Streamlining A MillerKnoll Dealership
“Since we started using Avanto for process automations three years ago (now known as OrderBahn), we can’t return to our old way of business. OrderBahn has proven to be an invaluable resource, the technology ensures we maintain our competitive edge.”
After 10+ years as the Chief Financial Officer of contract furniture dealerships including 2+ years at Workscapes (a Florida-based MillerKnoll dealership), Mehmet Bakkaloglu understands what it takes to keep an office furniture dealership profitable and growing. For Bakkaloglu, leveraging the latest industry technology is essential for keeping the dealership competitive. It was out of this drive that Bakkaloglu reached out to the OrderBahn (previously Avanto) team to learn more.
In OrderBahn, Bakkaloglu and the rest of the Workscapes team found a software partner capable of saving the dealership valuable time and money.
“Technology is probably the most important strategic resource for a dealership like ours, and Matt Danyliw and his team at OrderBahn play a key role in helping us find ways to streamline operations and strengthen our position in the market,” he says.
“As CFO, it’s just too easy to get buried in the routine, day-to-day activities, so you don’t have the time to keep up with all the technological advancements that can help our business,” Bakkaloglu points out.
Accounts Payable and Expense Reports
Before OrderBahn, getting delivery tickets to trigger billing on projects could take a couple of weeks. Now, through OrderBahn’s automated workflows, it all gets done in just two days. The Workspaces accounting staff is able to manage by exception instead of wasting valuable time on repetitive, low-value activities.
OrderBahn’s impact on vouchering for accounts payable has been just as positive. Bakkaloglu reports, “Before OrderBahn, our A/P person used to spend as much as four hours every day vouchering supplier invoices. OrderBahn automated most of that process and got the clerical activities off her desk, so that now all she has to do is review the work and again manage by exception in a far more productive way.”
A Longterm Partnership
“Time and time again, OrderBahn has enabled our people to cut back on routine, non-value generating activities and focus instead on their core work,” Bakkaloglu says.
Key to OrderBahn’s ability to do that, he says, is the extensive industry experience of their team and their exposure to dealer best practices across a broad range of dealer types and alignments. This experience has allowed the team to design a tool capable of handling all of the nuances of the contract interiors industry.
“When I brought in the OrderBahn team to help us out, I didn’t have to explain our industry or how our business works,” he says. “They came to us with an in-depth understanding of dealer operations in general, expert knowledge of Core and its strengths and weaknesses, and plenty of great ideas to improve our processes and procedures drawn from previous work they had done with other dealerships.”
For Bakkaloglu, OrderBahn is far more than just another vendor. “We work with OrderBahn today as a true partner, and that partnership is only going to become more important going forward. They know the industry, they know our dealership, and we know we can rely on them to keep us strong, no matter what the market throws at us!”
