Callen Corp. delivers top-shelf service to Wal-Mart, with help from Digital Strategies and AccountMate
Customer
Callen Corporation

Corporate Profile
Headquarters
Paterson, NJ

Type of Business
Manufacturer of Photo Mats

Number of Locations: 1

Number of Employees: 75

Annual Revenue:
$10 million plus

Computer System
Microsoft Windows

Users on System: 5

AccountMate Modules in Operation
Sales Order
Accounts Receivable
Accounts Payable
General Ledger

"We've watched as Digital Strategies modified AccountMate, linked it with VisualOrderTrak and maximized EDI Auto's capabilities to make us very confidant about our business processes and longevity as a successful trading partner."

- Bernie Callen,
   Owner,
   Callen Corp.

Industry Experts Speak Out on AccountMate
"AccountMate has proven its position in the industry as the most mature, stable, flexible and scalable source code SQL accounting solution available today. For the many companies seeking true value in a very robust business management system, one that rivals higher end and therefore more expensive systems, I can recommend AccountMate without hesitation."

- J. Carlton Collins,
   President,
   Accounting Software Advisor
Callen Corp. is a lean, highly efficient manufacturer and distributor of photo mats used for picture framing, located in Paterson, New Jersey. Taken at face value, a casual observer might quickly evaluate the company as "small stuff" in a not-very-exciting business niche.

However, the reality is quite the opposite. Callen Corp. successfully meets the demands of customers such as Wal-Mart, Michaels, and A.C. Moore using EDI Auto from Union Data Systems, AccountMate software, and a custom program called VisualOrderTrak that tracks the entire life of a Sales Order from inception through payment with all pertinent information residing in one location.

But Callen's business has not always run so smoothly, or successfully.

The Way it Was - 2002
Callen has come a long way in a very short time. As recently as 2002, Callen was heavy on personnel, prone to duplicate order shipping, and missing the automated business processes that could take it to the next level.

"We were clearly struggling to keep up with the strict requirements of Wal-Mart, and others," said Dennis Callen, Operations Manager at Callen Corp. "While we had some systems in place to create invoices and ship orders, the amount of 'human touch' required to make these processes happen made our systems anything but automated. That's the point at which we looked for help from a new source."

Enter Paul Joinnides, President of Digital Strategies in Summit, New Jersey. Paul walked into Callen's offices in 2002, and his discovery process yielded numerous and immediate red flags, including:
  • Significant manual effort was devoted to initiating and processing EDI orders from primary trading partners

  • Matching PO numbers to a Sales Order and then associated Tracking Number was a complicated, hands-on task involving numerous opportunities for human error

  • Tracking FedEx shipments manually, on paper

  • Inability to ensure that shipped orders were invoiced and that invoices were sent electronically to trading partners (Wal-Mart, et al) via EDI

  • Determining that orders had not shipped, or not been invoiced, or invoiced incorrectly were being discovered by the trading partner rather than Callen
Joinnides had a significant task ahead of him, with Callen's business future on the line.

Success through Automation, Innovation, and a Technology Intervention Callen Corp. was suffering from what Joinnides calls "half a solution." As he saw it, "a number of the technology components, such as EDI, were present and could potentially enable Callen to successfully conduct business with the Big Boys - but these pieces needed to be integrated, modified, and linked with several other mission-critical applications."

Callen's ace in the hole, as Joinnides looks back, was owner Bernie Callen's "progressive thinking, and an unshakable resolve to do whatever it took to be successful."

Digital Strategies' solution involved several steps:
  • Stabilizing and automating the EDI process and Order process

  • Customizing several reports to better meet Callen's business needs and reduce order processing time in the warehouse

  • Introducing VisualOrderTrak, which Digital Strategies developed specifically for Callen

  • Fully utilizing AccountMate's customization capabilities to integrate these applications into the core accounting package
Callen Corp. Circa 2004
Callen has come a long way in a very short time. Since Joinnides appeared in 2002, Callen Corp has grown to over $10 million, is annually processing over 33,000 orders representing almost 675,000 line items, and is shipping over 29,000 boxes via FedEx. Thanks to the solution developed by Digital Strategies, Callen can determine in less than a minute if any invoice has not been automatically generated by AccountMate and sent via EDI to Wal-Mart, Michaels or A.C. Moore. They can also instantly identify all orders that have not been readied to send to the factory floor. "Today, Callen is anchored on very solid ground, with exception reporting capabilities that allow managers to get to the heart of a problem in a matter of a few minutes," said Joinnides.

When they ship an order in the AccountMate Sales Order module, the invoice number, date and amount are now part of the order's lifecycle record. All tracking numbers in the VisualOrderTrak system are linked to the FedEx site, where the current status can be viewed and proof-ofdelivery can be found. All accounting data entered into the AccountMate Accounts Receivable module is instantly captured and updated on the VisualOrderTrak record. These guys are doing everything necessary to compete with much larger vendors who serve giants like Wal-Mart."

Paul's group has delivered a total business management and manufacturing/distribution solution that has allowed us to reduce headcount, sleep much easier at night, and know in a heartbeat where to locate any anomalies that might occur," added Bernie Callen, Owner of Callen Corp. "We've watched as Digital Strategies modified AccountMate, linked it with VisualOrderTrak and maximized EDI Auto's capabilities to make us very confidant about our business processes and longevity as a successful trading partner."
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