Since 1939, locally-owned Clover Leaf Cheese Ltd. has been processing, packaging, and distributing quality cheese to retailers across Canada. Many of its delicious products are privately labeled and others are sold under the Clover Leaf and Rocky Mountain brands. While the company continues to honor its rich history and commitment to personalized service, it knows that technology is the way forward. Acumatica and The Answer Company are two technology partners Clover Leaf Cheese relies on to slice out inefficiencies and prepare the company for its next 90 years.

The Challenge

Clover Leaf Cheese has a complex production workflow. The company purchases cheese in bulk and then cuts, slices, or shreds it into various-sized packs for retail sale. Previously, it was difficult for the company to keep inventory counts accurate due to the inherent scrap and loss associated with production and packaging. Not only that, but legacy technology was holding them back.

“We had been using an outdated system that hadn’t been supported for years,” recalls Laurie Lautenslager, CPA, Office Manager for Clover Leaf Cheese. “Much to the frustration of our Managed Services Provider (MSP), it would only run on Windows 7. We knew we needed a modern cloud-based ERP to enable us to continue to grow and stay out in front in the industry. We had reached the point where starting over was our best way forward.”

The Solution

Clover Leaf Cheese researched three ERP applications – Acumatica, SAP Business One, and NetSuite – before deciding on Acumatica. “We felt they were all capable of helping run our business, but Acumatica stood out as the best fit for ease of use and practicality,” explains Laurie. “Plus, the Answer Company gave us honest, fair pricing from the start. That’s why we selected The Answer Company and Acumatica.”

Converting from an older ERP to a modern, cloud-based ERP can be a large undertaking, but Laurie says The Answer Company had a solid implementation plan and kept the project on time and on budget. “They worked with us to import our inventory items and then set up a sandbox environment where we could play with the software and work through various tasks. By the time we went live, we had full confidence in the system.”

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Laurie says The Answer Company continued to impress her throughout the implementation. “They set our expectations for the process and then met every one of them. Our consultant was approachable, knowledgeable, up-front, and confident in their ability to solve our challenges. We knew we were in good hands.”

The Answer Company completed the entire implementation remotely during the pandemic. “We made it all happen through Zoom calls,” Laurie says. “Cloud ERP makes remote implementations possible and The Answer Company further simplified the process with their skilled approach.”

The Results

The company expects to save money on both computer hardware and managed services going forward. “We can downsize our in-house server now,” says Laurie, “and our MSP now has less to manage. As a result, we’ll be able to trim our IT and hardware budgets.”

Acumatica’s intuitive interface and automated workflows also help Clover Leaf Cheese save administrative time. “Routine tasks like recording cash receipts are so much simpler and quicker in Acumatica,” says Laurie. “I estimate we’re saving three hours every day thanks to the overall efficiencies we’ve gained with Acumatica.”

Commission calculations is another task that Acumatica has helped streamline. “I used to do all the calculations manually,” says Laurie. “It took me four to five hours every month. Now, it takes less than an hour.”

Clover Leaf has five production lines and as many as 50 different ways of processing a large block of cheese. But, Laurie explains, “Acumatica can handle it and even keeps our inventory counts accurate. We do monthly inventory counts and they are now more accurate than ever. It gives us a high degree of confidence in our stock levels, leading to better buying decisions.”

Previously, Clover Leaf Cheese could not get real-time insight into its financial operations. Profit and Loss reports, for example, were only available after Laurie completed month-end closing. “Now, I can get a daily P&L snapshot if I want,” says Laurie. We have so much more visibility into our operations, and we’re using that visibility to get answers more quickly and spot trends or opportunities.”

Laurie says she’d have only positive responses if a colleague were to ask her about The Answer Company and Acumatica. “I’d tell them they can trust The Answer Company to give them straight answers and that they operate with your success at the forefront. I’d tell them that Acumatica is a comprehensive, powerful ERP that could fit the needs of nearly any company. I’d tell them that if they want a scalable solution backed by a top-tier partner, consider Acumatica and The Answer Company.”

  • 3 hrs

    daily saving in time efficiencies

  • 75%

    reduction in time to calculate commissions

Benefits

Daily Real-time P&L Reports and Dashboards, providing data to enrich decision-making and strategic pivots.
Reduction in both IT services and hardware spends
Organisation no longer faces network security risks from unsupported legacy applications