When I started my internship at Frappe, I was curious about understanding more about its flagship product ERPNext and its applications in various industries. As Bill Gates once said, "Your customers are your greatest source of learning." I reached out to our partner ecosystem to connect with customers using ERPNext. I reached out to Chirag from Software At Work and he connected us with AVH Polychem. A company that has successfully implemented and has been using ERPNext for 4 years.
About AVH Polychem
AVH Polychem is a premier polymer suppliers with operations across India, sourcing directly from renowned global manufacturers such as DOW, MITSUI and Lyondell Bassell among others. With multiple warehouses across India, their clientele encompasses a wide spectrum, from major corporations such as OLA Electric, Parle etc. to niche plastic enterprises, benefitting from their expansive reach and dedicated services extending throughout India.
Milan Joshi, Assistant sales manager at AVH Polychem
I was introduced to Milan, who works with the sales team at AVH Polychem and was the project champion for ERPNext implementation at AVH. Milan has worked with multiple companies and industries and had interesting insights to share about implementing ERPNext in the polymer trading industry. He explained the challenges due to price volatility almost on a daily basis. To be successful, you need to be really sharp at procuring goods at the right price and selling them to maximize profits. Plus, the industry often works with advance payments and credit cycles extended to customers. Without proper control over credit limits for distributors and customers, businesses can face serious cash flow issues.
With his extensive experience, Milan knew these challenges well. He engaged with Software At Work to set up processes for assigning and approving credit limits to customers, optimizing delivery tracking with custom reports, and improving sales predictability with upsells to existing customers. This approach significantly boosted their revenue almost above 60%. It was impressive to see the role of ERPNext in AVH Polychem’s growth story.
The inevitable decision to move out of Tally
The decision to transition from Tally was inevitable for AVH Polychem, given the demands of the trading industry, especially in polymers. Tally failed to offer capabilities for buying, storing, and selling across continents, accounting foreign currency transactions, tracking and reporting imports, CRM and many more. ERPNext emerged as a flexible, user-friendly and cost effective solution.
Improved visibility of stock and in-transit purchases
Since AVH Polychem relied on imports there were chances of delays which could lead to late deliveries to customers. However, in a commoditized industry like Polymers even a single day of delay in delivering goods to customers could be huge losses due to a halted production line.
To solve this, AVH implemented import reports and built real time visibility of imports.
Milan remembered the olden days when their team used to take orders via WhatsApp and manage inventory in spreadsheets leading to delayed deliveries and stockouts. ERPNext’s advanced stock management module solved this. Each sales person could easily view stock available across 3 warehouses, and confirm customer order confidently.
For improving visibility of imports, Software At works built a customized Import register to capture every detail of their goods in transit. This report helps the sales team know the real time Estimated Time of Departure (ETD) and Estimated Time of Arrival (ETA) of the import goods to commit timelines effectively. With our recent version 15 improvements, they could also reserve available stock against sales orders to ensure that the reserved stock is not used for any other purposes.
Milan was impressed with the ease of customization powered by the robust Frappe Framework, which provided them with the flexibility and power to build tailor made reports.
Improved receivables and cash flow
Polymer trading industry usually face cash flow challenges due to delayed receivables and customers defaulting payments leading to decline in the bottom line revenue of the company.
To resolve this issue, Milan leveraged the credit limit feature which sets credit limit at a customer level. This feature restricted the sales team to create any new order beyond the assigned limit. This helps the company improve receivable cycle and cash flows.
Increased sales predictability
Businesses are increasingly turning to WhatsApp for its rapid and convenient communication capabilities to connect with customers, and AVH Polychem is no exception. Milan shared how they utilize WhatsApp integrations with ERPNext to nurture their prospective and existing customers by sending out daily updates on stock availability and prices. This proactive approach to reach out to customers and upsell has significantly enhanced their ability to predict demand. They are now able to predict almost 50% of sales through this.
Customer data is an important database for any company. For ensuring proper controls amongst sales representatives, AVH implemented granular access control for individual sales representatives to view and manage only their own customer list.
Implementation success
Milan’s role as a project champion coupled with Software At Work’s expertise helped AVH Polychem leverage ERPNext's customization capabilities effectively. They understood ERPNext and customized it to meet specific business needs.
ERPNext for trading industry
ERPNext is a comprehensive, cloud-based ERP solution that caters to the unique challenges of the trading industry. It includes powerful modules for Sales, CRM, Buying and Selling, Payroll, and more providing a comprehensive suite of features that streamline trading operations and simplify inventory management. Its integrated CRM helps manage customer relationships effectively, leading to improved satisfaction and retention. Additionally, ERPNext offers excellent financial tracking capabilities, providing real-time insights for informed decision-making. ERPNext is a mobile friendly solution empowering trading businesses to operate efficiently and profitably.
