Acacia Case Study – Sleep And Breathing Solutions
Sleep and Breathing Solutions are a parent company that combines several businesses under their umbrella – including ResMed, ResSleep, Eden Sleep, CPAP Australia and several others.
They specialize in retail sleep apnoea products and services with multiple branches, outlets, warehouses and offices all across Australia and New Zealand.
Otherwise known as SBS, we at Acacia Consulting Services have been in the fortunate position to witness and assist with their growth from a front row seat perspective for more than seven years.
SBS knew years ago that they were going to grow and that they needed software solutions and processes put in place early on to keep abreast of their stock, their finances, their accounting, their staff and their expanding business.
Problem
SBS were expanding their business partly by purchasing and buying out their competition. As anyone who has been involved in a company buy out can attest, getting the IT systems from one company to talk to the other company can be “difficult” at best.
When this is happening rapidly and regularly – as is the case with SBS – then the problem increases exponentially with every purchase.
Expanding businesses, integrating businesses, purchase customization, complex physical branch networks – including warehousing, ordering and stock control – logos, branding, pricing, invoices…..all were beginning to raise the stress levels and concerns of key personnel at SBS Head Office.
How does a rapidly growing business keep its finger on the pulse ? And, where is the pulse anyway ?
Solution
SBS needed a solution that could grow with them and accommodate their increasingly complex network of outlets, shops, offices and warehouses.
They needed a solution that could be customized to within “an inch of its life” – and the expertise behind it to ensure it just works each and every day.
SBS wanted automation, but they also wanted control at every point along the supply, accounting, reporting and automation chain.
So, John, Tonya, Chris and the team at Acacia Consulting Services began implementing custom coded integrations for SBS’s specific needs.
MYOB Exo turned out to be the backbone workhorse for SBS.
However, with such unique configuration and customisation, most of the SBS staff don’t actually realise that it’s mainly MYOB Exo “under the hood”.
John wrote a totally new front end solution – known as the Acacia Debtor Interface – that talks to the MYOB Exo back end database.
Chris from Acacia and Martin from SBS are constantly coming up with new ideas and implementing these ideas, concepts and functionality on a daily basis.
Warehouse ordering and stock transfers between locations now happen automatically. The correct branding on the correct invoice is printed at the correct shop / store / outlet / office / location. Reports from a big picture or from a micro level are run automatically and sent to the nominated internal staff – or they can be run manually at the click of a button.
Outcome
SBS now enjoy:
- better reporting,
- better stock control,
- automation,
- greater visibility of their business,
- efficiencies of scale while using their ever expanding individual branch network,
- significant savings of both time and money.
Now, orders happen automatically.
Stock is ordered and transferred to / from the most cost effective location, resulting in best practice “just in time” stock control efficiencies.
Finances and reporting is easily visible by those who need to know and cannot be seen by those who don’t.
Specific reports required by specific staff are available, resulting in required data being available with non-required data removed from the picture.
Before
SBS were very strategic in their forethought and planning. However, like many businesses, they didn’t know what they didn’t know !
SBS were potentially staring at confusion based on incompatible systems not talking to each other, their geographical tyranny of distance and never fully knowing what was going on in their business. They could see the potential, but didn’t know how to execute the backend systems and processes efficiently or effectively, while building room for growth and expansion.
SBS knew they needed help and realized early on that they needed help. They were prepared to invest in their future. They could see both the downside of getting it wrong early on and the upside of getting it right from almost the beginning.
After
Having worked collaboratively with Acacia Consulting Services for many years, SBS are now in the box seat with their business.
SBS now know in real time what is going on in their business. They can bounce ideas off a trusted but ultimately unbiased business partner. Their staff, software, databases, physical locations, systems and their processes are all easily at their “beck and call”.
Of course all businesses have good days and not so good days – including SBS and Acacia Consulting Services.
However, the concept of “two heads are better than one” has most certainly applied to the growth in both businesses – that of SBS and Acacia Consulting Services – and in the relationship between our two companies.
The trusted and collaborative relationship combined with the intimate knowledge of the SBS systems has allowed staff at both Acacia and SBS to work together for the ultimate goal of and benefit of SBS.
