From Parents’ Garage to the World
PRODUCT
MYOB Acumatica
LOCATION
Australia
INDUSTRY
Manufacturing and Distribution
One of Australia’s leading manufacturers of air conditioning and ventilation fittings started 20 years ago by three brothers – with nothing but a business plan and some space in their parents’ garage.
Quality Air Equipment (QAE) began as a small sheet metal workshop but has since evolved into a business of around 100 staff manufacturing air diffusion products. The company exports internationally from two premises in Australia (NSW and WA) and another in Asia – their hard work has literally taken them from “garage to global”.
“Like most long-standing businesses, the boys kept a lot of what made them great in the early days such as service, teamwork and integrity but they held on to a few of the old systems which just had to go” says Inventory and Purchasing Manager of QAE, Gordon Tirekidis.
Making do with a mini system
The product evolved but their systems didn’t
For years, QAE’s accounting had been run through an older version of QuickBooks. Slowly but surely, the company needed more. The first, most obvious issue? Sheer scale. “The old system was used solely for accounting purposes and only allowed access to a maximum of 15 people. Having now grown to around 100 employees makes a big difference” says Gordon.
“I don’t know how it was managed for so long.”
“Filling in the gaps with spreadsheets was not an easy task and hard work. As a result, orders sometimes took far longer to complete than they should have. The process just took too long” explains Gordon. “It was obvious that QAE needed a software system that would ‘connect the dots’, speed everything up and help get rid of errors in the system”.
The first on the “must have list” was getting onto the cloud. The company operates under several entities and two factories with thousands of stock items so a “server based system” just wasn’t workable anymore.
“MYOB Acumatica looked like it could “tick all the boxes” and was also a far better fit than our previous system which had been “way over the top” for our organisation. With only a few customised reports, MYOB Acumatica seemed to be a “perfect fit” for QAE’s requirements.
A new system that ticked all the boxes
Starting simple with room to grow
It was obvious that QAE needed a flexible software system that could be rolled out gradually in order to manage the business.
“We started with the basics – communication between our customers and invoicing then growing from there. We didn’t want to overwhelm people with change” says Gordon.
“Order and invoice” admin costs reduced by 50%.
“Priceless” improvement in customer service.
Gordon states that he is aware of many other tasks that MYOB Acumatica is capable of, but the first order of business was to make orders more efficient to process. “This would speed things up for the client, help get stock turning over and save the company money.” And has it worked? “In a word, yes!”
Three seconds on Quality Air Equipment
- Started in Mum and Dad’s garage – heading for world domination
- One of Australia’s leading manufacturers of air diffusion products
- Still a family-run business after 20 years
Life after Acumatica
- Stock, orders and sales can be seen across the various business entities and locations
- Lots of room to grow – more modules will be added later
- Simplified processes and better efficiency in every department
- Reporting that makes their CFO very happy
- No more customers left waiting
Frequently Asked Questions
What challenges drove Quality Air Equipment to move away from their legacy accounting software?
Quality Air Equipment (QAE) outgrew their legacy QuickBooks system as they expanded from a small workshop into an international business with around 100 employees across multiple locations. The old software capped user access at 15 people, lacked cloud capabilities for multi site operations, and relied heavily on manual spreadsheets, which slowed order processing and created messy financial reporting.
How did MYOB Acumatica help QAE streamline multi site and global operations?
MYOB Acumatica provided QAE with a unified, cloud based platform accessible across two Australian premises (NSW and WA) and international locations. By eliminating the need to log in and out of different accounts or manage a traditional server based system, staff gained real time visibility of stock, orders, and sales across multiple business entities.
What measurable cost savings and efficiency gains did QAE achieve with MYOB Acumatica?
QAE reduced their order and invoice administration costs by 50 percent. Furthermore, automated processes and better inventory control allowed QAE to increase their stock turn rate from 2.5 to 3.5, significantly reducing the overhead costs required before an order reaches production.
How did MYOB Acumatica improve financial reporting and data organization for QAE?
MYOB Acumatica enabled QAE to standardise product codes and classifications, allowing them to clean up chaotic data. This automated structure reduced their Profit and Loss statement from a cluttered 30 pages down to just two concise pages, providing the executive team with clear, actionable financial reporting.
Can MYOB Acumatica be rolled out in phases for growing manufacturing companies?
Yes. QAE chose a gradual, phased implementation to avoid overwhelming staff with change, starting with core customer communications and invoicing before expanding into additional modules. MYOB Acumatica offers a flexible foundation that allows growing manufacturers to add advanced functionality as business requirements evolve.
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