Los Angeles-based Walker Foods, Inc. has the unique distinction as both the first company to produce salsa in the United States and the first to make salsa in America to be exported to Mexico. The company was founded by James Walker in 1905 and has remained a family-run business ever since, now under the direction of Robert Walker, James’ grandson.

The Challenge

For many years, the various departments at Walker Foods had worked independently of each other, with information from one department not readily accessible to any other. According to Walker Foods’ IT Consultant David Reyes, “Shipping was not integrated with sales or our accounting personnel. People couldn’t see what others in the company were doing. It became clear that we needed a fully integrated system in place that could envelop every part of our operations and streamline business processes. We had to let go of some tried-and-true procedures that just weren’t efficient enough to keep pace with the growth we were experiencing.”

The Solution

At the advice of the CharterHouse team, Walker Foods took the first step by upgrading its business systems by installing the AccountMate SQL accounting system. AccountMate’s easy user interface enabled everyone, including novice computer users on Walker’s staff, to quickly become comfortable with the new system. This quick adoption, allowed Walker Foods to benefit almost immediately from much-improved coordination among departments.

Further Streamlining the Order Processing

The next step was to increase accuracy and efficiency in the ordering process for the company and its fast-growing number of customers. “We typically handle between 20-100 orders per day and every one of these must be processed 100% accurately or we risk running into problems,” claims Reyes. “Let’s say that a customer places an order for five different products with different quantities for each. If any part of the order is entered incorrectly, we could end up shipping the wrong item or the wrong quantity, leaving us with an unhappy customer and a mistake that needs to be corrected right away. What we needed was an online system to facilitate the entire ordering process for our customers and employees, eliminating input errors and delayed shipments.”

Walker Foods turned to CharterHouse for a solution and the result was the tight integration provided by the AccountMate software and AppFinity’s WebCustomer product. WebCustomer functionality additionally provided Walker Foods with an Internet-based quoting and ordering functions which enabled their authorized employees to place orders directly into the AccountMate Sales Order module online whenever they wanted.

This solution provided the best opportunity for Walker Foods to increase the accuracy of orders placed into the company’s system, and continues to significantly reduce administrative and sales support expenses.

“We implemented this fully integrated system a few months ago and we haven’t had one problem yet,” said Reyes. “When our customers enter their own order information online, they have full confidence that their order will be processed and shipped immediately. They don’t have to worry about details such as correct item numbers, pricing or timely delivery of orders. A great feature of the WebCustomer system is that after a customer submits an order, they receive an e-mail confirmation within minutes that their order has been received. A little later, they receive a second e-mail confirmation stating that their order has been approved, with delivery or pickup date included.”

There was one more recurring issue that Walker Foods management wanted to resolve— employees at its customer service desk were spending too much time looking around for signed Bill-of-Ladings (BOLs). They were tired of initiating collection calls only to hear a response of, “we cannot find proof of delivery”.

CharterHouse helped to develop an integrated solution that would incorporate a “touch-screen” hand-held device to display a standard Bill-of-Lading and capture the receiver’s signature. This electronic document could then be saved in the company’s AccountMate accounting system for future hard-copy printing or sent via electronic transmittal as an email attachment or a fax. This challenge was met with AppFinity’s innovative eBOL solution that utilizes the latest PC Tablet technology.

According to Reyes, “We can now call up a signed BOL for any customer’s invoice, which greatly enhances our customer service performance and efficiency. Plus, the system is so straightforward; our delivery people learned how to use it in minutes. Each eBOL involves three signatures. With all these checks in the process, we have much better inventory control and very few mistakes.”

David Reyes has nothing but praise for the level of service Walker Foods receives from CharterHouse Software and the power of the software they recommend. “Even before I arrived here, CharterHouse had long since earned a tremendous reputation for their attentiveness to our needs and superior IT expertise. Everything I have seen during my tenure supports this reputation”. Walker Foods’ satisfaction is a testimonial to both the strength of the software implemented and the commitment by AccountMate to work exclusively through its reseller channel.

About The Customer—Walker Foods, Inc.

Since 1905, Walker Foods, Inc. has been producing some of the world’s finest salsas. Founded by James Walker in 1905, this familyrun business is currently run by James’ grandson, Robert. The company occupies its original site in the heart of the Los Angeles metro area. Walker Foods’ distribution of its products has expanded from the Pacific States to include the greater Southwest and Midwest. To learn more about Walker Foods, visit
www.walkerfoods.net

About CharterHouse Software

Since 1978, CharterHouse Software Corporation (Westlake Village, California) has consistently positioned itself as a technology-driven company that has helped many clients with networking and custom software solutions for their businesses. CharterHouse holds dozens of copyrights for PC-based software. CharterHouse currently has serviced over 70,000 clients coast to coast. The company’s products include CharterHouse-developed and “best-of-breed” in the storage, networking and accounting areas. Services include consulting, programming, wireless, video and complete installation and support. To learn more about Charterhouse, visit
www.chsoft.com

About Third Party Software Solution Provider—AppFinity Software

AppFinity Software Corporation (San Francisco, California) is dedicated to the design, implementation and support of e-commerce solutions that leverage existing technology investments and minimize ongoing IT costs. AppFinity solutions are fully customizable and can integrate with most existing commercial Web sites and popular accounting software systems. To learn more about AppFinity Software, visit
www.appfinity.com

About AccountMate

Founded in 1984, AccountMate develops and markets fully modifiable business accounting software. Systems range from single user versions to those that support hundreds of users simultaneously. AccountMate software is distributed exclusively through a worldwide channel of authorized solution providers. AccountMate can be reached at (800) 877-8896 or at www.accountmate.com