Greentree International has broken into the US market and signed a deal with Epic Systems through its Melbourne based Greentree Business Partner.

Naturally enough, Epic Systems began its search for a new business solution by evaluating software packages offered by US companies. After a failed attempt to meet its needs by one such vendor, however, Epic compared US developed solutions with those offered internationally and, thanks to the Greentree Business Partner’s initial overtures to the US market at that time, discovered Greentree. Operating from ten locations across the USA, Epic Systems specialises in the sale, rental, lease and repair of decommissioned, off-lease and consigned computer hardware and peripherals from major producers such as Hewlett-Packard and Sun Microsystems. The company now has licences for 32 Greentree users.

“Our staff had to continually re-key data. Not only did this waste a lot of time, it also increased the risk of human error. We needed a solution that could overcome these shortcomings and efficiently automate out business processes. Greentree’s integrated solution clearly stood out as the best.”

Epic replaced its US-based accounting system as "it had run out of steam" for the US$16 million ($28.5 million) turnover firm which started in 1998. Paul Daniels, the President and Founder of Epic, said the system has to handle 36,000 separate pieces of inventory at any one time, being turned over eight times per year.

The Greentree software replaces an accounting package, a homegrown inventory control system and a CRM system. Daniels comments, "Looking at how it worked vs. how Greentree works, we probably should have done this years ago". Paul Daniels said, “Working with three stand-alone systems meant that our staff had to continually re-key data. Not only did this waste a lot of time, it also increased the risk of human error.” He continues, “We needed a solution that could overcome these shortcomings and efficiently automate our business processes. Greentree’s integrated solution proved flexible enough for easy customisation and clearly stood out as the best solution.”

“When we looked at Greentree, it provided all the flexibility that we needed in an accounting system based on our unique business structure. Greentree was able to say “yes this can be done” and they were able to deliver that product.”

Paul Daniels predicted the impact the new software will have on Epic. “The internal value is going to be immeasurable immediately – we're going to have to see how this all shakes out over time, but just viewing it from a standpoint of ease of operation, speed, it's much, much better than what we've had before. The man-hours it is going to save in our general operation is going to be huge.”

Epic identified a number of features specifically in Greentree that they were unable to find in other software. Daniels explains, “I think the biggest hurdle we had, and one of the features that really worked out really well, was the pricing on the fly. In other words, when we have consignment inventory it is an inventory of zero dollars. The cost of that equipment is determined at the point of sale based on how much it was sold for and what the consigned revenue split is. We were able to customise Greentree so that it would realise that cost and plug it into the accounts at the point that the equipment is sold.”

Commenting on the benefits of the integrated CRM module, Ms Putman said, “Our sales people spend a lot of time on the phone talking to customers and providing them with quotes. With Greentree, we can do pricing on the fly to give sales people the ability to immediately turn a quote into a booked order.”

Debbie Putman, the Financial Controller at Epic, said Greentree provided the flexibility it needed, and because of its ease of customisation it overcame all the issues that had prevented them choosing other software. She continues, “When we looked at Greentree, it provided all the flexibility that we needed in an accounting system based on our unique business structure. Any of the issues that we had, that had stopped the other software, Greentree was able to say “yes this can be done” and they were able to deliver that product.”

Randy Hamburg, Consultant for the Greentree Business Partner, says Epic will provide a useful reference site in the USA, as there are some companies that are very similar to Epic and there are a number of other companies that have some similarities to Epic that Greentree will work real well for.

About Epic Systems

Epic Systems sells, rents, leases, and repairs recommissioned, off-lease or consigned computer hardware and peripherals from major producers such as Hewlett-Packard and Sun Microsystems. Epic's customers are a cross section of scientific, technical, educational, and industrial. The company operates from ten locations across the USA.

For more information visit www.epicsyscorp.com