LinedIn Code

Gourmet food distributor boosts customer service agility with SAP Business One

“We would definitely recommend Leverage Technologies to any other business looking at implementing a new ERP system.”

Chris Cole

Business Development Manager

Industry

Wholesale distribution
Food and beverage

Employees

10-15 staff

Background overview

Since 1987 Markris Foods has sold and delivered an extensive range of dry, chilled and frozen goods to all sectors of the restaurant and hospitality industry on the Sunshine Coast, offering a combination of popular and gourmet/niche products. With the goal of earning customer’s lifetime loyalty, customer service underpins everything the Markris Foods team does. Neil Cole, Director of Markris Foods, said that includes making ad-hoc deliveries and sourcing specific one-off products.

The Challenge

Going the extra mile for clients and keeping track of a diverse product range requires visibility and flexibility. Markris Foods found their previous ERP simply wasn’t up to the task.

“We needed to find a new solution because our old solution was very outdated. As a business we want to move forward and look for a product that would allow us to expand on what we already do but then also look towards the future,” said Chris Cole, Markris Foods’ Business Development Manager.

Why SAP Business One and Leverage Technologies?

Markris Foods chose SAP Business One because it provides:

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A single point of truth across sales, purchasing, finance, inventory, and distribution

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Powerful industry-specific features on a scalable platform

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Intuitive analytics/reporting and an easy-to-use interface

SAP B1 offers a clearer picture of every step in the company’s supply chain, internal processes, and customer relationships. They opted for the cloud-based version so they can securely access insights from SAP Business One from anywhere, anytime.

Markris Foods felt confident about working with Leverage Technologies to deliver SAP Business One due to our superior industry knowledge and collaborative style.

“In our industry, it’s very hard to find people who really know what’s going on, and we found that Leverage Technologies really understood our business,” Chris Cole said.

The Outcome

The solution was quickly embraced by the Markris Foods team, allowing them to benefit from:

Reliable data about company-wide performance

Simplified and standardised workflows

Smarter and faster decision-making

A better capacity to serve and delight customers

Markris Foods’ Sales and Account Manager Dean Browne said SAP B1 had improved all key business functions and uncovered information that was critical for decision-making.

“I don’t know how Markris would actually cope without it to be truthful,” Browne said.

“We do everything from purchasing to stock-takes to bin locations to reports on sales; telling us what our top five customers are, things that we never had privy to us prior, when we had our old system,” he said.

Business Development Manager Chris Cole said SAP Business One had allowed Markris Foods to become a more efficient and better functioning business.

“SAP Business One has allowed us to streamline a lot of our processes, from both a sales point of view and also a purchasing point of view,” he said.

Having an experienced SAP Business One Gold Partner on their side—Leverage Technologies—was a key factor in the success of the implementation, according to Chris Cole.

“The support offered by the team was absolutely outstanding and we couldn’t be where we are right now without them,” he said.

“We would recommend Leverage Technologies 100 percent. The support offered, as well as the relationships that we have built up, are going to put us in good stead for the future.”

Wholesale Food Distribution Company Runs Fast With SAP Business One – ERP Success Story