Trattos Business Tech Advisors, an emerging technology and business partner provider with coverage across the United States and Latin America, has recently joined the Exact International partner community.

A provider of technology and business partner based solutions, Trattos is made up of business professionals with more than 25 years of experience, servicing 330 businesses in over 850 different projects. Trattos is committed to providing exceptional service and support, striving to bring current and emerging technology solutions to every customer serviced.

Christian Orellana, Managing Director of Trattos, indicates that Trattos brings a wealth of experience and associated technology partnerships into the Exact community:

“This collaborative alliance signifies a compelling opportunity to proactively position oneself at the forefront of technological advancements, harnessing the complete potential inherent in delivering competitive software solutions. The synergy between Trattos' profound industry acumen and technical proficiency, in conjunction with Exact software solutions, forms an ideal symbiosis tailored to optimize your operational processes and drive unparalleled operational excellence.”

Exact North American Country Manager Philip Bini sees the signing of Trattos as continued momentum in Exact's support for emerging business partners in the United States and Latin American countries: 

“We are excited to bring Christian and his colleagues into the Exact international family as his team of professionals are already held in high regard with Exact customers. Exact has a golden opportunity to continue igniting our Americas region with software and professional services resources who are enthusiastic with Exact software. By officially bringing the business development and consulting resources of Trattos into our community, we open even more doors of innovation to our customers in a way of Exact Globe+, Exact Synergy and Exact RPA.  This is an exciting time for the Exact user group community, Trattos and Exact.”

About Trattos Group

Trattos Group, established as a distinguished software consulting firm, specializes in delivering innovative technological solutions spanning diverse industries. Trattos Group unwavering commitment is to furnish organizations with indispensable insights, strategic direction, and implementation support, thereby prioritizing the unlocking of their full potential. Through the adept utilization of cutting-edge technologies and adherence to industry best practices, Trattos Group ensures a paradigm shift towards enhanced efficiency and productivity in the modern era. Recognizing the uniqueness of each business, Trattos Group steadfastly believes in crafting bespoke strategic approaches to cater to the distinct needs of their valued customers.

Click here to visit the website of Trattos Group.

BrightJet Software, an innovative, Canadian Microsoft technology services provider with coverage across North America, has recently joined the Exact International partner community. With more than 20 years of extensive experience, BrightJet has a group of business professionals capable of “extending what’s possible” in existing business software investments.

Bijimon Manjaly, President of BrightJet, is excited for his team to officially join Exact's partner program:

"We are a team of programmers with a special love for all things data. We come with extensive experience in mid-market ERP and CRM software systems, extending data capture capabilities, enhancing data processing functions and helping control, connect, and streamline data flows into and around these systems.  This background makes us uniquely suited to deliver on our current mission of organizing, consolidating and analyzing data using Microsoft’s modern, AI-infused business intelligence toolset, Power BI. We are excited to offer our services to new and existing customers in the Exact community, turning data into meaningful insights and impactful actions!"

BrightJet brings a wealth of experience and accolades from Microsoft, Exact and the ECi Macola markets, achieving a number of skills and accolades over the years:

• Power BI Data analysts
• MCSA: SQL server certified experts
• MCDBA: Certified database administrators
• MCSD: Certified Solution Developers
• 20+ years of experience working with ERP and CRM software systems like ECi Macola, Exact Synergy and Exact Globe
• Experience in customizing and enhancing the Exact Synergy product line, and 
• Experience in system integration and process automation with tools like Exact RPA

Exact North America Country Manager Philip Bini sees the signing of BrightJet as a continuation of Exact’s international appeal for mid-market businesses:

“With the addition of Bijimon and his team at BrightJet, Exact has a unique opportunity to bolster our market reach and professional services options with incredibly talented individuals in North America. By bringing the business development and services team of BrightJet into to our community, we will advance emerging technologies like Microsoft's AI stack for our customers, providing transformative experiences around Exact Globe+, Exact Synergy and Exact RPA.  This is an exciting time for current and future Exact customers, as they progress on their digital transformation journeys with BrightJet and Exact.”

About BrightJet Software

BrightJet Software, Inc was founded in 2013 by a small team of elite and experienced programmers with the goal of providing specialized programming services around ERP and CRM software. Our enduring hallmarks are customer loyalty and retention, and we have grown slowly but steadily purely by referrals until now, with many clients in the US and Canada. We are experts in Microsoft’s Power BI and Power Automate tools, which supercharge our ability to help you get more value from the software systems you already use. Our focus on value combined with a cost-effective and cost-predictable approach to providing high levels of service is what makes us confident of earning your loyalty.

Click here to visit the website of BrightJet Software.

GLM Systems, a Malaysian development company for Exact products, announces the release of new connectors for EPICOR ERP and SYSPRO ERP for Exact Synergy. Internationally recognized as a solution partner in the Exact customer and partner communities, GLM Systems invites thousands of EPICOR and SYSPRO customers and partners to be part of the Synergy Anywhere movement.

GLM Systems founder, Gijs Lamers, provides perspective:

“At GLM Systems, we are in the business of helping companies to complete their business computing experiences. We create solutions that share critical business information with all employees, where they can naturally interact with the power of Exact Synergy. The results are improved collaboration and the automation of transactional processing. With our upcoming connectors for EPICOR and SYSPRO ERP, our ConnectIt solution will introduce Exact Synergy into two more extensive ERP markets.”

Philip Bini, Director of Exact Americas and the United Kingdom, shares his excitement about the ConnectIt enhancements for Exact Synergy:

“Gijs Lamers and his team continue to push the envelope in making Exact Synergy relevant to so many more companies around the world. With their upcoming Q1 2020 release of ConnectIt, GLM Systems provides businesses the ability to eliminate the islands of automation surrounding ERP solutions. ConnectIt and Exact Synergy are giving companies a chance to breathe life into historical ERP investments, at a fraction of the cost of replacing old technology.”

About ConnectIt from GLM Systems

As an Exact technology partner for Exact Synergy, GLM Systems’ ConnectIt gives companies powerful functionality to complete their ERP experience by sharing, interacting and automating ERP information:

• A multi-purposed connectivity framework for connecting and mapping Exact Synergy master data to commonly used, enterprise resource planning (ERP) and financial applications.
• Prepackaged integrations for select ERP and productivity systems include EPICOR ERP, SYSPRO ERP, Exact Globe, Exact Online, SAP Business One, Acumatica ERP, Salesforce.com and HubSpot marketing automation solutions.
• A view and report builder functionality for presenting transactional information from ERP platforms into Exact Synergy workspaces.
• An extensive rules-based engine that connects Exact Synergy’s interaction layer of workflow, document management and social functionality to ERP transactional information.

Click here to visit the website of GLM Systems and learn more about ConnectIt for Exact Synergy.

Exact Synergy

With Exact Synergy you’re able to achieve optimal collaboration between all departments within your company. The result: transparency, shorter lines of communication, faster reaction times, increased flexibility and genuine teamwork. By connecting employees and ensuring that work can be carried out easily, everyone is kept up to date on developments concerning customers. Exact Synergy is a scalable solution. Start by automating one of many processes and expand when you’re ready to do so. Use Synergy to manage the following business processes:

• HRM
• Workflows
• Document Management
• Project Management
• CRM
• Social Collaboration

Want to find out more about Exact Synergy? Click here to find out how you can achieve optimal collaboration across all departments.

About GLM Systems

GLM Systems provides productivity-based solutions for Exact customers all over the world. Headquartered in Kuala Lumper, Malaysia, GLM’s team is passionate on solving problems for Exact customers with the use of solutions like Exact Synergy and Exact Globe. GLM has helped thousands of companies all over the world to expand the boundaries of what is possible with our solutions.

to visit the website of GLM Systems.

Exact International partners in North America, along with technology partner GLM Systems, came together in focused technology workshops to learn about Exact Synergy Enterprise and ConnectIt, as a way to complete the business software experiences for the SAP Business One and Acumatica ERP solutions.

Exact, GLM Systems and business partners Algorithm Inc and Consensus International, came together to sponsor the technology workshops for a large group of Exact business partners in North America. The technical track of the workshops gave many of the participating business partner consultants the ability to learn about the ConnectIt solution from GLM Systems. The commercial track gave business owners and partner sales representatives a taste for Exact’s unique approach to promoting Synergy Enterprise as a solution to “complete” ERP experiences for customers in the Acumatica and SAP Business One markets.

Mike Oswalt, CEO of Algorithm Inc, an Exact business partner and leading Acumatica business partner, had this to say about the innovation summits:

“Synergy has always been a differentiator in the marketplace with the customers we serve. In January of this year we moved our internal systems to Acumatica and because of this integration we were able to keep our version of Synergy, capitalizing on nearly 20 years of business processes wrapped around our customer history. With ConnectIt, we plan to continue to offer the power of Synergy to our Acumatica customers both new and those converting from Macola, as well as strengthen the integration between Macola and Synergy that before now was not possible.”

Andres Castrillon, President of Consensus International, a top five global SAP Business One reseller and Exact business partner, sees unlimited possibilities for Synergy Enterprise with companies running solutions like SAP Business One:

“As users of Synergy and SAP Business One, we are impressed with the possibilities that the integration between these two advanced systems opens up for our customers. At Consensus, we are first taking advantage of this capability and we believe it will benefit many customers going forward.”

The North American summits were the first in a series of GLM sponsored workshops being held around the world to promote the ConnectIt solution for Exact Synergy Enterprise. GLM Systems followed these innovation summits up with another in Madrid Spain, with Exact and SAP Business One resellers supporting western Europe. Stay tuned for additional details on future worldwide events related to ConnectIt from GLM Systems.

About ConnectIt from GLM Systems

As an add-on solution for Exact Synergy Enterprise, ConnectIt gives companies powerful functionality to complete their ERP experience by sharing, interacting and automating ERP information:

• A multi-purposed connectivity framework for connecting and mapping Exact Synergy master data to commonly used, enterprise resource planning (ERP) and financial applications.
• Prepackaged integrations for select ERP systems like SAP Business One and Acumatica ERP solutions.
• A view and report builder functionality for presenting transactional information from ERP platforms into Exact Synergy Enterprise workspaces.
• An extensive rules-based engine that connects Exact Synergy’s interaction layer of workflow, document management and social functionality to ERP transactional information.

Click here to visit the website of GLM Systems and learn more about ConnectIt for Exact Synergy Enterprise.

Exact Synergy

With Exact Synergy you’re able to achieve optimal collaboration between all departments within your company. The result: transparency, shorter lines of communication, faster reaction times, increased flexibility and genuine teamwork. By connecting employees and ensuring that work can be carried out easily, everyone is kept up to date on developments concerning customers. Exact Synergy is a scalable solution. Start by automating one of many processes and expand when you’re ready to do so. Use Synergy to manage the following business processes:

• HRM
• Workflows
• Document Mangement
• Project Management
• CRM
• Social Collaboration

Want to find out more about Exact Synergy? Click here to find out how you can achieve optimal collaboration across all departments.

