Vetrazzo Builds Customized ERP Solution on Force.com in 7 Months

"With Force.com we've created a state-of-the-art, fully integrated solution specific to our business needs in a fraction of the time and at a fraction of the cost —without the headaches associated with big ERP implementations."


Challenge
  • Vetrazzo, a leader in the rapidly growing market of recycled glass countertops, required an enterprise resource planning (ERP) system it could customize to handle its unique manufacturing processes.
  • The eco-friendly small business lacked the budget and personnel required to purchase and implement a traditional on-premise ERP system.
  • Without an IT department, executives wanted to avoid having to purchase and manage hardware infrastructure.
  • The company needed a Web-based solution for its national staff that it could easily support and build upon as its business grows.

Solution
  • After seeing a prototype built using Visualforce on Force.com, Vetrazzo chose to build its own solution rather than purchase an expensive ERP package from SAP or Oracle.
  • With the help of salesforce.com partner The Claiborne Company, Vetrazzo expanded on the prototype to build an ERP system customized to fit its specific business processes. The company’s custom apps include: Customer Service and Order Management; Finished Goods Inventory Management; Production Planning and Scheduling; Raw Materials Management; Shipping and Logistics; Document Management; Warranty Management.
  • Invoicing is also handled using Force.com; planned integration with Quickbooks will tie in financials.
  • The company used Visualforce to customize the user interface to support specific functionality required to manage its unique manufacturing processes.
  • Force.com provides a unified, cloud-based platform that automatically integrates Vetrazzo’s ERP and CRM applications. All data objects, UI components, and logic can be easily shared and analyzed across the multiple systems, providing a true 360-degree view of the business. 
  • Vetrazzo uses Salesforce Enterprise Edition for CRM, including the Salesforce Customer Service & Support solution to push information such as “where to buy” data from Salesforce to its public Web site.
  • Vetrazzo takes advantage of Salesforce online training and participates in the Salesforce Community site where it gleans best practices contributed by product managers, implementation experts, and customers. The company found The Claiborne Company through the Salesforce Community.

Results
  • The power of Force.com enabled Vetrazzo to build, customize, and deploy an ERP system in just 7 months.
  • By building its own application, the company avoided having to pay for functionality it would never use. 
  • Executives at the company estimate that they built their solution in a fraction of the time and at a fraction of the cost without the headaches associated with traditional ERP software implementations.
  • The platform-as-a-service model means there is no infrastructure or maintenance to worry about, enabling Vetrazzo to forgo an IT staff.
  • Vetrazzo plans to build and deploy additional apps for purchasing and for equipment maintenance management. In addition, the company will deploy the Salesforce Partner Network for channel management and Salesforce for Google AdWords to manage its online advertising.
 
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