Microsoft Dynamics
Customer Solution Case Study
Appliance Distributor Extends Software to
Streamline Processes, Increase Cost Savings
Overview
Country or Region: United States
Industry: Distribution of consumer goods
Customer Profile
Located in New England, Clarke
Distribution is a high-end appliance
distributor that sells kitchen and bathroom
appliances to independent retailers and
provides hands-on product displays for
customers.
Business Situation
Clarke Distribution has grown in the last
few years. It opened a new warehouse and
showroom, and it recently decided it
wanted the ability to accept Web-based
orders.
Solution
Clarke Distribution partnered with
Microsoft® Gold Certified Partner Tectura
and Microsoft Certified Business Partner
Maximum Data Solutions to deploy
Microsoft Business Solutions—Great
Plains®, now part of Microsoft Dynamics™.
Benefits
 Increased cost savings
 Enhanced warehouse processes
 Improved employee productivity
 Scaled for future growth
“Making sure the billing is accurate is critical to our
cash-flow business model, and the Microsoft Great
Plains solution allows us to save money in many areas
of our business.”
Chris Parker, Director of Finance and IT, Clarke Distribution
An exclusive wholesale appliance distributor in New England, Clarke
Distribution supplies independent retailers with appliances for the
kitchen and bath. When the company opened a new warehouse
and showroom and decided to start accepting Web-based orders,
Clarke Distribution knew it needed to expand Microsoft® Business
Solutions—Great Plains®, now part of Microsoft Dynamics™, to
accommodate these changes. Clarke teamed up with Tectura, a
Microsoft Gold Certified Partner. Together, they decided Maximum
Data Solutions could provide the software and hardware that would
extend the functionality of Microsoft Great Plains. In just one year,
the appliance distributor gained back its software investment plus
other cost savings. Clarke also improved its warehouse processes,
gained employee efficiencies, and is now positioned for future
growth with Microsoft products and technologies.
Situation
Clarke Distribution, founded in 1991, sells its
high-end appliances to independent retailers
all over New England. Appliances include
built-in refrigerators, hoods, gas ranges,
outdoor grills, washers, dryers, sinks, and
faucets, among other products.
“Maximum Data
Solutions’s software
directly integrates into
Microsoft Great Plains,
providing the Microsoft
ERP system with realtime accurate data and
eliminating large
amounts of manual data
entry.”
Robert Waugh, National Sales Manager,
Maximum Data Solutions
Clarke maintains showrooms in Milford,
Massachusetts, and South Norwalk,
Connecticut. Both showrooms have been
designed for walk-ins and have appliances
set out so that Clarke’s consumers can come
in to see and test the products. The Milford
showroom also has an amphitheatre for
cooking shows, and the location serves as an
appliance information and resource center
for consumers. Clarke prides itself on
customer service before, during, and after
each sale. This year, the appliance distributor
established an additional service: Clarke
sends out trucks and technicians to service
its products.
As Clarke Distribution continued to grow and
expand its business over the last several
years, the company recognized it needed a
way to extend its Microsoft® Business
Solutions software, which is now part of
Microsoft Dynamics™. The appliance
distributor had been using a wide variety of
the Microsoft Business Solutions—Great
Plains® modules, including System Manager,
General Ledger, Sales Order Processing,
Inventory, and Purchase Order Processing. In
August 2003, the company expanded its
operations. First, it opened a new, state-ofthe-art, 100,000-foot warehouse distribution
facility with another showroom. Second, the
company wanted to build its business by
accepting Web-based orders.
based order entries so that, now, the
independent retailers that sell Clarke
Distribution appliances can view available
inventory and order history, as well as accept
orders over the Web.
Clarke Distribution turned to Microsoft Gold
Certified Partner Tectura for its expertise in
extending the solution. Tectura is a Microsoft
Business Solutions Partner that provides
Microsoft-based enterprise resource planning
(ERP), customer relationship management
(CRM), and technology solutions to midsize
companies and large enterprises.
Clarke Distribution and Tectura decided on a
solution from Maximum Data Solutions.
Maximum Data Solutions is a Microsoft
Certified Business Partner that provides
automated data collection hardware and
software for companies that use Microsoft
Great Plains ERP. “Clarke wanted a solution
that was built on Microsoft technology and
exclusively worked with Microsoft Great
Plains,” says Michael D’Alesio, Lead
Consultant for Tectura.
Solution
With the solution, Clarke employees use radio
frequency hand-held devices that seamlessly
connect to Microsoft Great Plains. Maximum
Data Solutions’s InTouch Distribution
integrates with Microsoft Great Plains by
gathering data with hand-held devices based
on what is going on real-time in the
warehouse. It then automates the
appropriate area of Microsoft Great Plains
distribution functionality—whether receiving,
inventory transfers, or order fulfillment. Key
components of the solution include:
 InTouch Distribution Software.
 Radio Frequency Barcoding Equipment.
 Professional Services from Maximum Data
Solutions and Tectura.
Clarke Distribution effectively manages
growth with the Microsoft Great Plains
solution. The appliance distributor added
eOrder for Microsoft Great Plains for Web-
“Maximum Data Solutions’s software directly
integrates into Microsoft Great Plains,
providing the Microsoft ERP system with real-
time accurate data and eliminating large
amounts of manual data entry,” says Robert
Waugh, National Sales Manager for
Maximum Data Solutions.
The implementation went smoothly, and
Maximum Data Solutions used the current
Microsoft Great Plains setup with only minor
modifications. “Clarke Distribution tested the
solution to make sure everything was running
and then deployed,” adds D’Alesio. “It was a
cost-effective implementation.”
