Success Stories

Having It Both Ways

When Fred and Paul Berry purchased Sam Denney Tractor Company in 1957, they laid the groundwork for a business that would grow to include 23 locations spanning seven divisions and five states, and become a significant player in the light and heavy construction sales, service, parts, and rental industries.

Historically, when a company grows to that size, they have a hard time maintaining the familiarity and personal touch of a smaller business, but the founders of Berry Companies Inc. were not content to sacrifice customer service for expansion. By cultivating a familial atmosphere inside and out - the company has been family-owned and operated for 50 years and has a history of long-term relationships with customers - Berry Companies has been able to have it both ways.

Hoping to maintain that balance into the future, the owners made the decision in 2005 to implement Activant Prelude in all seven divisions of Berry Companies. According to IT Director Wayne Becker, the company had been running on a homegrown system for more than 20 years, but the time had come to switch to a more cutting-edge solution.

"We wanted to go to that next level of technology," says Becker. "We saw opportunities to increase efficiencies across the board, and the breadth and integration of the modules - from Shop Repair to Rental to Inventory to the General Ledger - was perfectly suited to our needs."

Implementation Times Seven

When the executives at Berry Companies decided to implement Prelude, they knew they would face the same logistical challenges all distributors must face when migrating to a new enterprise solution, but thanks to their various divisions, everything would be multiplied by seven. After doing the math, they decided to offer a job to a long-time friend.

"Before joining Berry Companies, I had 32 years of experience in the banking industry, where I managed 57 different systems integrations and conversions," says Becker. "I had known Fred and his son Walter, who is the current president of the company, for more than 20 years. They knew of my history with technology and project management, so when they started moving toward Prelude, they asked me to come work for them."

According to Becker, the Berrys were keen on having someone bring an outside perspective to their business as they migrated to Prelude, and with his extensive background in banking systems, Becker immediately saw the opportunities Berry Companies could capitalize on with an integrated solution.

"In the banking world, you had a checking account system, a loan system, a mortgage system, and so on, and they didn't talk very well to each other," explains Becker. "With Prelude, we're using just about every module across the system, and since they all roll up into the same, real-time database, we're seeing major gains in efficiencies and availability of information."

Multiplying benefits

In April of 2006, Berry Companies' Colorado division, Bobcat of the Rockies, which specializes in skid steer loaders, compact excavators, and light construction equipment and supplies, was the first division to go live on Prelude. Instead of migrating the entire company at once, the executives felt that switching over a division at a time would make for a smoother transition overall.

"A tiered rollout makes sense for a couple of reasons," says Becker. "Number one, we don't have to dedicate massive resources to training and support for the whole company. Instead, we've set up a training team that goes out to each location and follows the Prelude methodology of scenario testing, simulated go-live, and then go-live."

He continues: "Another benefit of migrating division by division is that we can take what we learn from each go-live and apply it to the next. We should be a well-oiled machine by the time we get to number seven."

If the success the Colorado division has had with Prelude so far is any indication, the other six should expect a similar impact on operations. According to Becker, with a little more than a year on the solution, the Colorado division has already been able to reduce their inventory investment thanks to Prelude's robust purchasing functionality.

"We've seen our inventory come down as sales have gone up, so consequently, we've had faster turns," he says. "Prelude has us really trusting the ordering process, which has helped us buy smarter and drive down our inventory interest costs, specifically in the area of parts."

By the winter of 2007, Berry Companies will have four of its seven divisions up and running on Prelude, and the executives look forward to continued success. "Each day we learn more and get better with the solution, so we're anxious to get everybody fully up on it," Becker concludes. "Activant is a big player in the distribution software world, and we look forward to multiplying the benefits we've already seen from our partnership."

For more information on Activant's enterprise software solutions, please fill out our Web Contact Form.

Back to Top