Algorithm Inc, a leading Acumatica ERP software reseller with coverage across North America, has recently joined the Exact International partner community. With over 26 years of experience, Algorithm has been a reseller of Acumatica since 2017 and the former Exact Macola products since 1993. Also, an experienced user of Exact Synergy Enterprise since 2001, Algorithm joins the movement of Exact Synergy “Anywhere.”

Mike Oswalt, CEO of Algorithm Inc, states

“Algorithm has always been a strong advocate of Exact Synergy via our Macola relationship. Synergy’s deep toolset is a differentiator in the marketplace and brings a whole new level of transparency, efficiency and collaboration to companies. Its workflow, document management, and business process automation capabilities have drastically improved the way our Macola customers do business. We are thrilled to rejoin Exact, not only to continue growing our Macola customers’ investments in Synergy, but also to bring that power to our customers moving to Acumatica alongside Exact’s Synergy Anywhere initiative.”

Algorithm brings a wealth of experience accolades from the Acumatica, Exact and ECi Macola markets, achieving a number of honors over the years:

• Macola President’s Council and Partner of the year 1999 and forward
• Acumatica Gold Partner since 2017
• Macola President’s Circle
• 2018 VAR Starts
• Bob Scott Top 100 VARS, Killer VAR and Pacesetters
• Best Places to Work – Columbus OH

As a partner with deep expertise in both Acumatica and Exact Synergy Enterprise, Algorithm is leading the way for the next evolution of Synergy Enterprise expansion into the Acumatica ERP community.

Looking forward, Exact Americas Director Philip Bini sees the signing of Algorithm as a huge step forward in providing the Exact Synergy Enterprise experience to more businesses:

“With the addition of Mike and his team at Algorithm, Exact has the unique opportunity to introduce the Exact Synergy Enterprise solution to the fast-growing Acumatica ERP market, not only in North America but also on a worldwide basis. By bringing the collaboration capabilities of Exact Synergy Enterprise into the Acumatica market, Algorithm gives businesses the final technology components needed to “complete” the overall ERP experience that many of these companies have every day. This is an exciting time for the Acumatica user group community, Algorithm and Exact.”

Exact Synergy

With Exact Synergy you’re able to achieve optimal collaboration between all departments within your company. The result: transparency, shorter lines of communication, faster reaction times, increased flexibility and genuine teamwork. By connecting employees and ensuring that work can be carried out easily, everyone is kept up to date on developments concerning customers. Exact Synergy is a scalable solution. Start by automating one of many processes and expand when you’re ready to do so. Use Synergy to manage the following business processes:

• HRM
• Workflows
• Document Mangement
• Project Management
• CRM
• Social Collaboration

Want to find out more about Exact Synergy? Click here to find out how you can achieve optimal collaboration across all departments.

About Algorithm

Algorithm, Inc. was founded in 1993 as a business process consulting firm specializing in helping manufacturers and distributors to maximize innovations and efficiencies in their organizations. Algorithm’s consultants pride themselves on being business experts first and software experts second with a strong belief that a solid foundation of fine-tuned business operations is the key to software success, not the other way around. Algorithm has helped hundreds of companies across the United States to grow and thrive and seeing their success fuels the passion and drive of the Algorithm team to continue helping customers for many more years to come.

Click here to visit the website of Algorithm Inc.

Parallel Solutions, an Ohio based business and software consulting firm, has recently joined the Exact International partner community, bringing decades of experience servicing manufacturing and distribution based businesses throughout North America.

Parallel Solutions’ customers range from start-up companies to companies with one billion in annual sales and their team of professionals are equipped to handle both current and future business software needs for those companies.

Founded in 1995, Parallel offers a team of experienced professionals on leading business software packages that include Exact, Acumatica and Macola. Parallel’s team has experience meeting the challenging business requirements in the discrete, food and beverage, medical device and non-profit sectors.

Laura Jaffe, co-owner of Parallel Solutions, sees Exact’s products as a natural fit for businesses of all sizes: "We're excited to join the Exact partner community, and especially for the opportunity to offer Exact Synergy Enterprise as a solution to complete the ERP experience. We feel that businesses using many different ERP platforms will find value in the business process management toolkit that Synergy brings to the table.”

Exact Americas director Philip Bini adds: “With the addition of Laura and the team at Parallel to our International Partner Program, Exact adds another reputable partner for our current and future customer base. The Parallel team’s knowledge of Exact’s products will immediately position them to provide solutions for businesses looking to share information, interact on their transactions, and automate repetitive tasks for the business. We’re excited to welcome the Parallel Solutions team into our community and we expect great results from them this year and beyond.”

Exact Synergy

With Exact Synergy you’re able to achieve optimal collaboration between all departments within your company. The result: transparency, shorter lines of communication, faster reaction times, increased flexibility and genuine teamwork. By connecting employees and ensuring that work can be carried out easily, everyone is kept up to date on developments concerning customers. Exact Synergy is a scalable solution. Start by automating one of many processes and expand when you’re ready to do so. Use Synergy to manage the following business processes:

• HRM
• Workflows
• Document Mangement
• Project Management
• CRM
• Social Collaboration

Want to find out more about Exact Synergy? Click here to find out how you can achieve optimal collaboration across all departments.

Click here to visit the website of Parallel Solutions.

Exact International partners, along with technology partner GLM Systems, come together for workshops on Synergy Enterprise, ConnectIt, SAP Business One and Acumatica.

Exact North American partners are coming together in June to learn more about GLM Systems’ ConnectIt solution for Exact Synergy Enterprise. As part of the Synergy “anywhere” movement, these innovation summits are being sponsored by Exact and GLM Systems. The summits will give Exact partners an opportunity to gain technical, sales and marketing knowledge on the ConnectIt solution for Exact Synergy Enterprise in the SAP Business One and Acumatica ERP markets.

This is the first in a series of GLM sponsored activities being held in different regions around the world to promote the ConnectIt solution for Exact Synergy Enterprise. For more information on the North American summits, please contact Exact by clicking here. Stay tuned for additional details on future worldwide events related to ConnectIt from GLM Systems.

About ConnectIt from GLM Systems

As an add-on solution for Exact Synergy Enterprise, ConnectIt gives companies powerful functionality to complete their ERP experience by sharing, interacting and automating ERP information:

• A multi-purposeful connectivity framework for connecting to and mapping master data to commonly used, enterprise resource planning (ERP) and financial applications
• Prepackaged integrations for select ERP systems like SAP Business One and Acumatica ERP solutions
• A view and report builder functionality for presenting transactional information from ERP platforms into Exact Synergy Enterprise workspaces
• An extensive rules-based engine that connects Exact Synergy’s interaction layer of workflow, document management and social functionality to ERP transactional information

Click here to visit the website of GLM Systems and learn more about ConnectIT for Exact Synergy Enterprise.

Exact Synergy

With Exact Synergy you’re able to achieve optimal collaboration between all departments within your company. The result: transparency, shorter lines of communication, faster reaction times, increased flexibility and genuine teamwork. By connecting employees and ensuring that work can be carried out easily, everyone is kept up to date on developments concerning customers. Exact Synergy is a scalable solution. Start by automating one of many processes and expand when you’re ready to do so. Use Synergy to manage the following business processes:

• HRM
• Workflows
• Document Mangement
• Project Management
• CRM
• Social Collaboration

Want to find out more about Exact Synergy? Click here to find out how you can achieve optimal collaboration across all departments.

GLM Systems, an application development partner of Exact, introduces ConnectIt, an add-on solution connecting enterprise resource planning (ERP) and financial applications with Exact Synergy Enterprise.

ConnectIt gives companies the ability to connect their ERP solutions with Exact Synergy Enterprise. ConnectIt was developed with three principles in mind: making transactional ERP information easily available for more people in a business, allowing for people in companies to naturally interact on their transactions, and providing the ability to automate frequently performed transactions within the business.

GLM Systems founder, Gijs Lamers, provides perspective: “GLM has had a long history with Exact, both as providers of add-on solutions for Exact Synergy Enterprise and as users of the software. With our latest offering, ConnectIt, many more businesses will now enjoy the same benefits that we have received from Exact since our company was founded: easier access to business information, collaboration features for people in business, and tools to automate transactions that occur every day.”

As an add-on solution for Exact Synergy Enterprise, ConnectIt gives companies powerful functionality to complete their ERP experience by sharing, interacting and automating ERP information:

• A multi-purposeful connectivity framework for connecting to and mapping master data to commonly used, enterprise resource planning (ERP) and financial applications
• Prepackaged integrations for select ERP systems like SAP Business One and Acumatica ERP solutions
• A view and report builder functionality for presenting transactional information from ERP platforms into Exact Synergy Enterprise workspaces
• An extensive rules-based engine that connects Exact Synergy’s interaction layer of workflow, document management and social functionality to ERP transactional information

Len Reo, president of The Attivo Group, an Exact International business partner, believes this functionality will make Exact Synergy Enterprise even more relevant to his customer base:

”ConnectIt will provide an incredible opportunity for users of SAP Business One and other ERP systems to extend their software to everyone in their organization. Through workflow, document and project management in Synergy, users will be able to share information, interact in a common medium beyond email, and automate business processes that were previously outside of their company’s standard business system. There will only be one version of the truth about accounts, items, people and processes and singular, controlled methods for handling common business functions. I am very excited to begin using the power of ConnectIt for users of SAP Business One and other systems to help them gain the efficiencies and controls that Exact Synergy Enterprise has to offer every organization!”

Exact International partner Jay Porras, CEO of The Donas Group and of SynergyExpert.com, believes GLM Systems may have just established a new benchmark for productivity at his customer sites: :

“With ConnectIt, the entire organization can apply the fundamental principles that GLM has developed; transactional availability, natural interaction and automation, with Synergy’s core competencies to achieve the potential that they were looking for in their software investment.”

Exact Synergy

With Exact Synergy you’re able to achieve optimal collaboration between all departments within your company. The result: transparency, shorter lines of communication, faster reaction times, increased flexibility and genuine teamwork. By connecting employees and ensuring that work can be carried out easily, everyone is kept up to date on developments concerning customers. Exact Synergy is a scalable solution. Start by automating one of many processes and expand when you’re ready to do so. Use Synergy to manage the following business processes:

• HRM
• Workflows
• Document Mangement
• Project Management
• CRM
• Social Collaboration

Want to find out more about Exact Synergy? Click here to find out how you can achieve optimal collaboration across all departments.

About GLM Systems

Since 2009, GLM Systems has been providing productivity-based solutions for Exact customers all over the world. Headquartered in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, GLM’s team is passionate on meeting business needs for Exact customers with the use of solutions like Exact Synergy Enterprise and Exact Globe. GLM has helped over 200 companies all over the world to expand the boundaries of what is possible with our solutions. GLM’s solutions meet the needs of businesses in the oil & gas, construction, food, energy, software, pharmacy, finance, aerospace, automotive, mining and electronics industries.