“Time [that] employees
spend physically
locating inventory in the
warehouse has sharply
decreased due to the
wireless devices working
with Microsoft Great
Plains.”
Chris Parker, Director of Finance and IT,
Clarke Distribution
Inventory Tracking
Clarke Distribution tracks its inventory
without the paperwork and re-keying of data.
As each transaction is being processed, the
transaction is being seamlessly imported
from the hand-held devices into Microsoft
Great Plains.
“An employee can walk into the warehouse,
take a product line (like the Sub-Zero
refrigerators), scan each item, and then have
a reconciliation done for what’s missing. It’s
all automated,” says Chris Parker, Director of
Finance and IT for Clarke Distribution.
Serial Labels and Billing Processes
Because not all manufacturers of the
products Clarke Distribution sells use
Universal Product Codes (UPCs), it had been
a challenge for Clarke, which had to manually
enter all the products’ identification numbers.
Clarke employees now use the hand-held
devices to scan each item’s number and then
find the item in a cross-reference table in
Microsoft Great Plains.
Serial numbers can also be scanned during
the picking process into Microsoft Great
Plains, ensuring that once the order reaches
the billing department, the serial numbers
are correct based on what actually shipped to
the customer.
Sales Order Fulfillment, Put-Away Cycle
When an order has been fulfilled, the
employees use hand-held devices to
immediately trigger the printing of a packing
slip on any network printer.
Similarly, employees can scan an item they’re
putting away, instead of having to walk back
and forth to update paperwork.
Bin-to-Bin Transfers
A bin transaction happens each time an
employee moves an appliance or piece of
inventory. With the new hand-held devices,
an employee simply scans the old location
and then the new location, and the data
seamlessly imports into Microsoft Great
Plains.
Benefits
By using Microsoft Great Plains and
Maximum Data Solutions’s InTouch product,
Clarke Distribution was able to realize greater
cost savings for its distribution business—
including a return on its software
investment—as well as improve warehouse
processes, see employee efficiencies, and
scale for future business growth.
Increased Cost Savings
Clarke Distribution has not only gained back
its IT investment in less than one year, but it
also streamlined the billing processes that
help eliminate errors and, by doing so, saves
approximately U.S.$3,000 to 4,000 each
month. “Making sure the billing is accurate is
critical to our cash-flow business model, and
the Microsoft Great Plains solution allows us
to save money in many areas of our
business,” says Parker.
Enhanced Warehouse Processes
Another benefit of the solution is that
employees are now more efficient thanks to
the Microsoft Great Plains Web-based
ordering and the wireless solution from
Maximum Data Solutions. “Time [that]
For More Information
For more information about Microsoft
products and services, call the Microsoft
Sales Information Center at (800) 4269400. In Canada, call the Microsoft
Canada Information Centre at (877) 5682495. Customers who are deaf or hard-ofhearing can reach Microsoft text telephone
(TTY/TDD) services at (800) 892-5234 in
the United States or (905) 568-9641 in
Canada. Outside the 50 United States and
Canada, please contact your local
Microsoft subsidiary. To access information
using the World Wide Web, go to:
www.microsoft.com
For more information about Maximum
Tectura Data
products and
Solutions
products
services,
and call
services,
(866) visit
278-the
6662site
Web
or visit
at: the Web site at:
www.tectura.com
www.maximumdata.com
For more information about Maximum
Tectura Data
Solutions and
products
products
services,
and visit
services,
the Web
callsite
(734)
at:
455-2200 or visit the Web site at:
www.tectura.com
www.maximumdata.com
For more information about Clarke
For more information
Distribution
products and
about
services,
Clarke visit the
Distribution
Web
site at: products and services, call
(800) 842-5275 or visit the Web site at:
www.clarkecorp.com
www.clarkecorp.com
Scaled for Future Growth
Because Microsoft Great Plains is scalable
and customizable, Clarke Distribution
benefits by being able to update with the
latest Microsoft products and technologies.
“Clarke Distribution signed an open license
agreement and is looking to use more
Microsoft products in the future,” states
Parker. “Everything we run is Microsoft, and
we’re purchasing Microsoft Dynamics CRM
this year, as well as launching Business
Portal, Returns Management, and eOrder in
Microsoft Dynamics this quarter.”

Document published March 2006
Microsoft Dynamics is a line of integrated,
adaptable business management solutions
that enables you and your people to make
business decisions with greater confidence.
Microsoft Dynamics works like familiar
Microsoft software such as Microsoft Office,
which means less of a learning curve for your
people, so they can get up and running
quickly and focus on what’s most important.
And because it is from Microsoft, it easily
works with the systems that your company
already has implemented. By automating and
streamlining financial, customer relationship,
and supply chain processes, Microsoft
Dynamics brings together people, processes,
and technologies, increasing the productivity
and effectiveness of your business, and
helping you drive business success.
Improved Employee Productivity
With the integrated solution, Clarke
employees are more productive and spend
less time re-keying data and searching for
product numbers or UPCs. Clarke Distribution
employees also now spend half as much time
scanning and printing labels to receive
products. Adds Parker, “We have reduced the
workload on our inventory control staff by the
equivalent of more than one person.”
Software and Services
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© 2006
2006 Microsoft
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employees spend physically locating
inventory in the warehouse has sharply
decreased due to the wireless devices
working with Microsoft Great Plains,” explains
Parker. “Web-based ordering also
streamlines ordering processes, and wireless
devices allow employees to quickly and easily
locate a piece of equipment.”
Microsoft Dynamics
− Microsoft Business Solutions–Great
Plains
For more information about Microsoft
Dynamics, go to:
www.microsoft.com/dynamics
Partners


Tectura
Maximum Data Solutions