The Challenge:

Publishing was a different business back in 1934 when R. Gordon Mitchell and his partner purchased Home Evangel Book Shop, a small retail store in Toronto. Even though they shipped books from several publishers to bookstores across Canada, controlling the business was relatively simple.

Today, with a product line that includes not only books but also some of the country's finest inspirational card, gift, and video lines, RG Mitchell Family Books faces new challenges. With 30,000 SKUs, the company must ensure that the most popular book titles are always available, that old titles are not left rotting on warehouse shelves, and that costs of doing business can be effectively managed.

Here are some of the major challenges faced by the company:

• Staff lacked sufficient information on products, orders, and customers - which created customer service problems
• Inefficient inventory management, which translated into high warehouse costs.
• Pricing systems were not always accurate, which meant that staff provided inaccurate quotes and thereby reduced profits
• Whenever they received a sudden increase in order volume, order processing staff were literally unable keep up
• It was nearly impossible to ensure that orders had been delivered to the right place, at the right time, in the right quantities.
• In an era where online business was beginning to flourish, the company had no e-commerce strategy in place

The Solution:

When Beckard Associates' began working with RG Mitchell Family Books in 1990, the MasterWorks suite quickly became the hub of the company's business operations. Within three months after implementation, the company was already realizing the benefits:

• Providing staff in various departments (including order processing, warehouse, and marketing) with real-time information about products, orders, and customers.
• Bar coding for effective tracking and maintenance of products in the warehouse and in transit.
• Financial details for in-depth analysis of profit margins, credit limits, pricing structures etc.
• E-commerce strategy, which included a website with a fully integrated online ordering system. Customers were able to view up-to-date product information - descriptions, availability, features, prices, discounts, etc. - and order what they wanted, when they wanted it, and how they wanted it delivered. MasterWorks then took this order information and automatically fulfilled the request.

The Results:

All of the issues that had plagued RG Mitchell Family Books were quickly resolved by MasterWorks:

• The company experienced an immediate improvement in customer service as soon as staff members were empowered with up-to-date information.
• Management was able to develop proactive business strategies, based on review of real-time, accurate data.
• In-depth financial analysis allowed for greatly improved financial results - and kept the auditors out of management's hair.