Click here to visit the website of GLM Systems and learn more about ConnectIT for Exact Synergy Enterprise.

GLM Systems, a development company for Exact products, expands the boundaries of possibilities for customers with Exact Synergy Enterprise. Internationally recognized as a solution partner in the Exact customer and partner communities, GLM Systems is poised to share Exact solution add-ons with businesses all over the world.

GLM Systems founder, Gijs Lamers, provides perspective: “At GLM Systems, our vision is to make all business information available to all people who use Exact Synergy. We help our customers to get more value out of Exact Synergy by creating add-ons, tools and applications that complete the Synergy experiences for end users. In this way, our customers are better able to share critical business information which provides successful results for us.”

GLM Systems has a number of add-on solutions for Exact Synergy Enterprise, giving Exact customers an enhanced end-user experience:

• Exact Synergy Enterprise “Plus” add-on solutions for CRM, workflow, document management, procurement and HRM functionalities
• Integration modules for Exact Synergy Enterprise with HubSpot, Salesforce.com and Exact Online
• Rules Engine for Exact Synergy Enterprise system, workflow and document management
• Exact Synergy Enterprise CRM Plus and Procurement modules

John Kirschner, Business Systems Manager of Allen Industries, is an Exact Synergy Enterprise evangelist who leverages solutions from GLM Systems to improve productivity in their organization:

“Being a job shop company, we are extensive users of Exact Synergy Enterprise for managing thousands of projects every day. Several years ago, we started using some GLM Systems add on tools and today we now use their additional free fields, reports on cards, rules engine and imports just to list a few. We found these tools were not only easy to install and use, but they allowed us to greatly improve the efficiency & accuracy of managing these projects. I consider GLM Systems to be a valuable resource and highly recommend their products and service.”

Jay Porras, CEO of The Donas Group, an Exact International partner, has forged a tight relationship with GLM Systems to resell their add-on solutions for Synergy Enterprise in North America:

“The value proposition that GLM System brings to our customers provides returns that far exceed expectations. Their tools take the exceptional collaborative functionality that Exact Synergy Enterprise provides and gives the competitive edge that our customers are looking for. And with the exciting new developments coming this year, GLM Systems and Exact will bring this success not only in the Americas but globally as well.”

Exact Synergy

With Exact Synergy you’re able to achieve optimal collaboration between all departments within your company. The result: transparency, shorter lines of communication, faster reaction times, increased flexibility and genuine teamwork. By connecting employees and ensuring that work can be carried out easily, everyone is kept up to date on developments concerning customers. Exact Synergy is a scalable solution. Start by automating one of many processes and expand when you’re ready to do so. Use Synergy to manage the following business processes:

• HRM
• Workflows
• Document Mangement
• Project Management
• CRM
• Social Collaboration

Want to find out more about Exact Synergy? Click here to find out how you can achieve optimal collaboration across all departments.

About GLM Systems

Since 2009, GLM Systems has been providing productivity-based solutions for Exact customers all over the world. Headquartered in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, GLM’s team is passionate on meeting business needs for Exact customers with the use of solutions like Exact Synergy Enterprise and Exact Globe. GLM has helped over 200 companies all over the world to expand the boundaries of what is possible with our solutions. GLM’s solutions meet the needs of businesses in the oil & gas, construction, food, energy, software, pharmacy, finance, aerospace, automotive, mining and electronics industries.

Click here to visit the website of GLM Systems.

Consensus International, a top SAP Business One software reseller with nine locations in the United States, Colombia and the Caribbean, has recently joined the Exact International partner community. With over 29 years of experience, Consensus International has been a reseller of SAP products since 2006 and an avid user of Exact Synergy Enterprise since 2007. By joining the Exact International partner community, Consensus has a clear focus on sharing the Exact Synergy Enterprise solution with the SAP Business One customer community.

Andres Castrillon, CEO of Consensus International, states “Consensus is excited to join the Exact International partner community. We are always looking for solutions that can complement SAP Business One, and Exact Synergy Enterprise business process management (BPM) capabilities could enable some of our customers to use workflow to quickly distribute tasks to the right people, track the progress of each task, and report on the results. Synergy's browser-based collaboration could help some of our customers unify their teams around processes and knowledge that matter most to them, creating an accurate, real-time view to facilitate task execution, analysis, planning, and ongoing management.”

Consensus International brings a wealth of experience and accolades from the SAP B1 market, achieving a number of honors as a top global business partner for SAP:

• SAP Gold Partner since 2009
• SAP Partner Advisory Council (PAC) member
• SAP Business One for HANA solution provider
• 2015 SAP Business One Partner Award for Excellence and Revenue growth
• 2017 SAP North America Excellence Award for SAP Business One

As a partner with deep expertise in both SAP Business One and Exact Synergy Enterprise, Consensus International is leading the way for the next evolution of Synergy Enterprise expansion into the SAP Business One community. Looking forward, Exact Americas Director Philip Bini sees the signing of Consensus International as a huge step forward in providing the Exact Synergy Enterprise experience to more businesses:

“With the addition of Andres and his team at Consensus, Exact has the opportunity to introduce the Exact Synergy Enterprise solution to 60,000 SAP Business One customers worldwide. By bringing the collaboration capabilities of Exact Synergy Enterprise into the SAP Business One market, Consensus gives businesses the final technology components and the consulting expertise needed to “complete” the overall ERP experience that many of these companies have every day. This is an exciting time for the SAP Business One community, Consensus International and Exact.”

Exact Synergy

With Exact Synergy you’re able to achieve optimal collaboration between all departments within your company. The result: transparency, shorter lines of communication, faster reaction times, increased flexibility and genuine teamwork. By connecting employees and ensuring that work can be carried out easily, everyone is kept up to date on developments concerning customers. Exact Synergy is a scalable solution. Start by automating one of many processes and expand when you’re ready to do so. Use Synergy to manage the following business processes:

• HRM
• Workflows
• Document Mangement
• Project Management
• CRM
• Social Collaboration

Want to find out more about Exact Synergy? Click here to find out how you can achieve optimal collaboration across all departments.

About Consensus

Consensus was established by a group of experienced consultants that were passionate about solving problems for their customers. After many years of continued growth, Consensus has helped more than 900 companies worldwide simplify, stream line, and automate their organizations.

By implementing advanced technology and sound business practices, Consensus has enabled customers to run their businesses more efficiently, innovate and adjust to market conditions, grow their revenue and increase their profits.

Click here to visit the website of Consensus International.

Exact International partner, Harvest Ventures, expands Exact’s solution offering to service-based businesses in Canada

Exact and Harvest Ventures are excited about a renewed partnership to bring Exact’s innovative solutions – Exact Synergy, Exact Globe and Exact PSA (professional services automation) to Canadian Businesses.

Harvest Ventures co-founder Bruce Henderson explains: “Our focus on professional services automation is a natural fit for us. We ourselves are a professional services firm and we use the Exact solutions in-house. We understand the challenges and requirements service-based firms face and how to address those, just as we have in our own organization.”

Bruce Henderson, VP Business Development “Exact Synergy has always been the ‘ace up our sleeve’. When companies see the flexible framework that Exact Synergy Enterprise provides and how their business can operate on one single software application, it’s an easy win.”

Harvest Ventures’ founders Nola Hofman and Bruce Henderson came from executive leadership in manufacturing. Their interests expanded into the ERP software industry prompting them to become a Value Added Reseller of Exact products almost 20 years ago. They’ve carefully grown their organization adding staff with deep industry and software experience.

Exact Americas director Philip Bini adds: “We’re excited that Harvest Ventures will continue to grow and support Exact’s presence in the Canadian market. With a solid foundation of knowledge and expertise, Harvest Ventures can fully support Canadian businesses with a complete sales, consulting and development team.””

Harvest Ventures has been selling and supporting Exact’s award-winning software for mid-sized businesses since 1999. They are a Canadian-based software consulting firm supporting manufacturers, distributors and service-based companies across North America.

To learn more about Exact for Professional Services (Exact PSA) Click here

Click here to visit the website of Harvest Ventures Inc..

Red Deer Systems, a San Diego based business and software consulting firm, has recently joined the Exact International partner community, bringing 32 years of experience servicing small and medium businesses throughout North America.

Red Deer Systems was founded in 1986 with a team experienced in implementing and supporting ERP systems for manufacturers in the discrete, food and beverage, chemical, medical device and pharmaceutical industries.

Red Deer provides hands-on and personalized professional services who work to educate, develop and customize systems that are optimized to meet even the most unique needs of the business. Operating from support centers in San Diego and Sacramento California, Red Deer meets the needs of companies all over the United States both via on-site and remote engagements. Red Deer’s interest in joining the Exact International partner community includes focusing on Exact’s various product lines, highlighted by Exact Synergy Enterprise for business process management implementations.

Teresa Peterson, chief executive from Red Deer, sees Exact’s products as a natural fit for businesses of all sizes: “All of us at Red Deer Systems are very excited to be back with the Exact team! We are looking forward to sharing the Exact product with our customers, especially Exact Synergy Enterprise. ”

Exact Americas director Philip Bini adds: “With the addition of Teresa and her team at Red Deer, Exact adds another dependable partner for our current and future customer base. Red Deer’s passion for Exact’s products will immediately position them to provide solutions for businesses looking to share information, interact on their transactions, and automate repetitive tasks for the business. We’re excited to welcome Red Deer and their team’s expertise to our partner community, and we expect great results from them this year and beyond.”

Exact Synergy

With Exact Synergy you’re able to achieve optimal collaboration between all departments within your company. The result: transparency, shorter lines of communication, faster reaction times, increased flexibility and genuine teamwork. By connecting employees and ensuring that work can be carried out easily, everyone is kept up to date on developments concerning customers. Exact Synergy is a scalable solution. Start by automating one of many processes, and expand when you’re ready to do so. Use Synergy to manage the following business processes:

• HRM
• Workflows
• Document Management
• Project Management
• CRM
• Social Collaboration

Want to find out more about Exact Synergy? Click here to find out how you can achieve optimal collaboration across all departments.

Click here to visit the website of Red Deer Systems.

The Attivo Group and Exact have teamed up to take Synergy Enterprise internationally into other ERP and accounting markets, empowering businesses of all sizes. Easily hosted in the cloud, Synergy is available for an affordable price per user per month and is therefore affordable to businesses of all sizes. While not requiring a minimum number of users, Synergy Enterprise is an ideal solution for small to medium companies.

As a flagship product of Exact, Synergy Enterprise is used in a multitude of industries for functionality typically handled by other BPM or CRM solutions, like Salesforce.com. Synergy is a highly extensible workflow management system, capable of being tailored by the end user to meet even the most unusual of business process management challenges.

