Case Study: Profectus Livestock Solutions
Nearly every company encounters the unexpected when implementing an ERP. The right implementation partner can make the difference between overcoming those obstacles and failing completely.
Not every enterprise resource planning (ERP) implementation involves entirely new software. Sometimes, the job features an old system for a new company.
Profectus Livestock Solutions (PLS) approached SuiteDynamics in early 2024 to implement and customize a NetSuite ERP platform that could accommodate the former subsidiary’s newly formed organization. The PLS team used NetSuite with their parent company and wanted the business to have its own instance to accommodate unique processes—and they needed that system in 90 days.
Without expert guidance, a company could never implement a complex ERP platform in three months. The staff would create a mess of modules and workflows, wasting time and money. Then, they would still have to contract experts to sort it all out.
We know your time and resources are too valuable to squander. SuiteDynamics works with NetSuite to customize and implement NetSuite ERP software for companies in nearly every industry. Our experts will examine your goals and pain points and produce bespoke software solutions that meet your needs.
Schedule a free consultation with our team to discuss your company’s process issues and how SuiteDynamics can solve them with NetSuite software. We can even visit onsite to assess your operations or ERP system in person. Together, we’ll discover just how well your business can run.
The Client:
Established in 2024, PLS is a livestock animal health and feed retailer that provides veterinary services and animal health products to farms throughout the Upper Midwest. The company currently employs 27 staff members and serves more than 1,000 customers.
The Problem:
Until recently, the PLS team operated within the Farmers Business Network's (FBN) livestock subsidiary. During that time, PLS employees conducted business through FBN’s NetSuite ERP system.
Of course, after breaking away from FBN and establishing itself as Profectus Livestock Solutions, the company needed its own NetSuite instance.
However, the ERP implementation wasn’t cut and dry. FBN’s NetSuite platform included a prescription and prescription-adjacent record management system that didn’t transfer to PLS’s new instance. The system was crucial because it allowed PLS to issue and track prescriptions and veterinary visits, ensuring the company only sold prescription products to prescription holders. Without it, the business would have difficulty complying with regulations.
PLS also needed this work done quickly. As business was ramping up, the company requested a quick 90-day implementation and a corrected record management system by June 2024.
The Solution:
PLS chose to work with SuiteDynamics based on a recommendation from NetSuite. CFO Dan Greve said his company appreciated that SuiteDynamics was based in the Midwest and had performed a fair amount of customization before, which would come in handy while building the record management system.
In March 2024, our team began a net new implementation that included Avalara, Bill.com, and Versapay connections. SuiteDynamics experts dedicated more than 750 hours to customizing and configuring sales management systems, serial tracking control, prescription custody and approval processes, a custom commission structure, a custom flight check script, and other solutions for boosting PLS’s performance.
Then, of course, SuiteDynamics addressed the record management problem.
“We were thrown a little bit of a curve ball,” Greve says about the issue. “We thought the customization that was coming across from FBN would've been more complete and more of a plug-and-play, but it wasn't. So, we kind of had to change gears and get in the development-and-fix-it mode more than what we had anticipated.”
SuiteDynamics functional consultants spearheaded “development-and-fix-it mode” by reformatting legacy scripts and custom records to ensure successful transaction processing. This reformatting helped salvage parts of the bundle PLS transferred from FBN’s system so SuiteDynamics didn’t have to rebuild it from scratch. Eventually, the work paid off, and the system could track and manage prescriptions as needed.
After 90 days, the SuiteDynamics team completed a minimum viable product go-live just before the client’s June deadline.
The Result:
The PLS NetSuite ERP went live on June 3, 2024. Despite first-day glitches, the brand-new company recorded 59 orders and over $100,000 by the close of business. Greve was pleased with the final product.
“I think overall, it's been an improvement for our whole team as far as transactional visibility and access to information quickly and easily,” he says. “I think, especially, our AP component has been streamlined quite a bit. … There's some expense management and credit card reimbursement package that we've got integrated with NetSuite, so all those credit card transactions sync directly to NetSuite. It’s a big time-saver.”
After going live, SuiteDynamics worked with Greve and his team to find the best solution for continuing services. PLS needed additional customizations for its ERP, but it also wanted to keep NetSuite experts on retainer to tackle any issues that might come up during daily operations.
SuiteDynamics prides itself on flexibility, so it devised a hybrid plan for PLS that bundled certain tasks into a Phase 2 contract and tackled others over time using a Managed Service package. The former is a work agreement that concentrates on specific issues. The latter is an arrangement in which the client buys a set number of SuiteDynamics work hours per month for a more fluid list of tasks, like adding customizations, fixing bugs, training users, and addressing problems. The combined approach allowed PLS to get necessary software adjustments while staying within budget.
The Phase 2 project has begun and involves replacing and enhancing the parts of the FBN bundle the SuiteDynamics team couldn’t save. These sections include prescription authorization, sequential prescription numbering, and event record generation features.
SuiteDynamics CEO Jake Kleiner believes his team is particularly suited to this continued work with PLS because of their general ERP expertise and backgrounds in related fields.
“Ultimately, our team has the experience and the capability to deliver projects quickly and on budget,” he says. “We also have deep experience within agriculture as well as vet practices, specifically as it relates to either FDA or other things like controlled substances or regulation around chains of custody with prescriptions and other types of chemicals that are heavily regulated.”
Eventually, the Phase 2 contract will transition into a Managed Service Plan. At that time, the SuiteDynamics team will tackle any unfinished adjustments, such as features covering integrated shipping labels, ISD direction sourcing, and 30-day warnings for prescription, VFD, and VCPR records.
Still, we’re proud of what our experts have accomplished so far. We’re also excited to see how the PLS ERP system continues to evolve and how the company will use it to serve farmers and livestock in the Upper Midwest.
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