Q-PAC Systems, Inc.

Acumatica Manufacturing Edition
Connecting its QUIPS ordering system was the top priority for a new system. Q-PAC also wanted
a cloud-based system with multi-region support and a system that could scale and allow them
to customize unique processes. “We didn’t want to adapt to a tool,” says Burgos. “We wanted to
have a great tool with a good base that we could modify a little bit and customize for our use.”

Q-PAC evaluated Microsoft Dynamics, Odoo, and Oracle NetSuite, and then learned about
Acumatica. They narrowed the list to Dynamics and Acumatica, choosing Acumatica for its
unlimited user pricing, open API, and ease-of-use. Acumatica Manufacturing provided a single
source of truth, and the flexibility to integrate third-party applications.

In Acumatica, “you could see the integration capabilities that were exposed and available,” Tulip
says. “And it became a no-brainer. Acumatica had some things that we did not even think about
that we might need. The open API was the driving factor for us. And price was a significant factor.”
“Everybody else had a user per seat license and it was ridiculous, but Acumatica had unlimited
users and was transaction based,” he explains.

Early on, Q-PAC was considered an All-Microsoft shop. Still, the enterprise-grade price of
Dynamics and its seemingly overly complicated implementation for a small startup made them
reconsider that move. “I thought it was going to be an expensive experience, and if we failed to
integrate outside applications properly at the cost that it had just didn’t make sense,” Tulip says.
From a technical perspective, several executives said that Acumatica had everything Q-PAC
needed to integrate and operate. “Once I learned more about how Acumatica worked and the
architecture behind the pages where we see the data and how all of the data is connected in
the background, and how we can access it and make it available for others via different generic
inquires, that’s when it clicked,” Burgos says. “I realized it was going to be super, super easy to
use because we could customize it however we wanted and see the data that we needed.”

Customer Success
As a startup, executives created new workflows with help from I-Tech Solutions, Inc.,
its integration partner. “We needed to set up our customers, our business accounts,
customer accounts and other items,” says Tulip.

Once everything was set up and configured, the company moved over two years of data
from its many spreadsheets. “The transition process to Acumatica involved understanding
the different concepts like sales orders, bill of materials, vendors, inventory, stock items,
and non-stock items to configure the different endpoints that allowed us to port data over,”
Tulip says. “It was actually rather smooth.”

Automated Processes Save Time
Q-PAC gained instant access to a single record of information that used to take days to find
and compile—if executives could find it among many spreadsheets. Reports can be run in
real-time with accurate information, and executives better understand how the company is
performing daily—not weeks or months after the fact. Faster access to critical data allows
Q-PAC to operate more efficiently and flex as needed to address market changes.

“Previously, the information was spread out; nobody knew what the latest information was,
and having to find it across different Excel files was very challenging,” says Burgos. “Thanks to
Acumatica and the integrations that we have, we get daily reports instantly, and monthly reports
two or three days after the month ends. Having access to data anywhere, at any time, is key.”
Burgos likes that he can access customized dashboards from his smartphone no matter where
he is. “I mainly use it for our dashboard just to know how the week is going and what’s been
produced,” he says.

Improved Inventory, Production
Q-PAC now imports its design specs from QUIPS directly into Acumatica, which automates the
process of creating the manufacturing requirements and work orders for the subassemblies
that ultimately roll up into a final assembly. Acumatica provides visibility so everyone sees
whether components are in stock and what capacity is needed for a project. Acumatica allows
Q-PAC to see accurate inventory and production costs, which allows executives to calculate
the project profitability correctly.

“There are no more Excel files, and no more errors,” Tulip says. “Prior to Acumatica I had to
manually transcribe things into a spreadsheet and use a search feature to try to find an order and
what its status was,” says Randall West, Operations Manager. “Now, I open a window and take a
look at it and don’t spend 45 minutes searching. We can actually track what we can do now.”

Order status was mostly a guess previously, he says. “In terms of personal productivity,
Acumatica probably saved me years of my life. I think there’s a lot of time saved in inventory
management, and now (the shop floor) has confidence that when they start an order, we’re not
stalled for three weeks waiting for a part because we didn’t realize we needed it.”

Acumatica provides the inventory forecasting and management Q-PAC lacked previously.
“We haven’t missed an order, or we haven’t skipped an order because we ran out of components
in a long time,” Burgos says.

Piro Zisi, Supply Chain Manager, says he’s dramatically reduced the time it takes to access
important data now that he doesn’t spend time transferring data and then manipulating it.
“I receive data for vendor on-time delivery, inventory, dollar amounts per item, what type based
on the component, and which items are below safety stock levels,” he says. “This information
is updated in real time on a dashboard.”

“The data is uploaded right away with a click of a button so I can devote more time on
important issues and objectives.” Having Acumatica as our ERP system, it has allowed
us to get real-time visibility into all aspects of our organization,” he adds. “We are able to
make strategic decisions faster using Acumatica. It creates improved collaboration across
departments, which has been really helpful.”

In terms of personal productivity, Acumatica probably saved me years of my life.

Accurate Bill of Materials
Austin Pleasants, Product Engineering Manager, says Acumatica gave them bill of materials
information that they didn’t have previously. “We can now handle different (product) revisions
and make sure that production is producing the right order, and compare it to the revision and
see if there are any differences.”

Design changes happen faster, and BOM is much more accurate. “Every job that we make is
different,” Pleasants explains. “Everything’s unique. We have different dimensions every single
time, different arrangements. So that means our bill materials are different for every project.
The open API allows us to integrate our CPQ with Acumatica to create a different BOM for
every order and allows us to group a bunch of different products and stock items together in a
specific arrangement to match exactly what the customer wants.”

More Efficient Warehouse
Q-PAC is modifying its warehouse to include four or five different internal locations for item
inventory and adding a support-related section so the team can better understand item
utilization for customer orders or support tickets. The company is also reconfiguring inventory
to be closer to workstations to reduce the time needed to pick parts.

Q-PAC has also streamlined its shipping processes, providing the logistics manager with
advanced information on production competition and shipment preparation. The data is also
available to the accounting department, which prepares and sends invoices.

In addition to the QUIPS integration, Q-PAC added Velixo Reports for advanced financial
reporting and EBizCharge for credit card processing. The company plans to automate
customer notifications when their orders hit milestones, which can boost customer satisfaction
and experience.

Fast Growing Manufacturer
Transitioning from a small company limited by simple processes to being a standard
manufacturer, everyone now “has a full understanding of why we needed new processes
like having part numbers, whether or not it’s going into work-in-progress, where it ends up,
and how it plays into the big picture,” says West. “Acumatica has helped us learn how to
operate the right way and to pay attention to processes we weren’t paying attention to that
are super important.”

According to Burgos, Acumatica will allow Q-PAC to ramp up production by 5 to 10 times if
needed. “I don’t think that Acumatica will ever be a limitation. Our data visibility is great, and
we have a scorecard that we use every day where we see how we’re doing daily, monthly,
and year- to- date.”

More importantly, “It makes our life much easier,” Burgos says.