The Attivo Group, an international partner of Exact, has an extensive background in international ERP and CRM deployment. For the last 25 years, Attivo has worked with clients to optimize their business processes using automation and creative business solutions. Len Reo, Attivo’s President, is excited about this dynamic partnership. He commented, “At Attivo, we are very passionate about helping clients achieve business process efficiencies. Synergy Anywhere gives us the opportunity to work with thousands of new clients to help them transform their processes and their business into a highly efficient machine”.

Reo adds: “Where Synergy Enterprise was previously integrated with current and former Exact ERP systems such as Exact Globe, Exact Online, Macola, MAX and JobBOSS, we look forward to opening the market for Synergy to the entire world. By working closely with Exact and integration partners like GLM Systems, Exact Synergy can now be deployed on top of any system, like Acumatica, SAP B1 and QuickBooks in a matter of just a few hours, without writing any custom code.”

Exact Synergy

With Exact Synergy, you are able to achieve optimal collaboration between all departments within your company. The result: transparency, shorter lines of communication, faster reaction times, increased flexibility and genuine teamwork. By connecting employees and ensuring that work can be carried out easily, everyone is kept up to date on developments concerning customers. Exact Synergy is a scalable solution. Start by automating one of many processes, and expand when you’re ready to do so. Use Synergy to manage the following business processes:

• HRM
• Workflows
• Document Management
• Project Management
• CRM
• Social Collaboration

Want to find out more about Exact Synergy? Click here to find out how you can achieve optimal collaboration across all departments.

About Exact Software

Exact, founded in 1984 and headquartered in Delft, the Netherlands, develops financial management, ERP and Business Process Management software for small and medium sized businesses and employs over 1,400 people. With customers in more than 100 countries, most are in the accountancy, manufacturing, wholesale & distribution industries and professional services. Over 375,000 companies in the Benelux alone rely on Exact to support their businesses! For more information visit https://www.exact.com.

About Attivo Group, LLC

Attivo, founded in 1992 with offices in Atlanta and Santa Ana, CA, is a reseller of Exact Software and SAP Business One. As a software developer, Attivo has developed many solutions such as a comprehensive Quality Management System and Preventive Maintenance Management system using the Synergy platform. Attivo provides support and consulting services for their clients, including a Managed Private Cloud Hosting service, providing their clients with a highly efficient way to operate enterprise grade systems in an affordable and secure manner. For more information visit https://www.attivoconsulting.com.

Business Computer Technologies, Inc. (BCT) and Exact have recently reunited as BCT has officially joined the Exact International partner community. BCT has been servicing the enterprise resource planning (ERP) community since 1984 and has prided themselves on being a solutions company who assist companies with their business processes through technology.

In addition to providing solutions as an Exact Americas reseller for more than 17 years, BCT also offers solutions from Microsoft, Acumatica and other technology leaders. For BCT CEO Patrick Reiser, joining the Exact International partner community was a natural next step as they plan to take Exact Synergy Enterprise into new worlds:

“We, at BCT, Inc., are excited about the opportunity to once again be able to offer the Exact product line, including Exact Synergy Enterprise, to our customers. We are very excited about the possibilities of integrating Exact Synergy Enterprise with Acumatica, which will expand the product offering of Acumatica to be able leverage a world class Customer Relationship Management, Document Management and Workflow Management collaboration system.”

Exact Americas director Philip Bini adds: “The addition of Patrick Reiser and his team at BCT signifies another big step for Exact in North America. BCT’s longtime history with Exact products provides our current and future customer base with another dependable business partner to provide solutions. BCT’s familiarity with Exact will also uniquely position them to evangelize and introduce products like Exact Synergy Enterprise into new markets not yet familiar with our products. It’s an exciting time for BCT and for Exact.

Exact Synergy

With Exact Synergy you’re able to achieve optimal collaboration between all departments within your company. The result: transparency, shorter lines of communication, faster reaction times, increased flexibility and genuine teamwork. By connecting employees and ensuring that work can be carried out easily, everyone is kept up to date on developments concerning customers. Exact Synergy is a scalable solution. Start by automating one of many processes, and expand when you’re ready to do so. Use Synergy to manage the following business processes:

• HRM
• Workflows
• Document Management
• Project Management
• CRM
• Social Collaboration

Want to find out more about Exact Synergy? Click here to find out how you can achieve optimal collaboration across all departments.

Click here to visit the website of Business Computer Technologies, Inc.

Leahy Consulting LLC has recently joined the Exact International partner community, bringing years of experience servicing businesses throughout the United States. Leahy Consulting was founded in 1981 with a team experienced in implementing and supporting ERP systems for manufacturing and distribution-based businesses.

Leahy Consulting prides themselves as being a hands-on partner who will work with you to develop and customize systems that are optimized for the unique needs of your business. Leahy is also the developer of PULSE Dashboard, an add-on software solution that enhances your ERP implementations with real-time data for virtually any area of your business. John Clark of Leahy Consulting, sees Exact’s products as a nice compliment to the rest of their solution offerings:

“While our Pulse Dashboard application super-charges your ERP reporting capabilities, Exact’s Synergy and Event Manager application fill all the gaps that your ERP software leaves behind. With CRM, workflow, document and project management from Synergy, you can organize your processes and document all the important areas of your business. Event manager will help automate these processes and keep your staff up to speed on areas that need attention.”

Exact Americas director Philip Bini adds: “With the addition of John Clark, Mike Leahy and the rest of the Leahy team, Exact has bolstered our presence in the mid-west regions of our North American market. By leaning on their team’s knowledge of implementing Exact Synergy Enterprise and the Exact Event Manager solutions, Leahy Consulting has a chance for immediate success in 2019 and an early opportunity to make an impact in our international partner community.”

Exact Synergy

With Exact Synergy you’re able to achieve optimal collaboration between all departments within your company. The result: transparency, shorter lines of communication, faster reaction times, increased flexibility and genuine teamwork. By connecting employees and ensuring that work can be carried out easily, everyone is kept up to date on developments concerning customers. Exact Synergy is a scalable solution. Start by automating one of many processes, and expand when you’re ready to do so. Use Synergy to manage the following business processes:

• HRM
• Workflows
• Document Management
• Project Management
• CRM
• Social Collaboration

Want to find out more about Exact Synergy? Click here to find out how you can achieve optimal collaboration across all departments.

Click here to visit the website of Leahy Consulting.

The Donas Group, Inc., a software value added reseller located in Arlington Heights, IL has re-established their connection to Exact via the Exact International Partner program. Donas has been a reseller of Exact products focusing on Exact Synergy and the former Macola ERP product lines for over 15+ years. With the Exact’s sale of Macola in October 2017, Donas decided to solidify their commitment by signing up as an Exact partner in the international partner community.

Bob Donald, President, states “We were convinced from the very beginning that Synergy was the tool that would allow our customers to propel their organizations providing a superior level of customer service allowing timely access to information and decision making.”

In 2009, Donas introduced the website, SynergyExpert.com as a resource for prospects, customers and other resellers within the Exact/Macola environment, providing:

• Manuals to assist in self training topics
• Personalization on Synergy functionality
• Training on specific topics
• Guidance on best practices
• Tips on Synergy functions through our Newsletters

This website also incorporates various complimentary software tools that add value to North American customers. Donas also formed a partnership with GLM Systems (over six years ago) that allowed them to sell and support the GLM tools for North America as their Master Reseller. Having these tools in their portfolio of products has allowed Donas to create further strong business relationships with both the reseller channel and end user accounts.

As a partner knowledgeable in the Synergy product, Donas is paving the way for the next evolution of Synergy expansion. Donas is excited to help manage and assist in the efforts to bring the Synergy product to other ERP products in the marketplace. Donas is tightly integrated with Exact providing assistance by:

• Marketing to other ERP Resellers that can enhance their offering through the introduction of Synergy
• Marketing to customers of other ERP products through attendance at trade shows
• Working with ERP Vendors to assist in the sales process, implementation and supporting their customer base with Exact Synergy
• Continuing to promote the Synergy product and tools through their SynergyExpert.com website

Looking forward, Jay Porras, Principal says, “We see exciting things coming down the road with Exact and Synergy. Up till now, traditional ERP software brought critical information to about 20-40% of the organization. The integration of Synergy with other ERP packages will allow 100% of the organization to have the right information at the right time. The Donas Group intends to be in the forefront of that effort.”

From Maine to Montana and Canada to Clearwater, Florida SMBs throughout North America have a partner when looking for a certified channel provider to help service and support Exact Cloud Business software—Exceptional Software Solutions, LLC.

For more than two decades, the business and software consulting firm has served the makers, creators and distributors of great products. The Florida-based firm provides a full range of support, service, technical and companion solutions for growing SMBs.

The ESS Team helps firms:

• Control labor costs through automation and operational efficiency
• Improve inventory management with bar code tracking implementation
• Settle on the right ERP after M&As
• Migrate data from Macola, QuickBooks or other solutions to Exact Globe
• Develop custom software applications for unique business needs
• Implement tech friendly social collaboration and CRM applications
• Select an ERP solution to go global

Tod Replogle, President of ESS explains: “We don’t sell ERP solutions. Our team is committed to exceptional service and support. With the need to expand operations globally, being a part of the Exact family helps us give our customers even more options to realize business transformation with the right ERP solution.”

Exceptional Software Solutions LLC has the tech chops and trench-tested experience to get the job done right. The award-winning team of software experts possesses more than 300+years of combined ERP experience. That’s just one reason why firms looking to begin the selection process for the perfect ERP to organizations with multiple users around the world looking for custom applications or more robust, sophisticated features trust this team for no fluff, just facts ERP advice.

Want to find our more about Exceptional Software Solutions? Click here to visit their website.

“The partnership between Kode and Exact is significant in that it allows us to accelerate time to value of applications to better serve our customers with even more agility and efficiency,” said Daniela Pinto, Chief Operations Officer of Kode. “Exact Business Software is one of the most comprehensive solutions that can help grow a business, not only from a financial standpoint, but a solution that can integrate all business processes.”

Exact Americas director Philip Bini adds: “The addition of Daniela Pinto and her team at Kode not only gives Exact an expanded presence in Puerto Rico, but also bolsters our partner representation in other areas of our North American market. Daniela and her team have a full-service, professional services team skilled in implementing and developing on the Exact Globe and Exact Synergy solutions. Their expertise will enable them to hit the ground running and executing on their business plans in 2019 and beyond. This is one more example Exact adding to our North American footprint as the Exact international partner community continues to grow.”

Exact Synergy

With Exact Synergy you’re able to achieve optimal collaboration between all departments within your company. The result: transparency, shorter lines of communication, faster reaction times, increased flexibility and genuine teamwork. By connecting employees and ensuring that work can be carried out easily, everyone is kept up to date on developments concerning customers. Exact Synergy is a scalable solution. Start by automating one of many processes, and expand when you’re ready to do so. Use Synergy to manage the following business processes:

• HRM
• Workflows
• Document Management
• Project Management
• CRM
• Social Collaboration

Want to find out more about Exact Synergy? Click here to find out how you can achieve optimal collaboration across all departments.

