hiPP reaps the benefits of power-reporting

It was the ‘Jekyll and Hyde’ nature of hiPP.com.au’s software which management discovered was doing evil things to its cost overheads. That all changed with Greentree and Star...

hiPP.com.au are passionate designers of fashion packaging, social stationery and gift lines which are sold off-the-shelf through a network of wholesale distributors and retailers throughout Australia and New Zealand.

The business situation
Basically, there are two separate but cooperative businesses; The Carton House designs and manufactures gift boxes and cardboard packaging solutions which are made-to-order and sold direct to businesses and customers; hiPP.com.au designs and sells packaging and social stationery which is sold via a network of wholesale distributors and retailers throughout Australia & New Zealand.

When Eric Sara, General Manager at hiPP.com.au initially came on-board as Systems Manager to evaluate and improve hiPP’s business systems, he found that whilst the vertical market system used widely by the print and packaging industry worked fine for The Carton House, it was hiPP’s biggest overhead. It was cumbersome when it came to managing the financial and stock control aspects of the business and simply didn’t allow the visibility and reporting of daily workflows Eric was looking for.

Deal-clinching factors for Greentree & Star
He evaluated systems ranging from web-based and simple to complex and concedes that the core features and functionality of each system were relatively homogeneous. However, Eric says that “on the face of it, Greentree had an edge in terms of its work flow and drill down capability”.

Workflow is a dynamic desktop tool that provides users and managers with exactly the information they require for their role instantly, in real time. Eric explains how “warehouse staff used to print a daily report of which orders needed to be packed whereas now, they can readily access and pick orders on-the-fly plus tell customers the ‘live’ status of an order,  which is absolutely invaluable”. In terms of order management and knowing exactly “how busy we are” Eric says, “Workflow has saved so much time and for our business, this factor alone has meant that the benefits of Greentree by far exceed the cost”. For Eric, these were stand-out factors that clinched the buy deal and post-implementation, he says they’re still discovering just how much more Greentree has to offer.

Enabling power-reporting
The business has thousands of customers of small value which requires a level of flexibility and customisation of reports Eric could not find in other reporting and analysis tools. Excel integration, Tree Analysis and Report Writer combine to provide a powerful tool enabling him to “grab weird fields of data and use Greentree’s Tree Analysis to group and segment data by specific market verticals then produce a customised report using Report Writer, which is just fantastic”.

Other reporting and analysis tools require you to sift through standard fields of data which for hiPP.com.au, simply isn’t practical given the large numbers of small value customers. Greentree’s powerful reporting engine enables the flexibility to produce such critical reports as Sales Analysis and Leakage. Basically, these tell the Sales Manager which customers aren’t making repeat purchases and Eric says that for a sales-oriented business such as hiPP.com.au, this is strategically significant.

“Fantastic” working relationship
Eric is aware that not all system implementations go according to plan and things can go horribly wrong but this was certainly not the case this time. He says that currently, they’re working with the Greentree business partner, Star, to revamp their packing slips to ensure it’s easier to follow and customers get the information they need.

When the partner came back to him, he found that what they suggested was 90% correct which is true testimony to how well they understand the business and the product.

“Our Greentree business partner [Star] knows Greentree inside-out and they went the extra mile to not only understand what we do, but why we do it – they’re not ‘yes-men’ so to speak. They listen attentively to what we want to do and provide constructive feedback, which is fantastic,” says Eric.

Greentree listening to users
Another thing which is really impressing Eric about Greentree is the fact that the customer can make suggestions for improvements to the modules they’re using and these will appear in upgrades, albeit eventually. “Greentree is progressive enough to want to continuously improve the software which is very much a long-term view of their relationship with customers,” Eric says.

As far as Eric is concerned, Greentree has more than exceeded his expectations by enabling both tangible and intangible business value.

Happy users work with a system that is easy to use and empowers them to give customers the answers to ‘where’s my stuff’ questions instantly, no fuss, and no stress.

Greentree has introduced Eric to the business environment he wants to move the business to.

For more information
www.StarBusinessSolutions.com.au

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