Strahl & Pitsch Makes the Move from Dynamics GP to Acumatica

Employees

30+ employees

Z

Solution

Acumatica

Industry

Manufacturing, Distribution

Key Results

  • A completely connected and online solution able to deliver visibility and traceability.
  • Increased visibility into inventory costs and control over purchasing and sales.
  • A secure, controlled deployment of Acumatica on the well-trusted AWS servers.
  • Consistent and future-proof software that delivers the personalization they need.
  • Lower up-front costs and reduced reliance on in-house servers.
  • A partner with the skills, focus, and hands-on support needed to get the job done.

Overview

For more than 125 years, Strahl & Pitsch Inc. has been a trusted name in wax manufacturing and distribution for a variety of uses including personal care, pharmaceutical, confectionary, and industrial. Focused on delivering for customers no matter the need, the company prides itself in its ability to develop specialized wax blends for its clients.

But for all the flexibility Strahl & Pitsch offered for customers, they were getting the exact opposite from their outdated Microsoft Dynamics GP deployment. Luckily, after turning to the Acumatica Partner network for a local reseller with knowledge of GP, they found MIBAR.

Situation

Providing the finest natural waxes in the world for more than 125 years, Strahl & Pitsch has a deep understanding of the wax marketplace. Whether it’s beeswax, carnauba, paraffin, or one of the many other products they offer, companies around the world have turned to this company to meet their exact specifications.

With an extensive selection of products customized for their customers, the company faced one problem: back-office disconnection. Relying on an out-of-date Microsoft Dynamics GP deployment, Strahl & Pitsch found itself stuck.

Prior to meeting MIBAR, the company was several versions behind on its GP deployment, receiving support from a partner who put little effort into the initial customization, provided little help during the life of the product, and who took a lassiez-faire approach to ERP support.

Yes, Strahl & Pitsch got some of the functionality they needed from GP—both financial management and distribution were adequate—but when it came to manufacturing, traceability, and inventory management, they felt like they were disconnected. Manufacturing was run externally and distribution only handled the basics, which combined to add risk for a company operating in pharmaceuticals and food.

The Path from Dynamics GP to Acumatica

As the software chugged along, the leadership was presented with a dilemma at the end of GP’s life. Do they upgrade their current product, investing in new infrastructure, taking on risk, and cutting a healthy check for moderate improvement—or do they take the leap to a new solution?

After thoughtful deliberation, the company turned to Acumatica. Initially hesitant to go all-in on the cloud, they made the jump after reading up on the benefits. Security, uptime, and control were their main priorities, and after learning about Acumatica’s approach, they were sold. Not only is Acumatica hosted on the extremely secure and reliable AWS servers, Strahl & Pitsch found Acumatica’s approach to customer data ownership refreshing.

But it wasn’t just the infrastructure. Company leaders found much of the Acumatica functionality able to deliver for their unique needs. Manufacturing to spec by customer came naturally in the Acumatica solution. Pair this with connection between distribution and inventory, bin isolation, granular control, inventory availability and more for quality control needs, and Strahl & Pitsch found the product more and more palatable the more they learned.

Not only was the MIBAR team local, able to deliver hands-on implementation when needed, Strahl & Pitsch liked one more thing about the MIBAR offering—experience with GP.

Solution

For Strahl & Pitsch leaders, the goals were clear. Both a manufacturer and distributor of wax both nationally and internationally, the company needed an end-to-end solution ready and able to handle whatever the future throws at them.

With a few emails, discussions, and demonstrations, the deal was signed and the MIBAR team got to work. With experience in GP, manufacturing, and distribution, MIBAR specialists were able to configure the Acumatica software the way that Strahl & Pitsch leadership wanted.

To make this happen, the MIBAR team set out to make the right solution, connecting sales operations, inventory, and financials with a variety of provisions in the Acumatica software. CRM was put in place to facilitate the sales process.

Purchasing, raw materials, bill of materials, and order processes were configured to match client needs. International sales were facilitated with automatic unit of measure conversion and multi-currency functionality. Data was migrated with no problems, and the company found itself operating in a new landscape in Fall 2020.

Benefits

We couldn’t be more pleased with our MIBAR team. Changing ERP systems can be a painful process, but their expertise significantly reduced the associated growing pains. They were detailed in ensuring that every customization we needed was integrated seamlessly. They took time understanding our business needs to ensure our system was tailored accordingly. Even in the height of the COVID pandemic they provided superior consulting services. Having our MIBAR team by our side was instrumental to our successful transition.” – Laura Cohen, CEO

A Paradigm Shift for Strahl & Pitsch

In their own words, the Acumatica deployment by MIBAR resulted in a paradigm shift for the company. Prior to the Acumatica implementation, Strahl & Pitsch was relying on a disconnect between ERP and MFG. The always-online, always up to date Acumatica solution provided them with a silo-free experience, unifying supply chain management, financials, and production.

Independence

With an already-strong technological understanding, the Strahl & Pitsch team was able to familiarize itself with the solution quickly. Though MIBAR did a lot of the complex ERP-side configuration, Strahl & Pitsch took on other processes like reporting. This independence allowed them to get what they wanted in the way they wanted it.

Continuity

Though initially hesitant to go all in on the cloud, the company found value with Acumatica. Security was  a priority—Acumatica delivered. Control over data mattered—Acumatica ensured them they’re good to go. Continuity was important—so MIBAR set them up with redundancy through cloud and in-house storage. Not only were they able to reduce their reliance on internal servers, but they were also able to avoid the significant up-front cost of an on-premises deployment.

Working in the Now

One of the biggest challenges Strahl & Pitsch faced before Acumatica was their lack of consistent improvement. Years of GP left many worried about updates, as legacy updates often caused more headaches than improvements. Acumatica eased these concerns. Customizations are generally consistent between updates, and the company has worked confidently knowing that everything is online.

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