Exact Globe: innovative ERP software

With Exact Globe, customers can choose from a range of industry and process oriented complete business software solutions. Highlighted by its international enterprise resource planning platform, Exact Globe provides:

• Best-in-class financial administration
• Integrate all financial and operational processes, create insight and control
• Extensions for project, manufacturing and logistics inc. WMS, service management and portals
• Full integration with Exact for HRM, CRM and BPM
• International business software with language and legislation for more than 40 countries

Want to find out more about Exact Globe? Click here to find out how you can achieve optimal results for all of your business needs.

The rapid development of computers and robots will radically transform the employment market. This offers opportunities, including for entrepreneurs, says Randstad’s Marjolein ten Hoonte. “It’s about imagination and how you translate that to your own company.”

The Randstad Group head office in Diemen, the Netherlands, is a classic example of ‘the new way of working’. Visitors no longer have to wait for employees to come and collect them with an access pass. The entire ground floor is accessible to everyone. Just like the employees and clients of the company, visitors can go there to meet, work, drink coffee and eat lunch. This is a logical consequence of technologisation, says Marjolein ten Hoonte, labour market and CSR director at the company. “Although your location might not be relevant any more for your job, working people still want to meet each other.”

The discussion about the future of work often implies a threat - of robots that will take over jobs, rendering people unemployed. But Ten Hoonte is not a pessimist. She would rather focus on the chances that technology brings. “Old jobs go and new jobs are created: it’s what we’ve witnessed since the introduction of the steam engine. Almost no one knows what a growth hacker actually does, but it’s certainly a new profession.” While she likes to look at opportunities, Ten Hoonte also argues that technologisation creates stress in society. Suddenly, a company is no longer a building in a street with a front door, but a platform with an algorithm and a chatbot, such as Uber or Deliveroo. Technology flips business models upside down, reversing processes. Instead of selling a product or service, there are companies which try to discover the characteristics of a consumer by sharing vast amounts of information. Google, for example, offers free services. Thanks to the data it gleans in doing so, it can provide targeted offers.

New business models

Ten Hoonte believes we need to start understanding how technology can help us. Robots can also relieve us of work we don’t want to do. Moreover, technology provides equal opportunities by destroying the old hierarchy – younger colleagues often know better – and offers entrepreneurs many new opportunities. “From this perspective, the future of work isn’t about technologisation but about the humanisation of the labour market”, she says. To identify and exploit opportunities, entrepreneurs have to delve into new technologies and what these can offer their organisation. “Supercomputer Watson, developed by IBM, can rapidly process a wealth of legal information. This can improve a lawyer’s plea. At the same time, it’s a threat to the traditional company billing by hour. Therefore, they’ve got to ask themselves: what will my new business model be? It’s about imagination and the translation of technology to your own company.”

Transition consultant

Ten Hoonte is happy to be inspired by leading institutes and thought leaders such as Andrew McAfee, researcher at the MIT Sloan School of Management. He studies how information technology is changing business. In his book The Second Machine Age he describes the following competencies of the future: taking initiative and risks, thinking creatively, creating and exploiting opportunities, collaborating and communicating. Ten Hoonte’s tips also sound like a plea for entrepreneurship. “Take a good look at the new technology around you, ask questions, try it out.” She believes that only thinking in terms of competition is outdated. The new era requires collaboration, for example, as is happening at innovation ecosystems such as Brainport in Eindhoven. “Only by joining forces and coming up with innovative ideas together will it be possible for small entrepreneurs to oppose major tech companies or platforms.” As an example she cites networks of entrepreneurs in construction who are asking what it means that half-built houses will be printed in factories one day. “The issue is simply too large to solve on your own.”

And if you can’t find an answer, she recommends looking for someone who knows how you can develop into a new organisation. “This person doesn’t have a name or function yet – let’s call them a transition consultant. Someone who can explain that you currently still need truck drivers, but that self-driving is on the horizon. Or that the painting company can provide its customers with a new interior every week when using new technology.” This brings Ten Hoonte onto her next tip: develop new networks. Find the specialists who know what’s happening. This may be the branch association, the technical university or the economic board. “The homogeneity of existing networks may pose a risk. There may be insufficient knowledge of new, genuine innovations. As an entrepreneur, you should constantly be asking yourself which people you need around you in order to understand how new technology works and how you can use it as effectively as possible.”

Reinvention

Whereas companies used to be able to do the same thing for 30 years, they now have to reinvent themselves time and time again. Ten Hoonte was astonished when the Randstad Employer Brand Research (research into the most attractive employer in the Netherlands) found that nearly half of employees interviewed stated that tech won’t have any impact on their jobs. “The only reason I can think of for it is that employees haven’t had to deal with this element for such a long time that they now dismiss it and think: “I’ll hear about it when it’s actually happening.”

New reciprocity

Employers also have to take responsibility here, says Ten Hoonte. They mustn’t only consider what technology means for the company, but also the consequences for employees. “How do you keep them up-to-date with the developments? How do you keep it a challenge? This requires a new approach from employers, which I call the new reciprocity.” More than the current discussion about permanent or temporary contracts, this concerns sustainable employability and organising adaptability, according to Ten Hoonte. “Employers and employees must enter a dialogue with each other about how they want to work together: about how an employee can live, work, care, learn and develop without having to worry about income.” Projects are replacing jobs, she states. “And employees are jumping from project to project. We have to organise this properly together.” She has seen how the old, institutional frameworks used to reward those who stayed in one place. In this new era, a time of change, people can still work somewhere for a long time, but they must also be able to leave in a dignified way without being fired and or being made redundant. “In a reciprocal working relationship, the employer isn’t only worried about the job but about the transition as well”, she says. For the time being people still need income and employment, she laughs. “Humans still can’t live on air alone. The abundance theory suggests that this will happen eventually, but we’re still a long way off.”

The Port of Amsterdam aims to be a top European sustainable logistics link whilst also adding value to the Amsterdam metropolitan region. CFO Michiel de Brauw was appointed to achieve this, with the support of Exact.

The Amsterdam port region is an important logistics hub, with an annual freight transshipment exceeding 100 million tonnes”, says the Port of Amsterdam CFO Michiel de Brauw. “The added value to the regional economy amounts to nearly 7 billion euros. The port is one of the largest energy ports in Europe, with more than 75 percent of the transshipment in fossil fuels. The advent of sustainable energy has caused a huge transformation. With the ambition to stop the storage and transshipment of coal by 2030, we’re fully committed to the development of new activities and innovations focused on a faster switch to clean energy.”

Sustainability ambitions

“We want to be one of the leading sustainable ports in Europe. We’re now the largest petrol port in the world and the second largest coal bunkering port in Europe. We want to remain one of the largest energy ports, but with a diminishing footprint. That’s why we’re primarily focussed on the energy transition. Not by rejecting the fossil fuels industry, but by strengthening our share in renewable energy and other non-fossil energy markets.

In the course of my career at DHL Supply Chain, and particularly during the last three years when I was in Germany, I’ve noticed how wide-ranging corporate social responsibility is. And how important it is to really put sustainability on the map, especially in deals with major clients. When a company outsources its logistical processes to a company with a green image, it improves the image of the client. Germany is clearly ahead of the Netherlands here. They’re incredibly driven to achieve a clean energy supply. On clear days with sun and wind, they don’t have to engage the coal-fired plants. We still have a long way to go in the Netherlands.”

Circular economy

“In addition to the energy transition that we envisage, we’re focussing on the circular economy in our region. The Amsterdam metropolitan region is one of the most densely populated regions in the world and keeps on growing. This creates challenges in terms of environmental pressures and general nuisance issues. The challenge for us is to limit the physical impact of the port while handling the limited space we have due to the city’s growth in a smart way.

Ambitious sustainability objectives can only be achieved by working together. For example, the port handles the city’s waste processing facility, so there’s a vast amount of recycling to do. As a consequence, we set up a chain of companies in the port that reuse the waste materials. This circular economy in the Amsterdam port will become increasingly important. In addition, we’re attracting start-ups and scale-ups which provide diversification and innovation, focused on the acceleration of this energy transition among other things.

Why is this all happening in the port? Because we have the physical and environmental space. Our focus is shifting from the transit of cargo between, for example, South America, Africa and the hinterland more towards adding value to the region. Furthermore, we’ve created approximately 70,000 jobs in and around the port. Added value and jobs are becoming more important than simply processing tonnage.”

The CFO at the controls

“The sustainability ambitions and initiatives of the Port of Amsterdam are well-suited to the duties of a CFO. It’s about value creation. We’re looking beyond growth ambition or profit; societal value is also important. By 2021, we want to achieve 100 percent sustainability in our purchasing. The strict requirements that apply nowadays for CSR reporting also makes the CFO a logical candidate for overseeing these ambitions. The GRI (Global Reporting Initiative) guidelines for sustainable reporting are an internationally recognised standard that our reports must comply with.

In recent years, we’ve developed our CSR policy into a plan with clear objectives. We can measure everything. Our CSR manager Linda van Waveren doesn’t have a financial background, but that’s not a problem - we support her with KPIs, analyses and results. That’s what makes it so effective to tackle these issues in the company’s financial organisation.

As the central figure, Linda ensures that everyone in the company is involved and engaged with sustainability in their own area. Take our nautical sector as an example, which regulates shipping traffic in the North Sea Canal. They’re striving towards the goal of clean shipping by offering discounts to clean ships. We’re also involved in generating clean energy as joint owner of a wind farm. In addition, we’ve installed 100,000 m2 of solar panels in the port. This allows us to increasingly develop into the role of ‘the city’s battery’. We’re shifting from the traditional role of a port into a broader company. But we’re not the only ones making this transition- the ports of Antwerp and Rotterdam are also undergoing similar changes.”

Financial and societal return

“I used to have primarily ‘blue’ people in my finance team – the meticulous, factual types. Now I also look for the ‘green’ types – people who are able to see the bigger picture. That balance between financial and societal objectives is exactly what adds value to our sustainability ambitions. It’s mainly the non-financial information I find most important; what’s more, my monthly reports don’t just consist of hard figures, but reports about air quality and quality of life.

People in my team can’t just take decisions based on financial return. Take, for instance, the cranes that we work with in the port. A concrete company used a diesel crane that was causing a nuisance for residents, so we purchased an electrical crane as a joint investor. This crane made no noise and the replacement offered the environmental benefit of a reduction in the emission of CO2, nitrogen and particulate matter emissions. That’s a good step for the residents’ quality of life. Financially, it didn’t really offer any benefits. But it was important. This doesn’t make decisions any simpler. Sometimes something provides a low financial return but offers a high social return. So how do you reach a decision in cases like these? By intuition.

