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The Situation
To say that Trillium Staffing Solutions of Kalamazoo, Michigan, has enjoyed robust growth over the past 17 years is an understatement. From a network of about 20 offices spread across three states, the company has grown to a 38-location chain spanning five states. The thing is, with Trillium, as with many flourishing firms, not every system develops at the same rate. Some may be cutting edge; others, prehistoric.
At Trillium, the problem was literature. Over the years, the system for warehousing and distributing the company’s brochures, flyers, pamphlets, and other materials to the branches had become anything but systematic. Requests were faxed into corporate headquarters, where the literature was warehoused. Average turnaround time: an unacceptable two weeks.
Thanks to Superior Business Solutions, Trillium was able to make a gradual, step-by-step transition to greater operational control and customer service.
The Superior Business Solution
In stage one, Superior Business Solutions stepped in as the company’s single source for printed materials and began warehousing them—picking, packing, and shipping from Grand Rapids. Requisitions were faxed or mailed to the warehouse, where they were reviewed and entered into computers before being dispatched.
Byproducts of this consolidation are control and facilitation, says Superior Business Solutions’ Doug Burke, who has worked with Trillium throughout the process, now in its third year. Reports that used to be difficult to generate are now routine.
Even greater improvements were realized when the inventory-control process was taken to the Internet. Superior Business Solutions set up Corporate Kiosk, a secure, customized site that replaced the company’s old requisition form while adding greater functionality and control. Nothing fancy. Just 165 or so items.
When an order is placed through Corporate Kiosk, Trillium’s purchasing authority is notified and approves the requisition. Superior Business Solutions then processes and ships the order directly, and days—even hours—replace weeks in the turnaround equation.
The Result
Trillium Accounting Assistant Phil Niswander likes not only the convenience and speed of the new approach but other qualities as well, such as the fact that Superior keeps track of what items Trillium is low on and needs to reorder.
“But what I really like, though,” Phil says, “is that we now can easily charge branches for what they use and then report that information to corporate. Before we weren’t doing that.”
Corporate Kiosk automatically tracks purchases and individual branches are billed directly—simplifying payment logistics, while Trillium’s corporate office stays informed about who is ordering what and when—keeping them in control.
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