Cuts Pick & Ship Time in Half
Atlantic Firearms, an internet based firearms dealer, relies on low overhead and minimal operating expenses to enable them to offer the lowest possible prices for their goods. Of course, as a federally licensed firearms (FFL) dealer and distributor for several manufacturers, all transactions are in strict compliance with federal and state laws. Atlantic ships all firearms to FFL dealers for transfer to the buyer. This adds a layer of complexity to their processes and especially to their FFL record keeping.
With growing internet sales, company president, Blaine Bunting knew they needed a better solution than their Excel based FFL bound book. After investigating software options, Atlantic Firearms chose Easy Bound Book® Pro, by Business Automation Solutions of Minnesota (BASM). Blaine stated, “We have 10,000 firearms licensees that we supply, and while our system for recording transactions was solid, it took too much time and there were too many opportunities for error, especially at our rate of growth.”
“Before, it would take four people plus the ‘paper pushers’ to pick, pack and ship 100 boxes. With NAV and EBB we are much more efficient and can now pick, pack and ship up to 110 boxes with just two people.”
– Blaine Bunting , President, Atlantic Firearms, LLC
A few months after implementing the Easy Bound Book software and seeing the benefits of a fully automated system, the forward-thinking Bunting realized that having a single, fully integrated software system would offer even more benefits. He wanted a solution that Atlantic Firearms could use to manage order fulfillment from the time a customer placed an order all the way to shipping. He knew their QuickBooks software was not the robust, complete solution they needed, so he turned to BASM for the answer.
“The answer ended up being Microsoft Dynamics NAV, fully integrated with Easy Bound Book,” said Blaine. “We saw that it would speed up our processes and eliminate substantial paperwork. But we also saw that it could be integrated to our website, which we use to manage the whole sales process—not just to take orders.”
The BASM team got to work. This was a unique implementation involving the developers of Atlantic Firearm’s unusual website, which was developed as a portal not a web store. Additionally, the BASM team had the extra challenges of the FFL dealer selection and handling lay-a-ways. Finally, Atlantic Firearms is also a firearms manufacturer with their own brand, so this would need to be accounted for from a sales and manufacturing standpoint.
BASM set up Microsoft Dynamics NAV to handle the purchase orders, sales orders, inventory control, and reconciliation management. BASM included ChargeLogic shipping software. The ChargeLogic integration with NAV pushes shipping information to the parcel carrier and retrieves tracking numbers and freight charges back into NAV. Easy Bound Book now receives the updated transactions at the time of shipment. BASM also set up a special “report” to print and track a 3-part shipping document that includes a Bill To, Sell To, and Ship to, since the sales aren’t through the FFL where the buyer receives the firearms.
“Having Easy Bound Book in place has made getting an accurate monthly transaction count as easy as pressing a button,” stated Blaine. “Before, we used several books to track 20,000 records. Getting an accurate count felt like a monumental task. Likewise, having all the systems integrated, with information seamlessly flowing back and forth, gives me peace of mind that nothing is getting missed.”
Blaine concluded by sharing, “As with any type of change, there are going to be growing pains but our team is really getting on board as they are seeing the benefits. Likewise, the BASM team was able to get past our unconventional approach of doing things and found ways to shorten the NAV processes to match our processes. That has really helped make the transition easier. The BASM team is so professional and easy to work with; they really have kept us happy.” Blaine added, “The bottom line is that NAV integrated with Easy Bound Book is so much more efficient. Before, it would take four people plus the ‘paper pushers’ to pick, pack and ship 100 boxes. With NAV and EBB we are much more efficient and can now pick, pack and ship up to 110 boxes with just two people.”