This is how you expand your license to operate. Ultimately you can grow as a port, but you have to keep an eye on the bigger picture and not just each individual investment. Corporate social responsibility also leads to cost savings: but only if you look at the situation as a whole. We have highly specific plans for the future. Not just for the coming five years, but for the next 15 years and onwards. We’ve taken a path and by measuring KPIs we feel that this is the right direction. The port has been around for more than 700 years. We don’t know what it will look like in 50 years, but now we can create a rough outline.”

Port of Amsterdam uses Exact software among other things for their financial processes

We’re happy to announce and introduce 4 new members of the Exact partner community: infoSpring, Software Solutions, Donas Group and Mendelson Consulting. These new partnerships represent another significant milestone in Exact’s growth strategy in the Americas regarding our international software propositions. These new partnerships further confirm our commitment to the North American market and our customer base. All partnerships have a keen focus on introducing and expanding Exact Synergy within the North American market.

Philip Bini, Director of Exact Americas, emphasizes the significance of bringing on these four partners:

“With the addition of infoSpring, Software Solutions, the Donas Group and Mendelson Consulting, Exact Americas increases our footprint in the western, northern, central and southeastern regions of the United States. Each partner has unique strengths, but all have similar business goals: evangelizing the growing adoption of Exact Synergy Enterprise in our North American market. Mid-market businesses looking to breathe life into their business processes can accelerate those goals with Exact Synergy Enterprise, along with the guided hand of these expert partners.

Bini continues: “As a mid-market business, investments in technology are more critical than ever, especially if you are augmenting your previous business software investments. Whether your historical software investments have been with Exact or other providers like Sage, JD Edwards, SAP B1 or Intuit QuickBooks, adding collaboration software is critical for growing businesses. With Exact Synergy Enterprise, we offer businesses the opportunity to digitize those business process ‘interactions’ that typically surround the traditional ‘transactions.’ With each of our recently announced partnerships, we expand our ability to service more mid-market companies with diverse technology platforms by implementing Exact Synergy Enterprise ‘on top of’ those core transactional applications.”

Exact Synergy

Exact Synergy is a workflow and document management solution that streamlines HRM, CRM and BPM processes. The multi-faceted SMB business solution brings down the barriers between sales, marketing, finance, HR and every other department:

• Process management and automation, signaling and alerts
• Fully integrated document management and archiving
• One CRM system for 100% insight into your customer relationships
• One HRM system for insight into your personnel administration
• A firm grip on projects and budgets
• Quick and easy access with Exact Mobile Apps: anytime and anywhere

Want to find out more about Exact Synergy? Click here to find out how you can achieve optimal collaboration across all departments.

infoSpring, LLC

infoSpring brings years of experience servicing small and medium businesses in the Western United States and the Mid-West. “Exact has provided core solutions that have allowed our customers to streamline operations and achieve their goals”, says Brad Boston. “We believe that Exact Synergy is a game changer for organizations that embrace Synergy’s capabilities. The infoSpring team has works with businesses to redefine their operational workflows and document management. “Modernizing with Synergy we eliminate the bottlenecks caused by manual or outdated systems and ensure timely customer service, follow through and fulfillment.”

Click here to visit the website for infoSpring.

Software Solutions Inc

Software Solutions Inc, led by Ken Miner, is a US based consulting organization who specializes in solving front office and back office business problems for small and medium sized businesses. The Software Solutions team has 20+ years of experience assessing, delivering and supporting software implementations with companies all across North America. Tim Plasier of Software Solutions is delighted to rejoin the Exact family: “We will continue to leverage our knowledge of the Exact Software products which we have been applying to satisfy our customers’ needs since 2003. In addition, we look forward to offering Exact’s full suite of solutions as we enter this new partnership.

Click here to visit the website of Software Solutions.

Donas Group

Donas Group, led by Jay Porras and Robert Donald, is a US based consulting organization that specializes in solving front and back office business problems for small and medium sized businesses. Jay Porras of the Donas Group has a long history of working with Exact: “ The Donas Group has embraced the Exact Synergy product right from the start of our relationship and has always considered it an integral part of our business model. We believe our SynergyExpert.com website is a testament to our commitment to Exact Synergy and Exact Software. We are excited to re-connect with Exact and look forward to continued success for both organizations.”

Click here to visit the website of Donas Group.

Mendelson Consulting

Mendelson Consulting is a thought leading consulting organization that specializes in solving front office business problems for small and medium sized businesses in North America. Mendelson Consulting is joining Exact’s International Partner Program and will have a focused interest on introducing and sharing Exact Synergy within the Intuit QuickBooks community.

Click here to visit the website of Mendelson Consulting.

About Exact

Exact, founded in 1984 and headquartered in Delft, the Netherlands, develops financial management and ERP software for small and medium sized businesses and employs over 1,400 people. The customers of Exact are present in more than 100 countries and are mostly active in the accountancy, manufacturing, professional services and wholesale & distribution industries. Over 375,000 companies in the Benelux rely on Exact to support their businesses.

infoSpring has joined the Exact International partner community, bringing years of experience servicing small and medium businesses in the Western United States and the Mid-West. Originally named Romero & Boston, infoSpring was founded in 1994 with Brad Boston as one of the original founders. The business was started to help small and medium businesses leverage the power of information to help their businesses improve and grow.

“Exact has provided core solutions that have allowed our customers to streamline operations and achieve their goals”, says Brad Boston. “We believe that Exact Synergy is a game changer for organizations that embrace Synergy’s capabilities. Synergy’s functionalities pick up where traditional ERP ends and provides important workflow, document management, CRM and a host of other features to our clients businesses. We’ve successfully integrated Synergy with Sage 100 eliminating duplication of effort and extending functionality to ensure that key business processes associated with operations are not only accounted for by the ERP but that related tasks, activities and documents are also completed by our clients teams. We look forward to a continued and successful partnership with Exact.”

Exact Americas director Philip Bini adds: “The addition of Brad Boston and his team at infoSpring gives Exact a significant presence in the western regions of our North American market. Brad and his team have a full-service, professional services team who are skilled in implementing the Exact Synergy solution on many different mid-market ERP solution sets. Their expertise will position them nicely for immediate growth and will give them an early opportunity to make an impact in our international partner community.”

Exact Synergy

With Exact Synergy you’re able to achieve optimal collaboration between all departments within your company. The result: transparency, shorter lines of communication, faster reaction times, increased flexibility and genuine teamwork. By connecting employees and ensuring that work can be carried out easily, everyone is kept up to date on developments concerning customers. Exact Synergy is a scalable solution. Start by automating one of many processes, and expand when you’re ready to do so. Use Synergy to manage the following business processes:

• HRM
• Workflows
• Document Management
• Project Management
• CRM
• Social Collaboration

Want to find out more about Exact Synergy? Click here to find out how you can achieve optimal collaboration across all departments.

Click here to visit the website of infoSpring.

The Exact ecosystem continues to grow with the addition of another member of the International Partner Community.

Software Solutions Inc, led by Ken Miner, is a US based consulting organization who specializes in solving front office and back office business problems for small and medium sized businesses. The Software Solutions team has 20+ years of experience assessing, delivering and supporting software implementations with companies all across North America. Software Solutions enters into the Exact International Partner program with a keen focus on the Exact Synergy business management solution.

Exact Synergy

Exact Synergy is a workflow and document management solution that streamlines HRM, CRM and BPM processes. The multi-faceted SMB business solution brings down the barriers between sales, marketing, finance, HR and every other department:

• Process management and automation, signaling and alerts
• Fully integrated document management and archiving
• One CRM system for 100% insight into your customer relationships
• One HRM system for insight into your personnel administration
• A firm grip on projects and budgets
• Quick and easy access with Exact Mobile Apps: anytime and anywhere

Software Solutions has joined the Exact International partner community where they can apply their many years of experience delivering valuable solutions to businesses leveraging the Exact software technology stack. The team is focused on sharing the Synergy solution with businesses not yet familiar with Exact solutions who can benefit from the broad capabilities of Exact’s products.

Philip Bini, Director, Mid-Market Solutions Exact Americas, is very excited to bring Ken Miner, Tim Plasier and the Software Solutions team into Exact’s International Partner Community: “We feel that they will represent what the Exact Americas region is doing to provide comprehensive solutions to our customer base with our technology platforms. The Software Solutions team embodies what it is all about to provide meaningful business process management solutions to companies who need more structure around their processes and ERP systems. The Software Solutions team is a great addition to our rapidly expanding partner community across North America, supporting our growth initiatives in 2018 and beyond. We’re looking forward to great things to come from this partnership.”

Tim Plasier of Software Solutions is delighted to rejoin the Exact family: “We will continue to leverage our knowledge of the Exact Software products which we have been applying to satisfy our customers’ needs since 2003. In addition, we look forward to offering Exact’s full suite of solutions as we enter this new partnership. Software Solutions passionately strives for excellence and is known for persistently seeking and supplying a solution to ensure our clients success, and streamline their operations. Our approach is to simplify whenever possible, and allow the software to shine by leveraging native capabilities to their fullest extent, while providing custom extensions when necessary. Software Solutions has successfully integrated Exact Synergy with JD Edwards allowing global entities to streamline corporate processes such as vendor setup, shipping documentation, and international order processing.”

Click here to visit the website of Software Solutions.

For an international company, choosing the right IT systems isn’t easy. There are various factors to consider, and the complexity and impact these systems have on your organisation mean that the decision shouldn’t be rushed. This is something to bear in mind.

It’s a major challenge to balance costs, duration of implementation and functionality. An effective approach requires a detailed overview of the business processes you want to support, including clear priorities.

Ready to use

The right balance between costs and functionality often leads to an out-of-the-box solution. This is business software which is basically ready for use without requiring too much customising.

This software is often modular, which means that it can be expanded systematically. Standardised functionalities are rolled out in no time and can be fully integrated with one another, meaning you don’t have to contend with issues related to the ‘communication’ between separate solutions. With all information in a single system, you reduce the chance of errors and increase the effectiveness of reports, without needing external experts to collect and analyse data from various systems.

If you want to distinguish between suppliers, pay close attention to their capacity for connecting all your international locations. Consider the support they offer in the area of local legislation, multiple languages in the interface, support documents and how to handle source data for international banking or taxes.

Find a partner, not just a supplier

When choosing an ERP system, consider specific situations that could occur and research how your envisaged supplier will deal with them.

How do they research potential solutions? Do they brainstorm in collaboration with you, or only consider their own perspective? Are they present in the area where you do business, or do they have a local partner network? What happens if you need assistance? Who carries out implementation and follow-up? Is this done centrally or locally? Do you have a direct contact? Is that person able to make quick and effective decisions, or will you be constantly waiting for answers?

Think beyond transactions

Your organisation handles numerous processes including orders, invoices and payments in addition to transactions. Consider CRM, HR, document management, project support and service management.

