Businesses that manufacture, install and service products need to coordinate materials, production schedules, field crews and billing. When teams rely on separate applications and paper records, following an order can mean checking several systems and entering the same information repeatedly. Connecting those processes can make it easier to track work, plan installations and answer customer questions.
Storm Smart designs, manufactures, installs and services hurricane-protection products for homes across Florida. Based in Fort Myers, the company typically handles 800 projects a month, each lasting eight to 16 weeks through approvals, permitting, inspections and final completion. Its work spans sales, production and field service, but disconnected systems and paper records made it difficult to see what was happening across the business.
After Rotunda Capital invested in 2021, Storm Smart set out to update its back-office processes to support expansion. Staff were moving information manually between applications, production lacked manufacturing software, and executives could plan only about a week ahead.
Paper Records and Disconnected Systems Limited Visibility
Storm Smart relied on up to 15 disconnected applications, including QuickBooks and Salesforce, so employees sometimes had to check as many as five systems to gather the information needed for a single task. Staff entered leads by hand, then retyped details from signed contracts and payments into separate applications. Quotes followed another route, moving from a homegrown tool back into Salesforce for project management and field service.
The reliance on manual records extended to production, where information was held in employees’ heads, on notes or on paper beside manufacturing workstations. With limited visibility across operations, managers struggled to plan production and scheduling more than a week ahead.
Commission payments for 130 field personnel also relied largely on manual calculations, with information arriving late, accuracy difficult to verify and payments out of step with revenue recognition. The company also depended on on-premises software, leaving access to business systems vulnerable to storm-related power outages.
Connecting Projects, Manufacturing and Field Service
Storm Smart selected Acumatica Construction Edition as the company wanted software that could connect with third-party applications and offered consumption-based pricing rather than per-user licensing. Ease of use and the platform’s development roadmap also influenced the decision.
Working with implementation partner Strategies Group, Storm Smart deployed Acumatica to support both specialty construction and manufacturing. Acumatica replaced QuickBooks and brought project management, production and field service into one system, with connections to the company’s existing customer relationship management and configuration, pricing and quoting applications.
Salesforce remained part of that workflow. When a deal closes there, Acumatica automatically creates the project, releases the initial invoice, opens a purchase order and records item receipts. On the factory floor, production teams use real-time management tools and barcode-enabled data collection to track work, while material requirements planning flags potential component shortages.
Faster Finance Processes and More Accurate Inventory
In finance, Acumatica reports that automation reduced weekly manual entry by more than 80% and shortened the monthly close from 10 business days to three, a 70% reduction. Commission tracking was automated as well, reducing duplicate payments and overpayments while aligning commissions with revenue recognition.
Production teams can now track materials and costs as work proceeds, while sales staff can check live inventory before committing to installation dates. Acumatica reports that inventory accuracy rose from 75% to more than 98%, with peak-season stockouts falling from several times a month to nearly zero.
Access to information also extends to employees working away from the office. Field technicians use the mobile application to manage appointments, record time, access job files and collect payments, while customer service teams can see the status of orders. Acumatica reports that customer service response times fell from days to hours.
Storm Smart now runs four or five software systems, down from as many as 15. Acumatica also reports that the company’s workforce grew from roughly 200 to more than 300 employees following implementation. With better visibility into financial performance by region and product line, executives can monitor the business day to day and plan months ahead, compared with the one-week planning horizon available under the previous systems.
What This Means for ERP Insiders
ERP evaluation needs to follow the full project lifecycle. Storm Smart’s workflow spans sales, manufacturing, installation and service. For a similar business, test a representative order from the CRM handoff through purchasing, production, field work and invoicing. Identify where staff still re-enter information and which applications need to remain connected.
Inventory accuracy needs to support customer commitments. During evaluation, check how shop floor transactions reach inventory records and the people making scheduling decisions. Measure stock accuracy and shortages alongside the speed at which those updates become available.
Separate measured process improvements from staffing estimates. Build the business case around comparable operating measures, then assess staffing needs against order volumes and administrative workloads rather than assuming the same hiring avoidance.
