Duc-Pac Corporation: Positive Changes for a Steel Duct Fabrication Company
Duc-Pac, a family-owned and rapidly expanding company, manufactures residential air ducts and fittings that have endless applications in air conditioning, air filtration, and new heat-pump technology. With customers all over New England, Duc-Pac quickly outgrew the 40,000-square-foot facility they were located in. Moving to a 103,000-square-foot factory in Springfield, Massachusetts, the 60+ employees and management now have the room they need to grow the company to its full potential. However, a new location wasn’t the only development in store for Duc-Pac. Along with the move, the company upgraded to an ERP system that would support its growth.
In a conversation with Kathy Robertson, the Financial Controller, she described the excitement and challenges in utilizing NetSuite to take Duc-Pac to the next level.
Challenges: Upgrading to NetSuite From a Homegrown System
Since the 1950s, Duc-Pac had been utilizing a homegrown system for all its business needs. It was programmed in COBOL, a computer programming language designed for business use, by one of the owners. There was a sales-order entry module that the team could get sales from, but it had no integration with the general ledger. It generated accounts receivable aging reports, but the functionality essentially stopped there.
The inventory management capabilities were not much better. Kathy explains that the “inventory is all but useless because of the discipline it takes to maintain inventory, as well as the system not being able to capture anything from the raw materials to the finished goods has been really problematic.”
“Inventory [in the old system] is all but useless because of the discipline it takes to maintain inventory, as well as the system not being able to capture anything from the raw materials to the finished goods has been really problematic.”
Kathy Robertson, Financial Controller at Duc-Pac
To gain any visibility into key business processes, they had to depend on the person who originally helped to program the system. Since he has left the company, getting any reports on sales and customers was extremely difficult and costly. Duc-Pac needed better visibility quickly and efficiently, without depending on anyone else.
It was clear that a change was needed. As Kathy said, management “knew that they had gotten to the point where the old system was just not giving them the visibility that they needed to conduct the business with the amount of business growth that they wanted to establish in the next few years.”
“[Management] knew that they had gotten to the point where the old system was just not giving them the visibility that they needed to conduct the business with the amount of business growth that they wanted to establish in the next few years.”
Kathy Robertson, Financial Controller at Duc-Pac
Solution: A Software That Passed With “Flying Colors”
With Kathy on the Duc-Pac team, the search for a new software system was relatively straightforward. Having done an Oracle implementation a number of years ago, she had a high level of respect for Oracle and what they offer. After looking at NetSuite and two or three other systems, Duc-Pac decided to go with NetSuite as it was a perfect fit for the company’s size, the pricing was within their budget, and it was overall, very reasonable for what they needed. Kathy comments that, “NetSuite came through with flying colors not just because of the functionality but because we know the company is going to be there for us in the future.”
“NetSuite came through with flying colors not just because of the functionality but because we know the company is going to be there for us in the future.”
Kathy Robertson, Financial Controller at Duc-Pac
Nevertheless, the functionality that NetSuite offers is a major plus. The Duc-Pac team is excited to get their hands on a transformative system. Since sales and inventory were the major drivers of getting a new system, Kathy shares that the initial training that she’s done with the team on sales orders has been very positive.
Duc-Pac will gain the visibility that it needs with NetSuite’s customizable reports. Sharing her love for NetSuite’s report module, Kathy elaborates, “The customizability of the reports is just amazing.” By exploring the system more in-depth, she continually finds more and more new capabilities within NetSuite.
Kathy has big plans for the future and is determined to use NetSuite to its fullest potential. “Once we start using [the system] more, I’m sure we’re going to be rolling out things that are helpful for more than just our day-to-day business,” she envisions.
“Once we start using [the system] more, I’m sure we’re going to be rolling out things that are helpful for more than just our day-to-day business.”
Kathy Robertson, Financial Controller at Duc-Pac
On the Paapri Side: Exceptional Communication, Project Management, and Delivery
When it comes to such a large undertaking, a significant amount of time and effort must be devoted from all sides for a successful implementation. Kathy, having done several implementations, fully understands the commitment that is necessary on the customer-side and does an excellent job at staying on top of everything.
In addition to the effort put in by Kathy and her team, exceptional communication and turn-around time from the Paapri Delivery Team was crucial for success. Kathy believes that Arnab Roy, Senior Consultant and Project Lead, “has done a very good job” and is “very responsive.”
One of the common themes to a happy long-term partnership between Paapri and our customers as well as a smooth implementation is effective communication. Kathy concurs that a key factor that contributed to the success of the project was “having really good communication and making sure that we’re able to get resolution on things as they come up.”
Lastly, coming as no surprise, Courtney Marvel, the Project Manager, continues to do a fantastic job collaborating with the Delivery Team to ensure that deliverables are sent in a timely manner and the project is completed smoothly.
All in all, Kathy says, “We’re trying to migrate our information and our visibility over to something that is better for our business to be able to grow. Both NetSuite and Paapri have been instrumental with that.”
“We’re trying to migrate our information and our visibility over to something that is better for our business to be able to grow. Both NetSuite and Paapri have been instrumental with that.”
Kathy Robertson, Financial Controller at Duc-Pac
Conclusion: Ready for Growth With a New System and Location
While Duc-Pac is fielding two large changes simultaneously—a larger facility as well as a transformative software system—this progress is necessary for the future growth of the business. Kathy is optimistic about this change, stating, “It’s almost essential that when we get to that new building—because things are going to change so much—that we have the visibility that NetSuite offers us.”
“It’s almost essential that when we get to that new building—because things are going to change so much—that we have the visibility that NetSuite offers us.”
Kathy Robertson, Financial Controller at Duc-Pac
