The state of the economy, the “mad cow” disease concern a few years ago, and now H1N1 – it all adds up to a perfect storm for companies in the meat-products business. One Toronto meat and dairy trader seems to be using IT to paddle its way out.
About four years ago the bovine spongiform encephalitis (BSE) outbreak – mad cow disease – put a major dent in the world’s beef markets. Today, pork producers struggle with the association between the H1N1 virus – “swine flu” – and their offerings. And thanks to the global financial situation, if ever customers of any business sought a price break, this would be it.
Certainly
Ronald A. Chisholm Ltd., a Toronto meat and dairy trader, has seen its share of ups and downs since it began in 1938. However the firm managed to survive in the past, it’s using technology to help make it through now. Recently the company implemented a single business-software platform to reduce its office workload, and hopefully save money in the process.
Previously the business had separate software systems for trading and accounting. Employees wasted time transferring data from each to the other, and reconciling them. Time is money, and every stitch of time wasted in that process spelled increased costs for Chisholm.
Earlier this year, the company signed up for
SAP AG’s Business All-In-One system. Designed for mid-sized businesses, it supports everything from financial tasks to HR, inventory, customer service, sales and marketing, according to the software vendor. Since all of the pieces work together, it’s easier for users to switch between applications, and reconcile data among them.
“The shift to an integrated IT platform is expected to eliminate the time our employees have to spend monitoring and reconciling data between our separate trading and accounting systems,” says Gregg Badger, Chisholm’s chief operating officer. “By streamlining our processes through integration, we can enable our employees to spend less time on administrative work and focus more on delivering value to our customers.”
