LACAS COFFEE CO. THRIVES WITH SAGE 100

Lacas Coffee Company Roastery

• Implemented a single, connected platform.
• Successful implementation of a Bill of Materials process.
• Ability to calculate the true cost of numerous coffee SKU’s without manual spreadsheets.
• Replaced redundant processes with accurate, real-time information and less manual, time-consumer work for end-users.

As one of the nation’s longest running independent coffee roasters, Lacas Coffee Co. has been a staple to the South Jersey area since 1921. The Pennsauken based company delivers fresh coffee to distributors, restaurants, hotels, specialty coffee shops and retailers, all from their solar-powered facility.

While many area diners still carry the desired coffee, Lacas Coffee’s core market has expanded to accommodate the changing marketplace, says majority owner Jonathan Del Re. Though the coffee remains as memorable as ever, these changes to its business strategy have brought new advances—and challenges—to the company.

Challenges

As a successful company with an accelerated growth strategy, Lacas Coffee has faced a number of challenges in recent years. One particular challenge was the fact that its business management software, Sage, was not being used to its full potential. “Our enterprise resource planning system (ERP) wasn’t really being used properly,” Del Re says. “For example, one person would initiate production orders on their Outlook calendar, not within the robust ERP system we have. The result of working outside of the ERP system was a number of redundant processes and lots and lots of paper or said another way—inefficiency. We knew we needed help with IT training, along with additional software.”

Such inefficiencies were hindering the Lacas team’s efforts and holding the company back from its next level of success.

ERP Solution

After numerous failed attempts at working with different ERP vendors and partners, Del Re and Lacas Coffee turned to Sage 100 and ACC Software Solutions for help. Sage 100 is more powerful than accounting software, and more nimble than a traditional ERP – it’s a total business management solution. ACC Software Solutions, led by President and CEO, Sean Atkins, is a leading ERP provider for the South Jersey and Philadelphia area. ACC offers a full range of business management technology services, including consulting, ERP implementation, targeted training, and ongoing support. With over 25 years of software and industry experience, Lacas Coffee Co. was guaranteed to find success.

Del Re says the staff at ACC actually took the time to listen to what their needs were and spent time getting to know what the company does, so they could maximize the efficiency of their systems. “ACC remained agnostic through the evaluation process and helped us get to the answer that was right for us,” Del Re says, noting that the evaluation process involved a hands-on approach from ACC staff, who discussed Lacas Coffee Company’s needs with management in a conference room, and at the desks of employees throughout the organization, to get a full understanding of how the company operates and what would work best for their business.

ACC led Lacas Coffee through the successful implementation of a bill of materials process, which allows the company to better track product costing in real-time. Calculating the true cost of numerous coffee SKU’s using excel sheets was yet another inefficiency to streamline. The new business process utilizes Lacas Coffee’s ERP system, providing the benefit of accurate, real-time information with less work. Though this implementation required a significant time commitment from both ACC and Lacas Coffee, Del Re says ACC was very accommodating to Lacas Coffee’s needs.

Outcome

With its initial challenges addressed, Del Re says Lacas Coffee will continue to lean on ACC for their software expertise and as a business partner. “We’re not done yet. There’s much more that we need to do over time,” he says, “and ACC is working with us through the process in a flexible way, instead of everything becoming an invoice with very little guidance.”

Your Next Steps

Contact the ACC Software Solutions as we understand the unique challenges within the food and beverage industry. This knowledge, combined with top technology solutions, delivers a feature-rich, fully integrated manufacturing, distribution, customer management, project management, and accounting solution.

ACC Software Solutions is the leading ERP cloud provider for the South Jersey and Philadelphia area. At ACC, we offer a full range of business management technology services, including consulting, ERP implementation, targeted training, and ongoing support. We aim to build long-lasting relationships based on trust by committing to support your business goals today, and tomorrow. With over 25 years of software and industry experience, you’re guaranteed to find success with our team.

Contact ACC Software Solutions for FREE consultation.