Special systems for these activities generate data which can be useful for checking and integration with back office processes. This provides extra depth to any overview of your company, improved insight into customer activities, accurate monitoring of processes which aren’t related to transactions and more effective information exchange between all involved: customers, partners, suppliers and colleagues.

All locations in a single system

Strong interaction between data throughout the organisation provides control and insight that ultimately saves time and money. This is certainly the case when new foreign locations are added. It is essential that these are connected to the rest of the company because this helps minimise errors and delays.

Many financial managers experience challenges on a daily basis. They possess crucial information that can heavily impact business strategy, but are often unable to contribute to researching the results. Since traditional reporting methods are so time-consuming, they often just forward the information, rather than analyse and discuss it. The right BI tools can change this situation.

Don’t wait for information

Business analytics programmes play a major role in freeing up financial directors, because they make large amounts of data transparent, quickly and simply.

In a previous article we looked at the difference between business analytics and the traditional style of reporting. Whereas traditional reports often concern research questions developed by IT, business analytics systems offer a ‘DIY’ analysis of the data with a single mouse click. This allows large amounts of data to be easily translated to organisation-wide, real-time KPIs and trends displayed in orderly dashboards.

These KPIs offer insight into activities and processes which can be improved, leading to increased speed, efficiency, accuracy and, of course, higher profits. In short, it’s the information that upper management needs to be able to run the company efficiently.

A major step

In comparison to traditional reporting, this represents a major step forward for financial professionals. Insight is related to what’s happening now, not at the time the database was consulted. This leads to vastly improved decision-making processes. Trends can be recognised earlier to support positive changes and tackle negative ones.

Two ways of saving time

BI tools help financial managers save time in two ways. Firstly, the required information is available immediately. No more waiting for the IT department to process a request. Secondly, they can collect much of the information their colleagues require themselves. This means no excess report requests to work through. Essentially, the financial department no longer has to provide the rest of the organisation with information. As an added bonus, everyone has access to the same information.

From accountant to analyst

The time saved can instead be used to analyse and evaluate results. It enables financial professionals to actively advise the management team on matters such as adjusting the strategy or improving business processes.

The availability of real-time financial figures in a single overview, enables financial directors to constantly monitor the organisation. Management easily assesses the cash flow, liquidity, turnover, profit, return and equity capital at any given moment. They have direct insight into outstanding payables and receivables of all business units. Discussions can always be substantiated with current total turnover, costs and profit figures, with the option to zoom in to the transaction level to discover specific causes.

Sales support

With the right BI tools, gathering sales-related information is also extremely simple. It’s possible to quickly see who’s purchasing what, where and when. Sales volumes per account manager, and their share compared to the total margin, are always just one click away. Gain insight into what a seemingly successful (high volume) product actually adds to the profit. And what would happen if certain products were to be removed from your product range.

With such insights, financial directors can be effectively involved in subsequent discussions. What product lines need stronger marketing, and where? How can we optimise our stock to increase our working capital? How can we tackle projects that don’t generate sufficient revenue? Which customers have problems with payments and why? And what can we do about it?

Financial expertise as the basis of the business strategy

The information behind these events and trends is easily accessible and available for anyone involved, meaning financial experts in the company become both controllers and strategists. If administrative tasks are reduced, they can far better focus their expertise on optimising the company.

We’re happy to announce that Donas Group has rejoined the Exact partner community as part of our International Partner program.

Donas Group, led by Jay Porras and Robert Donald, is a US based consulting organization that specializes in solving front and back office business problems for small and medium sized businesses. The Donas team has over 20 years of experience assessing and delivering solutions for businesses with the Exact Synergy business management solution.

Philip Bini, Director, Mid-Market Solutions Exact Americas, explains why partnering up with Donas is such an important step for Exact: “The partnership with Donas brings one more veteran partner to the Exact International Partner Community and the Exact ecosystem as a whole. Donas’ broad reach and expertise, allows Exact to share our special message about Exact Synergy to businesses all over the world.”

The new partnership represents another significant milestone in Exact’s growth strategy in the Americas regarding our international software propositions. Headlined by the Exact Synergy and Exact Globe solutions, the Donas Group is widely recognized in the mid-market as a thought leading provider of front office business solutions, and the announcement of Donas joining the International Partner Program further confirms our commitment to the North American market and our customer base.

Jay Porras of the Donas Group has a long history of working with Exact: “ The Donas Group has embraced the Exact Synergy product right from the start of our relationship and has always considered it an integral part of our business model. We believe our SynergyExpert.com website is a testament to our commitment to Exact Synergy and Exact Software. We are excited to re-connect with Exact and look forward to continued success for both organizations.”

Want to find out more about Exact Synergy? Click here to find out how you can achieve optimal collaboration across all departments.

Click here to visit the website of Donas Group.

Exact, the leading provider of financial and ERP software in the Benelux, today announces a collaboration with Mendelson Consulting, a thought leading consulting organization that specializes in solving front office business problems for small and medium sized businesses in North America. Mendelson is joining Exact’s International Partner Program and will have a focused interest on introducing and sharing Exact Synergy within the Intuit QuickBooks community.

The partnership with Mendelson signifies the expansion of Exact products into the Intuit market, allowing Exact’s message about their Exact Synergy solution to reach over 28 million businesses worldwide who use QuickBooks today.

Exact Synergy

Exact Synergy is a workflow and document management solution that streamlines HRM, CRM and BPM processes. The multi-faceted SMB business solution brings down the barriers between sales, marketing, finance, HR and every other department:

• Process management and automation, signaling and alerts
• Fully integrated document management and archiving
• One CRM system for 100% insight into your customer relationships
• One HRM system for insight into your personnel administration
• A firm grip on projects and budgets
• Quick and easy access with Exact Mobile Apps: anytime and anywhere

Philip Bini, Director, Mid-Market Solutions Exact Americas, explains: “Exact’s partnership with Mendelson Consulting marks a significant milestone in the evolution of Exact Synergy. The Mendelson team has a strong reputation of being a thought leader in the Intuit community, and under the leadership of Mario Nowogrodzki, CPA/CITP, his firm is the go-to provider of front office business solutions in the QuickBooks community. This makes for a natural partnership between our two companies. It’s an exciting time for the QuickBooks community to be introduced to Exact Synergy through the Mendelson team. Exact is excited to be able to introduce our solution to the needs of QuickBooks-based businesses all over the world.”

About Exact

Exact, founded in 1984 and headquartered in Delft, the Netherlands, develops financial management and ERP software for small and medium sized businesses and employs over 1,400 people. The customers of Exact are present in more than 100 countries and are mostly active in the accountancy, manufacturing, professional services and wholesale & distribution industries. Over 375,000 companies in the Benelux rely on Exact to support their businesses.

Want to find out more about Exact Synergy? Click here to find out how you can achieve optimal collaboration across all departments.

Click here to visit the website of Mendelson Consulting.

For many companies, technological innovations are becoming a reality. Internal and external developments have to be constantly assessed, anticipated and acted on. This drive for transformation will put companies under major pressure. How can HR stay ahead of the curve?

Change on the shop floor

From manufacturing staff to bookkeepers, technological developments will affect us all. If we believe the promise of robotisation, we’ll soon lose our jobs to machines. But in many industries, this is all mere speculation. And that makes it hard for companies to develop themselves into companies of the future.

Young and small businesses already work in more innovative ways: they use the latest technologies, employ a relatively high number of freelancers, encourage flexible working patterns and invest differently. This puts extra pressure on traditional corporate organisations to follow the same path.

The current labour market is increasingly flexible. On the one hand, companies are looking for fewer permanent contracts, and on the other hand employees are demanding more flexibility. The era of jobs for life is over. The average career now involves several changes of employer, role, competences and skill sets, with many people alternating between permanent contracts and freelancing projects. The skills you’ll need at 50 will be vastly different to those you learned at university or college.

Career paths are becoming increasingly unpredictable. Changing jobs no longer occurs within the context of a career. Work experience and seniority are being replaced by flexibility and changing competences. Employers expect flexibility from their staff. In its 2015 report, PWC described this as employagility: ‘the awareness or ability of organisations and employees to quickly be able to respond to changes and continue to add value.’ The manner and speed with which a company can respond to technological developments depends on the agility of its employees. It is the role of the employer to mobilise its personnel.

And this is what has to drive the HR agenda from now on.

The role of HR

HR departments can strategically add value by understanding the challenges companies face, knowing what to anticipate and what the company culture is and should be. It will have to replace its current role as service provider with that of advisor to management and employees. HR needs to identify which staff could be affected by automation, and create a culture in which work is subject to change. It has to stimulate discussions between supervisors and employees about the importance of additional- and retraining, so that the latter remains deployable. They have to emphasise that workspaces, competences and roles are no longer established facts, and that employees need to take control of their own personal development both at work and beyond. They must focus on long-term employability to be able to grow and change, allowing them to take ownership of their value for current employers and a good position in the labour market.

Automation of HR processes

It’s up to HR to make digitisation and technological innovation part of the company’s DNA. And that’s where the problem lies. HR departments generally don’t lead the way where digitisation, automation and technology are concerned, and are generally reactive to strategic issues. Look at the adoption of data and data analysis. There are few HR professionals who base strategic advice and decisions on data, while this may actually contribute significantly to the objectives of the company. Consider the value of predicting extra capacity in sales on the basis of turnover and projections, as opposed to recruiting only when the need is already there.

Does HR really want to play a leading role in transforming the organisation and facilitating a digital workplace? Then it needs to get its house in order and automate its own processes first.

Your business produces vast amounts of communication every day. Colleagues communicate informally via email, WhatsApp, Slack and numerous other platforms. It’s quick and easy, but is it smart? What happens to all the information being bounced back and forth via these channels?

Just try to retrieve it

We’ve all experienced it: a machine malfunctions and the person who knows how to fix it isn’t in the office. So you take a photo, send it via WhatsApp and (hopefully) learn how to fix the problem. This might be a good solution in the short term, but if it happens to somebody else the next time, they have to start from scratch. After all, the information was communicated via WhatsApp, meaning it wasn’t embedded.

Thanks to the explosion of messaging platforms, there’s a divide between official and informal information streams within every organisation. Quotations, product manuals, work instructions or presentations are properly saved and stored for years. But discussions relating to those documents, which are often essential to understanding how a process proceeded or why a certain decision was made, run via informal channels. This information gets lost in local mailboxes or WhatsApp accounts and can’t be accessed by others who might stand to benefit from it.

Combine storage with communication

The solution is actually very simple: integrate the possibility for rapid, informal communication into the business software. This way, employees retain the possibility to align quickly with colleagues, but that communication takes place within your own environment- where communication concerning a malfunction, delayed order or new client is stored and searchable.

This is exactly what social collaboration by Exact does. It combines storage and communication, in an environment fully managed by you. Discussions concerning factory malfunctions or rush orders are held and stored in the environment where the maintenance contract of the machine and the contact details of that client are also stored: a very practical solution.

