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Go to: Not for Profit industry page
Goodwill Industries of Central Indiana
is Growing While Cutting Costs
Goodwill Industries of Central Indiana, Inc. (GICI) is
a not-for-profit corporation whose mission is to help people
prepare for, find, and keep jobs. With over 1,100 employees,
they operate 26 thrift stores and raise $45 million annually
to help support their mission.
GICI was operating an "archaic" Wang mini-computer solution
which lacked accounts receivable and reporting functionality.
Along with 23 other Goodwills, they opted to purchase Microsoft
Dynamics GP. They also utilize Microsoft Windows XP Professional
and servers operating Microsoft Windows Server and Microsoft
SQL Server.
This solution has assisted in increasing revenue by approximately
50 percent and in increasing the number of employees by
30 percent, all while reducing their accounting staff by
36 percent. GICI has also been able to cut their consultant
costs by $175,000. They have also reduced their budget input
time by 80 percent; this enables them to spend more time
on budget analysis.
Situation
Goodwill Industries of Central Indiana, Inc. (GICI) is a
not-for-profit corporation whose mission is to help people
prepare for, find, and keep jobs. GICI operates 26 thrift
stores, and has over 53 sites in Central Indiana. The stores
sell primarily donated goods, mostly clothing. With over
1,100 employees, many of whom are disabled and disadvantaged
people, the stores generate $45 million annually to help
support its mission.
Beyond the retail operations, GICI operates three other
businesses:
- Human Services-provides job search and placement assistance,
as well as training for people who are out of work for
whatever reason (disability, economic disadvantage,
relocation, previous placement in a correctional facility)
- Industrial Services-employs individuals to do light
packaging and assembly work for companies in Central
Indiana
- Government Contracts-employs individuals to provide
janitorial labor
GICI previously operated with a donated Wang mini-computer
system with very limited functionality. "It was really archaic
and horrible," says Dan Riley, CFO.
"It was awful," echoes Juli Richardson, Director of Business
Operations and Continuous Improvements. "Our Wang solution
had no Accounts Receivable (AR) functionality; so we had
a separate AR package. We had to enter information into
that software and then upload it to our Wang solution."
The former solution also lacked reporting capabilities;
so GICI had to download information into it from Quattro
Pro, a spreadsheet package from Borland.
Solution
In 1999, GICI made it a priority to select new software.
Since GICI is a member of Goodwill Industries International,
they knew they were eligible to receive a member discount
on Microsoft Dynamics GP software. Their partner, InterDyn,
helped them analyze their business needs and brought in
three to four accounting packages for them to evaluate.
After this evaluation, they liked the look and feel of Microsoft
Dynamics GP best. They chose that option and opted to operate
it on Dell Servers using Microsoft Windows Server and Microsoft
SQL Server. The solution also utilizes Microsoft Windows
XP Professional.
They began the implementation with the core accounting
modules and payroll for 200 employees. Subsequently, they
added payroll for the remaining employees along with fixed
assets. Microsoft Dynamics for Analytics-FRx Professional
was also added for improved reporting.
Six months later, GICI implemented the manufacturing module.
According to Richardson, manufacturing was previously a
completely manual operation with "employees filling out
pink delivery slips and then sending these to customers
with the shipment". GICI doesn't own its inventory; so the
new solution helped improve accountability on consignment
items, as well as inventory tracking and reporting.
Prior to implementation of the manufacturing module, the
industrial processes used by GICI were very fluid and changed
frequently. The new solution helped GICI develop standardized
manufacturing processes. They implemented the manufacturing
module in two plants.
GICI has also integrated Kronos Time Capture and Argis
Point of Sale into their solution.
Following implementation, GICI has increased revenue by
50 percent and increased the number of employees by about
30 percent; this was done while reducing their accounting
staff by 36 percent.
"Using this solution makes it easy for new people coming
into our organization," says Scott Bess, Director of IT.
"It's very easy to support and I don't have to worry about
hiring specialized people or about training people in on
the environment."
"There is still more that we can do with our Microsoft
Dynamics GP solution," says Bess. "We plan to continue to
expand our solution; you know a company is happy with their
software when they are expanding their use of it."
"Even though we have greatly improved our processes, we
still have potential we haven't tapped yet," says Richardson.
"Microsoft Dynamics GP will help us to reach that potential."
Benefit
Improved Reporting GICI is organized into two separate legal
entities and uses 20-digit accounting codes to organize
their business. Microsoft Great Plains allows the company
to cut separate payrolls and to summarize accounting for
their two divisions with both separate and consolidated
financials.
Previously, GICI had to enter a great deal of data outside
their accounting software and manually put it into a separate
spreadsheet. "Our reporting was very limited before," says
Riley. "Now, we have only one version of the truth and a
tremendous amount of flexibility in the reports we can access."
Improved reporting helps GICI close the month 50 percent
faster than they previously did. Rather than closing in
12 days, they now close in six. "And this is all due to
the reporting capabilities of Microsoft Dynamics GP," says
Richardson.
Time Savings
GICI experienced substantial time savings as a result of
implementation.
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Budgeting-Previously, it took GICI about two weeks
to enter data, import, and upload their budget. This
process now takes two days, a reduction of 80 percent.
"This gives us more time on analysis and helps insure
that we have a realistic budget," says Richardson.
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Payroll-"Improved functionality for payroll takes one
day off of each payroll period when it comes to the
initial check run," says Richardson.
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Cutting/printing/distributing checks-GICI is now able
to cut checks in five minutes versus the previous three
to four hours. Printing and distribution time for checks
has been reduced by one day also. GICI runs the checks
right off the printer and auto-seals them.
Consultant Cost Savings
According to Richardson, expenses for technical consultant
costs have decreased dramatically from $175,000 per year
to "almost nothing."
Ability to Grow
Microsoft Dynamics GP helped GICI to increase revenue by
50 percent and increase their staff by 30 percent while
reducing their accounting staff by 36 percent.
Solid Architecture
"From the technical perspective, Microsoft Dynamics GP has
a very solid architecture that doesn't require a lot of
care and feeding," says Bess. "Because it uses technology
that is standard in the industry, we don't need to have
a specialist dedicated to it."
Bess believes that Microsoft is heading in the right direction
with web-based employee portals and the other new features
they are adding. "This is where we are going as a company
also," says Bess.
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