When Bright Brewery founder Scott Brandon launched his new production facility, he already knew that his clunky old accounting software wasn’t going to be up to the task of keeping all the numbers straight between the two sites. With his existing solution already struggling to handle unwieldy spreadsheets and barely functional online interfaces, he knew it was time to switch over to a new ERP system.
“We were looking for a system that was as well integrated as we could possibly get to bring our brewing and production processes into our accounts,” explains Brandon. “So it was an opportunity to set ourselves up to future proof that side of the business. We wanted to make sure that we chose a product that would serve us well going forward, and NetSuite was the standout with its true cloud-based software. It seemed to be superior to the other options that we had available.”
In mid-2019, Bright Brewery signed on with cloud systems specialists Cloud Culture to implement a NetSuite solution for the brewery, navigating the complexities of moving all the various business and accounting processes that had served the company for more than a decade over to the new platform.
“The multi-location challenge was a big one for Bright, because their old system couldn’t handle it and made an absolute mess of maintaining accurate cost of goods,” says Cloud Culture solution director Steve Ansermino. “It was extremely hard for them to tell what the true cost of goods for a product was, whereas in NetSuite it was the exact opposite with costs calculated accurately to a fraction of a cent. It allowed them to bring in things like wages, energy and brewing costs outside of the actual materials costs, the types of things that don’t carry through as easily with a standard bill of materials.”
The changeover came just in time for Bright, with the onset of the pandemic occurring mere months after finalising the new system.
“It would have been a world of pain during Covid if we were still running the old system. It would have broken,” reflects Brandon. “We wouldn’t have been able to see what was going on, and it would have been impossible to have people working from home. That’s been one of the real benefits of NetSuite over the last year and a half, in that for somebody to immediately switch to working from home is really no different to them working from the office. We now have reps on the road logging into NetSuite, and just having that access from anywhere that we need makes things a lot easier.”
Bright’s implementation of the new ERP system was fully supported by Cloud Culture – which operates under a mantra of helping clients avoid the typical pitfalls and nightmares associated with setting up on their new platform. The team personally works to understand the nuts and bolts of clients’ businesses before even initialising software configuration, first judging how each component will impact the company to ensure smooth operations. What makes this process so seamless is Ansermino’s own background in manufacturing and his experience of adapting NetSuite for his previous business.
“We’re business people in IT, not IT people in business,” he says. “The problem with the technology industry is that a lot of software development is focussed on the user interface, while the back end’s not always up to it. As a person assessing software, all you can see is that user interface and all you can hear is the salesperson. So we’re very well aware of what’s happening in the market, and we make sure that we’re ethical in the way that we represent the product. We stick to the facts – although fortunately, NetSuite is impressive enough that if you drive it properly you can get it to do just about anything you want.”
“I’ve always been reinvesting in the business and trying to make it more efficient, and growing it has been a focus for us,” says Brandon. “I started looking at a solution probably four or five years before we spoke to Steve, just trying to get an idea of where we might head in the future. There’s a lot of different options out there, and it’s difficult as a customer to understand what’s best for you and to see through the sales pitch. But I knew when we started talking with Cloud Culture that we’d be able to work well together, and then it was just a matter of being convinced that NetSuite had the right solution. In the end it was a very, very easy decision to make to go with NetSuite.”
Join us for a webinar in October covering Bright Brewery’s journey from small business accounting software to Oracle NetSuite and how this helped them navigate COVID.
