Nestled in the picturesque Napa Valley, Long Meadow Ranch differs from your typical winery. They’ve embraced the concept of full-circle farming, where their winery operations are complemented by cattle and farm operations that supply their thriving restaurant and multiple hospitality venues. They’ve planned for a sizable hotel soon as well. Long Meadow Ranch has always been dedicated to producing exceptional wines and creating memorable culinary experiences. Still, they grappled with a challenge: maintaining the highest standards across their diverse endeavors while ensuring streamlined and efficient operations.
Their mission to craft world-class wine and food experiences that resonate with their customers became operationally challenging as they expanded. Their existing QuickBooks system was increasingly becoming a hindrance: disparate entities, complex transactions and data security concerns needed to be improved in their growth.
The Struggle with Outdated Systems
Long Meadow Ranch’s journey for a new wine ERP solution began with a fervent desire to enhance every facet of its operations. Managing an intricate web of winery operations, farm endeavors and hospitality ventures, they recognized the urgency to transcend the limitations of their existing system. “Long Meadow Ranch was on QuickBooks. And it was very painful,” said Brett Pinkin, vice president of finance at Long Meadow Ranch. “We had eight different entities, eight different charts of accounts. You had to log out of one entity to log back into another. It was very, very difficult, plus our databases were saved locally, which was open to potential security risks.”
They started looking for an innovative cloud-based solution tailored to address their multifaceted needs. “When looking at different software, we were introduced to Crafted ERP. It was very compelling. We immediately got connected and were looking for a software package that could be tailored to our needs, being involved in the alcoholic beverage industry and some of the other disparate businesses that we’re involved with,” said Pinkin.
Embracing a Tailored Approach to Wine ERP
Crafted ERP emerged as a powerful wine ERP solution that addressed their unique needs. The cloud-based approach and seamless integrations caught the attention of the Long Meadow Ranch team. The transition from QuickBooks to Crafted ERP brought efficiency and reliability, particularly in inventory management, data security and holistic reporting. Pinkin hails Crafted ERP’s seamless integration with their restaurant and tasting room operations, making tasks like order fulfillment and inventory tracking a breeze. Features like efficient inventory management, lot control and managing diverse products like wine, olive oil, vinegar and more have significantly impacted their operations.
They’ve been able to fine-tune their inventory and understand where they have supply-demand inefficiencies and excess inventory they need to manage effectively.
“One of the key features with all the various entities that we have is to be able to present the financials all in one location and view some of the financial information through the dashboards built into Crafted ERP,” explained Pinkin. “Being able to look at that information in real-time helps us stay on top of, and spend less time doing, the accounting and more time focusing on our results.”
The wine ERP software’s integrated approach allowed for effortless connection with other systems, minimizing manual reconciliations and optimizing overall efficiency. Quinn Sheridan, supply chain analyst at Long Meadow Ranch, manages the intricate logistics underpinning their sprawling operations, with responsibilities spanning sales and inventory management. Each facet, though distinct, needed to harmonize seamlessly to enable Long Meadow Ranch’s vision. “We manage different types of inventory at multiple warehouses and hospitality locations across multiple subsidiaries. None of that would be possible without the customization Crafted has provided.”
The ‘Saved Searches’ feature gets the most mileage from Sheridan because of its ability to do practically anything. He said that if you think of it, Crafted ERP can create it. Customized items and transactions include custom fields unique to your business that significantly improve reporting capabilities. “Crafted ERP’s ability to add custom fields to items, entities and transactions opens the door to our various systems to interact with each other more easily.”
Crafted ERP’s custom fields became a prized resource for Long Meadow Ranch. These fields weren’t just data points; they were bridges that connected their various systems and processes. “NetSuite already has powerful reporting capabilities, and with Crafted’s customizations, if you can dream it, you can build it. An example of custom fields being utilized is that we are a winery, but we also own livestock for bulk meat to be used at our restaurant, and our meat items have completely different identifying fields than our wines. Crafted created unique types of transactions to include those fields.”
The Luminary Impact of Crafted ERP
Crafted ERP didn’t just change how Long Meadow Ranch worked; it changed how they thought. The team had newfound agility to pivot and respond to market dynamics. “Within the wine industry, we’re looking at long-term trends and how we’re continuing to produce inventory and sell it over time. We produce products, as many others do in the alcoholic beverage industry, years before we sell it, so we need to ensure we’re getting good, actionable insights,” said Pinkin. “For Crafted ERP to be able to drive our business decisions here, it’s very critical. We can get that information more timely and act upon it.”
Crafted ERP elevated Long Meadow Ranch’s previously laborious tasks, such as data processing and report generation, to streamlined and efficient operations. This allowed them to channel their efforts toward creating value in the most meaningful areas.
Unparalleled Support That Ignites Confidence
Crafted isn’t just wine ERP software; it’s an ongoing collaboration. The exceptional customer support provided by our team bridged the gap between technology and success. “Crafted ERP has great customer support. They’ve been very responsive. We’re very thankful for the relationship that we’ve had with them over the years,” said Pinkin.
Quick responses, detailed solutions and a genuine commitment to the Long Meadow Ranch team’s progress encouraged Pinkin and the team to take advantage of two areas that they hadn’t been able to with prior systems. Leveraging Crafted ERP, they started automating invoices upon billing and purchase order and item receipt fulfillment, much to the delight of the production team.
As Long Meadow Ranch looks ahead, a new chapter is set to unfold with the imminent launch of a hotel in 2024. Partnering with Crafted ERP ensures that their journey toward expansion is paved with confidence and success in seamless integration and unparalleled support.
“No matter what type of software we might think would be great for the lodging operations of the hotel, we have the confidence it would integrate seamlessly with Crafted ERP,” said Pinkin. “We’ve done it with multiple software we’ve had in the past, and it’s been very smooth. It’s, in some cases, a plug-and-play. In other cases, there might be some other nuances, but at least we know that it’s definitely possible.”
Elevating Excellence with Crafted ERP
Long Meadow Ranch’s growth is a testament to the power of innovation and partnership. They’ve transcended the challenges of disparate operations and outdated systems, emerging as a beacon of streamlined efficiency and unmatched excellence. The integration of cloud-based wine ERP software and personalized support has ignited a transformation that resonates across their winery, farm, cattle ranch and hospitality endeavors. Their success story inspires, demonstrating that even the loftiest aspirations can be realized when vision, technology and unwavering support converge.
Keep outdated systems from holding your business back. Take a cue from Long Meadow Ranch’s remarkable journey and discover how Crafted ERP can revolutionize your operations. Our tailored solutions, seamless integrations and unparalleled support can help propel your success. Contact us today and unlock the potential for streamlined efficiency and growth.
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