Cemeteries Trust inter 1850’s records in system upgrade

Over 3 million burial records, some dating back to the 1850’s, have been given a secure future as part of a major system replacement…

Southern Metropolitan Cemeteries Trust (SMCT) is the leading provider of cremation and burial services within the state of Victoria. 

Renowned for its prudent cemetery management expertise, SMCT managed four cemeteries within Victoria, including Springvale Botanical, St Kilda, Dandenong and Melbourne cemeteries.  As of March 2010, they merged with Cheltenham Regional Cemeteries Trust to form SMCT.

Growing business
In 2009, Southern Metropolitan Cemeteries Trust experienced significant growth, with an increase of 7.5% in funerals, along with a further 14% increase in post-funeral functions.  In addition to the growth in the existing business, SMCT anticipated the recent merger and the need to provide for the inclusion of additional sites in the coming 12 months.

To align with its anticipated expansion it needed a management system that would be suitable for use within a range of cemeteries across the country and one which could integrate sales and customer information with information held in the accounting system.

Southern Metropolitan Cemeteries Trust invested more than $1 million in an integrated Sage Accpac ERP / Sage CRM system.

Family matters
Due to the nature and scope of the implementation – and the demands on the day to day operations of the business – delivery was planned over a 12 month period.  As well as the core Sage CRM and Sage ERP Accpac system being tailored, delivery of the solution required almost 3 million records, some of them dating back to the 1850’s, to be transferred.  Overriding these considerations was the need for the CRM system to be 100% accurate and timely at Go-Live based on the extremely sensitive nature of the interactions of the business has with customers and the industry.

Russ Allison, CEO of SMCT oversaw the project. “As a cemetery operator we are required to keep records indefinitely.  Some of the cemeteries entrusted in our care go back to the 1850’s.  People don’t care if you maintain almost 3 million records, only theirs, or their family’s, matter,” he says.

At this stage the solution is comprised of 75 licenses of Sage CRM and 10 of Sage ERP Accpac.  It is expected that this number will grow considerably as the new cemeteries come on board.

“A lot of what we are doing is about generating a benefit for the future, where the reporting functions of the new system will allow us to report on sales and historical trends, as well as tracing the attributes and interactions associated with a particular relationship,” says Allison.

The benefits
One immediate benefit has been the ability to consolidate the information and records from different operations.  “I can enter the name of a customer in the system and retrieve all the necessary information.  I was not able to do this before the introduction of [the system],” say Allison.

Because the system integrates sales, cemetery management and the accounts system, significant administrative benefits have been gained by eliminating the need for duplicate data entry.  Once a record is updated in one system, the relevant information is reflected across the entire organistation, in all divisions.

The future
The SMCT vision is now a reality.  The recent merger doubled the number of cemeteries within the group.  SMCT plans to roll out the Sage solution to manage the operations of these new sites and is constantly working on the development and improvement of business management processes that are reflected in their industry-leading solution.  Enhancements have included Botanical Management and Plaque Management.

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