No quick fixes, but fundamental solutions

Part of being a manufacturer is constantly striving for improvement and the elimination of waste. In other words, you’re not just looking for quick fixes, but for fundamental solutions. Correspondence over social media concerning incidents can help enormously in analysing root causes; you’ll find and be able to fix causes you didn’t even know existed.

What happened? Why? When? How did we solve it? Why in this particular manner? Which subsequent actions emerged from this? The answers to these questions make the difference between merely treating symptoms and eliminating root causes.

The transparent storage of actions and interactions for all users provides a clear audit trail and allows you to learn from the past- and all that within the secure environment of your own system. What more could you ask for?

Many organisations miss the opportunity to make major savings on their procurement, says Edward Burgers, Head of Global Procurement at Exact. “Companies which structure their Purchase to Pay processes (P2P) can add a few percent to their profit. And if you invest your savings into a good procurement team, you’ll earn double.”

Leeway comes before purchase

P2P literally means ‘from purchase to payment’. I’d like to expand P2P by involving the step prior to purchase. This is where there’s an opportunity to earn money, because there’s room to negotiate. Many companies work with fixed suppliers, where the price isn’t strictly monitored. By actively requesting and negotiating prices, you can often purchase better quality for less money. Another option is using a single supplier for your procurement and agreeing on a reduction.

Many P2P processes rely on forms

There is a lot of waste in P2P in the majority of organisations; a lot of people tend to be involved. The process starts with a request form for a purchase order, followed by approval from the budget holder. After the order is placed, goods are delivered or a service is provided. The purchase invoice is subsequently sent to the administrative staff. They check the accuracy, organise the approval and make the payment. We make this process as lean as possible for our customers. We create as much value as possible by making the process as simple and visible as possible. This allows us to save a considerable amount of time and money.

Every dollar you save on your expenses is direct profit

Many people within an organisation are only aware something has been ordered when the invoice comes in. In a structured process, this is visible at a much earlier stage and you won’t be surprised by financial obligations. Naturally, we also work with our own P2P software at Exact. It provides insights into the expenditure of our 24 offices in 15 countries at any time of day.

When I sit down with my IT director, I can show him a dynamic dashboard that tells him, how high his IT expenses are in Asia that week. If it appears that a Malaysian data centre is significantly more expensive than one in America, there may be a valid reason for this - for example, because IT services or installations are more expensive there. But when expenses are simply illogical, you have the means to respond.

There’s no ambiguity after the fact

In many companies, time is wasted working in the old fashioned way. Invoices are sent by post or e-mail, envelopes have to be opened, someone has to assess what it is and which department or location the invoice has to be sent to. Then someone has to register delivery of the machine so that the invoice can subsequently be readied for payment. With our P2P solution it’s clear at the start how costs have to be booked. Orders are never sent to suppliers without approval from the budget holder. This prevents ambiguity about who ordered what and who has to pay. Investing these savings into a good procurement team will earn you double!

We’re all familiar with the classic scenario: ask HR and finance to compile a list of staff members and you’ll undoubtedly get two versions which don’t match. Whereas finance talks about FTEs and expenses, HR is all about headcount and people, meaning we can end up getting lost in translation. But isn’t it time we started combining forces more often?

Strategic partners of the business

In the relationship between finance and HR, the phrase which springs to mind is that ‘opposites attract’. While finance has its eye on the future, creating forecasts and strategic predictions, HR primarily looks at the past. Finance works with hard figures, HR is often seen as the soft department which ‘works with people’. A finance professional is ‘blue’ and likes processes and control, while an HR staff member is sociable with an eye for people and so falls into the green spectrum.

But if we put all discrepancies aside and search for collaboration between the two, we create a powerful engine for transformation and growth. The CFO and HR director control the most important assets for sustainable growth: the money, the people and generally also the technology. In addition, both fulfil the role of strategic advisor for the business, or have the desire to do so. None of this should come as a surprise, because while marketing and sales specifically focus on the part of the business which they’re responsible for, HR and finance (aside from the CEO) are the only departments that have a comprehensive image of where the organisation stands. So it’s time to join forces and unite the two worlds.

Insight, overview and analysis

Realtime insight and strategic decisions based on business intelligence are no-brainers for the finance professional. Now that HR is increasingly taking on the role of strategic advisor in the organisation, their advice is also expected to be substantiated by quantitative analysis. But here´s the rub. I know few HR professionals who can set up and play around with analyses themselves. They’re often clumsy when it comes to technology. On the one hand, they don’t know where to start and on the other, they don’t know how to present the correct issues to IT in order to receive usable reports. Finance could play a good coaching role here using its own experience. If HR can outline its needs, it becomes easy to provide support and insight from a business control or BI angle via a front-end tool. This quantitative data can be deployed in the recruitment of talent, succession planning and managing the organisational culture in collaboration with internal communication.

Searching for the financial talent of the future

When automation and robotisation are the norm, the finance department will shift its operations in two directions. On the one hand we’ll move towards a financial controlling role. This requires people who understand the relevant processes: specialists, who, in general aren’t the most communicative people. On the other hand, we’ll have much more demand for generalists who can collaborate with the business. This person must be able to collaborate, make connections and communicate with other disciplines. And in this case, personality is just as crucial as core skills. The current generation of recruiters won’t find these people by ticking a few boxes when a CV arrives. A different approach in the recruitment process requires effort from me as well.

In my team, I’m not looking for ' nodding donkeys' or carbon copies of staff who are already there. I’m after someone with drive and ambition. To find them, I know I have to invest in my relationship with the recruiter. A good CV doesn’t say much these days; we often get people coming in for interviews, from one of the Big Four for instance, who have a genuinely good track record. But within a few minutes it’s over. For me, it starts with the handshake. If someone doesn’t look me in the eye, I know instantly that I can’t place that person in a business-focused role. At some point the sales director will be sitting across the table and someone has to be able to restrain them. Recruiters have to make a shift from determining whether a person fits within the culture of the organisation and can tick all the boxes on their CV, but also whether the person matches what I’m looking for. In my search for the financial talent of tomorrow, this means I have to develop a long-term relationship with the recruiter.

Team management and people skills

Technology, digitisation and automation have a disruptive effect on the financial team. Roles change and teams are overhauled. The compilation of a new (financial) team requires a vision of change management, talent management and how to convert a group of individuals into a strong team. This demands a ‘connection officer’- and this is not the natural role of a CFO. We’re tempted to view everything through the lens of processes, facts and outcomes, in other words: the hard issues. If we want to develop a top team, we have to pay attention to the soft side. and learn a little from HR.

Though you need to have your house in order to achieve this; furthermore, this is the typical first step of analytical, pragmatic (financial) people. Once the foundations are in place, you can start to work on the collaboration, teamwork, trust and stability. I genuinely believe that everything is unstable when you build on quicksand. Your team stays strong when things are going well with the company. If results are under pressure, everything collapses. You need strong foundations.

And those foundations for the business can strengthen HR and finance even more when we look for collaboration at all levels.

Security of information and privacy are Exacts most important assets. It is in our greatest interest that you have confidence in how we handle your financial information and personal data. This is possible only when our software works accurately and securely, our internal processes and policy are correct and when our colleagues handle (business) data correctly. This is an ongoing task.

Did you know that in Southern Europe, VAT has to be withheld and paid towards invoices from freelancers? And did you know that the financial year runs from April to March in Japan? And that the German Finanzamt requires data from your administration to be submitted in a specific format? These might not be the most appealing aspects of international business, but you will encounter them if you have offices abroad. How do you link the administrations of your international offices with one another? We give you five tips to make your life easier.

Tip 1: Just do it!

For the doubters out there: the only way to avoid sleepless nights about the status of your foreign offices is to standardise information flows and processes to achieve a central overview. Not ad hoc, but in a thorough, scalable way which meets your specific needs. This will provide you with access to up-to-date and correct information about your foreign offices, without you having to familiarise yourself with local accounting customs and tax legislation in those countries.

Tip 2: Don’t accept workarounds

If you open or acquire your first foreign office, you might be tempted to integrate your bookkeeping via a workaround, using an Excel integration for instance. As soon as you experience further growth, and link a second, third and fourth office, you’ll get lost in conflicting systems of legislation, reporting and processes. That’s why it’s good to go for a central approach, which provides an integrated solution for all your foreign factories or sales offices, letting you keep a firm grip on what happens abroad.

Tip 3: Order pizza more often

Streamlining the administration in multiple countries is a complex process with many issues. That’s why it’s important to start with a blueprint of your business and the functionalities you require. Your provider should assist you with this. Consider the blueprint to be a pizza base; the local requirements and wishes that you put on it will give it it's flavour, but there’s no pizza without a base.

Tip 4: ‘During office hours’ is a thing of the past

Linking administrations means changing trusted processes, so support is crucial. Not only from 9-5 at head office. ‘During office hours’ is a thing of the past in international organisations. This is even more true for your foreign locations; in the local language, with knowledge of local customs and during local working hours, there should be a short line of communication to the central project organisation.

Tip 5: Find yourself a new hobby

Standardised processes. Reports at the click of a mouse. Realtime insight into what’s happening at foreign locations. Automatic compliance with local financial laws and regulations. Linking the administrations of your foreign locations will save you so much time and is so convenient, you might want to think about how to spend that extra time - what about a sailing trip to all your locations?

What have we done?

Exact has been investing heavily in ‘connectivity’ for a long time. This makes it simpler to directly connect mobile devices or machines, but also to connect customer or supplier systems to the Exact Software. This minimises ‘manual work’, reduces errors and is also faster.

In the most recent product update, release 413, new web services have become available for manufacturers and wholesale distributors. This allows us, for example, to offer the option to digitally connect manufacturing machines to the Exact E-WMS solution.

The following transaction types are now supported with the 413 release:

• Manufacturing receipts
• Manufacturing issues (free issues)
• Purchase receipts (free receipts)
• Inventory transaction receipts
• Inventory transaction issues

These WMS web services create the transactions in E-WMS, just like a scanner does, but digitally.

Benefit

This allows us, for example, to digitally read the suppliers’ receipt or from a manufacturing machine in real-time. In many cases, the manufacturing system knows exactly which item has been manufactured, with the quantities and batch information, including the date of manufacture, use by dates, etc. We can now digitally read this information into E-WMS, when and where it occurs.

Connectivity also offers other applications, for example, ‘pick to light’ order picking. At our Dutch customer BONFIX the Order Picker reads exactly what products to take and where they are located. Once they have fetched the item, a light signal indicates for which order this product is intended. The light next to the correct box illuminates. This allows the Order Picker to handle many orders at the same time error-free. This saves them a lot of miles running around the warehouse and reduces errors to almost nil. At BONFIX, this method allows double the amount of orders to be picked as previously with the same crew.

Would you like additional information?

Read more about these and other innovations in E-WMS or contact your account manager.