Chris Cole, Director of Finance for Global Filter, had had enough. Global Filter’s antiquated AccountMate / Manufacturing Conductor system took anywhere from 30 seconds to a full minute per transaction processing time, and he knew it was hobbling his company. “It’s incredible that we didn’t move quicker,” he says. “When you add up all the transactions throughout the day, that’s a lot of time.” What’s more, he couldn’t get accurate reports from the software: “Everybody seemed to always come up with different numbers when looking at the system! We were always chasing each other about what’s right and what’s wrong.” Cole knew it was time for a change.
“Everybody seemed to always come up with different numbers when looking at the system! We were always chasing each other about what’s right and what’s wrong.”
Chris Cole,
Director of Finance, Global Filter
Global Filter: The Preferred Partner in Process Filtration
Based in Iowa, Global Filter manufactures a wide range of filtration products specifically for high-purity fluids such as bag filters, vessels, and cartridge filters. Some of the industries they serve include chemistry, micro-electronics, and health care. What began as a family home-based business is now a global company with manufacturing plants in the USA, France, and Japan. Global Filter is always innovating, recently expanding into data center cooling solutions.
Searching for a Solution
Clearly, a growing business needs a strong ERP as a foundation for scalability, automation, and consistent data. For Global Filter, AccountMate was simply no longer up to the task. Cole and the IT team looked at several different ERP systems, but the demo of Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central set it apart. Cole and the team loved all the features of Business Central and the many opportunities it would open up for their company. In addition, one of Global Filter’s sister companies was finding success with Business Central.
Once they decided on their ERP, they began the search for an implementation partner. The IT manager gave Cole a list to explore, but Cole worried that some of the partners were too big and wouldn’t give Global Filter personalized attention: “We worried that we’d be a small fish in a big pond,” Cole recalls. Ultimately, Global Filter chose Business Automation Systems of Minnesota (BASM) to implement Business Central, confident that their smaller size would ensure individualized attention without sacrificing product expertise.
Business Central Changes the Game
Throughout the implementation process, Cole made it clear that he wanted to take ownership of much of the work—he wanted to understand the system and be able to problem-solve effectively. The BASM team worked with Cole to implement the software, and Cole says that the team alleviated a lot of the legwork during the implementation.
Now, Cole says, his favorite part of the new system is “not having to bang my head on my desk when waiting for things to load or when the server goes down!” He also mentions that the web-based nature of Business Central allows him to access the system quickly—even through his phone, in a pinch! “The usability of the ERP has drastically improved,” Cole says, “and I think people are really starting to see that a year in. Everybody’s pleased. We have a lot more scalability with this system: Instead of continuing to add more people to do more transactions, someone can do probably three times the number of transactions in a day that they could do on the previous system. Customer service is another area that has seen drastic improvement.”
Cole concludes, “I have loved every second of it.”
“If there’s one thing Cole says sets BASM apart, it’s the extensive training on Business Central that BASM provided across the entire company. “They did an incredible job training,” Cole says.
Comprehensive Training Sets BASM Apart
If there’s one thing Cole says sets BASM apart, it’s the extensive training on Business Central that BASM provided across the entire company. “They did an incredible job training,” Cole says. “They’re very good at starting from the basics of order intake and then flowing through each department and saying ‘okay, now it’s your turn!’ They tailor that to each customer. They definitely catered to how we like to run our business.”
In addition, Cole notes that Fran Bistodeau, BASM’s implementation consultant, “has more patience than a lot of people! She’s obviously an expert in the system. Even when she had newbies who asked silly questions or who could barely navigate a webpage, she was very patient and made sure to take her time until they understood.”
Lastly, BASM’s experience with other clients allowed them to pass on some helpful suggestions to Global Filter. According to Cole, “their knowledge within PowerBI allowed us to build our reports a lot quicker than if we had to go to Youtube to learn. Their experience with other customers allowed us to see our workflows differently. We altered quite a few of our processes based on the things they’d seen with other customers, and that improved our work.”
Embracing Opportunities with Business Central and with BASM
Now that it’s been a year since their Business Central implementation, Cole and the Global Filter team are hoping to seize more of the opportunities that the ERP offers. They’re interested in features such as the sales order agent, payables agent, and graphical scheduler. As Cole says, “we’ve only scratched the surface with this system, and there’s a lot of opportunity. With Business Central, there’s so many opportunities and features within the system that you can’t see until you’ve been on it for a few years.” I constantly rely on BASM to say ‘hey, how can we do this?’ or ‘I’m having this problem, do you have a better way to do this?’ And that’s where they’ve been great. They continue to come up with great solutions to my problems.”
“We’ve only scratched the surface with this system, and there’s a lot
of opportunity.”Chris Cole,
Director of Finance, Global Filter
In fact, Cole recommends BASM and Business Central whenever he can. Based on his recommendation, some of Global Filter’s sister companies have chosen BASM for their Business Central implementations. Cole jokes with Melissa Reichenbacher (BASM’s Director of Engagement and Services) that he needs a referral kickback because of all the good things they’ve done for Global Filter’s sister companies! “I think there are more that will be coming their way,” he says. “One of the greatest things about BASM is that they’re a very Midwest-style company, very easy to work with, super knowledgeable, and will never come off arrogant or like they know it all, even though they do! So that’s why I love them.”
Whether you’re in the market for an ERP, looking for expert support, or need hands-on training for your team, we’d love to talk to you about how Business Central and BASM can empower your business. Contact us today to learn more!