MFX up and under
Today’s episode is Part Two of our conversation with Jay Carlson, President of Nice Link Home Furnishings – if you caught Episode 24 you’ll remember Nice Link implemented and launched Acumatica, the Cloud ERP in June, right in the middle of a certain pandemic you may have heard something about – and as is with all ERP, especially critical during times of market disruption, Nice Link automated, so they didn’t need so much labor and so many spreadsheets. The connected digitally with their customers, so they’re taking sales orders that someone else is paying to input instead of hiring more folks internally. They got control over 7 national warehouses with a pretty complex sales model. They expanded eCommerce, with items appearing on other eTailers websites opening new channels and new market shares.
Did all this just happen by ERP magic, No – it’s hard work and you need help from implementation partners such as Nice Link’s go-to, a firm called Net At Work – who if you know ERP you’ve heard of Net At Work over the years as a leading ERP implementation partner – of course ERP is something most companies pay attention to once or maybe twice every decade – but take my word for it, Net At Work is a major player – Jay will speak about them on today’s Episode.
Nice Link Home Furnishings was at the right place at the right time when home furnishings kind of took off. Home offices needed refurbs when home suddenly became a full-time locale during the initial lockdown. Kids needed a space to connect to remote learning. Increased time at home, no one could spend money on travel or in some cases restaurants – so for many, disposable income went up, time at home went up – and the furniture stores were locked down too – so online they went. Wayfair had record months. We all know about Amazon. But Nice Link found themselves in Overstock.com, Macy’s, Costco and others.
Is this just a story of right-place right-time in the Home Furnishings space? Answer, Yes and No. But it’s more than just home furnishings
• It’s a story of ERP technology cutting overhead internal costs
• It’s a story of distribution efficiencies
• It’s a story of being able to instantly understand inventory across 7 US warehouses
• It’s a story of becoming easier to work with for your customers
• It’s a story of digital transformation
• It’s a story of decreased cost and increased revenues
• It’s a story for the new covidian economy.
It’s a great story – so let’s join Jay Carlson, President of Nice Link Home Furnishings for Part Two of the interview – Coming up right after the break, here on the ERPodcast
Insert Net At Work sponsorship 2.0
Intro to Interview in process. Ad Lib -
Insert Part Two, Jay Carlson Interview
Interview Notes
10:00 - When to make the move to ERP
11:30 -
11:50 - Capacity to Promise - Still learning that - growing capacity -
15:26 - one of the last things to come up - growth -
16:20 Lean Staffing not having to have 10 people in the department
16:41 - live inventory information always - needed in eCom
17:31 Two future accountant hires avoided
17:39 Net at Work - CPA level help
20:19 You can only get so far with what you had
21:36 - Selling to new retailers in new channels - value is created oppportunities not available previously
22:40 - Macy’s - line extension
24:06 - limitations of traditional software - even when future of business is up in the air
25:16 - Net at Work - flexibility and relationship good partners - ready for Costco
Excellent story – and specifically how ERP, in this case Acumatica ERP really helped a company thrive in challenging times. Here’s the thing, it’s not a one-off. If you undertake ERP correctly – build the business case, choose the right software, work with the right implementation partner – if you follow the methodology we’ve developed at Profit From ERP, developed from observation of best case methodology and seeing the pitfalls companies sometimes step in – when you do it right, you too can achieve the goals you set out to attain.
We’ve tracked stories of dozens of companies and how they’ve used technology to survive the past few months. What do we see in the next few months? Listening to the news, it looks like we’re headed for more lockdowns in one form or another.
Covid Close Montage
But there’s beginning to be a lot of resistance to further lockdowns – and some actual science showing lockdowns aren’t the answer – but regardless the days of the downtown office are very likely over. A combination of the incredible waste of time for people spending an hour commuting both ways. Combined with, whether we really like Zoom or not, the fact is, digital connection means I can be face to face with a co-worker in a web meeting quicker than when I worked down the hall. And on top of it all, companies are realizing the cost efficiencies of not leasing class A office space.
So where does this leave you, the mid-sized business?
Well for one, cloud ERP connects your workers better, regardless of where they’re located.
Two, cloud ERP, being built for the internet era, offers better interconnectivity with staff, vendors and customers.
Three, cloud ERP gives you flexibility and resilience – because while we’re seeing a stabilization in the pre-vaccine covidian economy – the world is rapidly changing and there’s probably a couple of generations of market change to anticipate over the next 3-5 years.
In any case, we need to sit down and discuss the specifics of your situation. Info@ProfitFromERP.com - drop us a line and we’ll set up time with the right consultant – these days there’s a lot of companies moving to cloud ERP - I’m doing a lot of Zoom meetings myself – but regardless of what industry or situation, we can help you find the right consulting team to help you put together that business case, shortlist the right vendors with key software to approach your business. ERP, which by the way, is an umbrella term containing BI, AI, WMS, Supply Chain, HR, FP&A - all were at one time, modules of ERP - so whatever enterprise software – we’ll connect you with the right people, products and process to Profit, From ERP.
For the ERPodcast and ProfitFromERP, I’m your host, Gene Hammons, reminding you, at ProfitFromERP, our clients make ERP Pay.
