Series4000 is the perfect fit for leading chain link fence
manufacturer Security Contractor
Services, Inc. eliminates spreadsheets for Real Asset
Management International’s (RAMI) suite of fixed
asset management solutions.
Established in 1977, Security Contractor Services, Inc.
(SCS) manufactures chain link and ornamental iron fence
materials for supply to fencing contractors. The products
are installed at school districts, athletic fields, and
many commercial and industrial sites. In addition, the
company manufactures and rents out chain link fence panels
for temporary use on construction sites. SCS has a workforce
of approximately 100 employees located at five locations,
which include two offices in Sacramento, Calif., and offices
in San Jose, Calif., Portland, Ore., and Seattle.
Prior to implementing Series4000, Joe Huston, SCS accountant,
used detailed Excel® spreadsheets to control the company’s
fixed assets. With more than 1,200 fixed assets (including
leases) on the books, Joe eventually found that spreadsheets
could not effectively manage the company’s depreciation,
forecasting and lease requirements. “Our depreciation
calculations were close to accurate, but not exact. We
knew that in order to keep up with the growth of the company,
we would have to implement an alternative solution,”
Joe explained.
Joe and his team reviewed three systems in addition to
RAMI’s Series4000 suite. “To put it simply,
the decision came down to cost, functionality and references.
Other companies were offering a lot less for considerably
more money and it was worrisome that they were unable
to provide quality references,” Joe said. “In
terms of functionality, the other systems could not track
changes by user. For example, if a change was made to
a particular asset, I would have no way of telling who
made the change or why it was made and that’s vital
information to have.”
SCS purchased the entire Series4000 suite intending to
eventually utilize each of the modules. Joe is currently
using Asset4000 to generate depreciation calculations,
eliminating the need for manual number crunching. When
budgeting time rolls around, he will use Forecast4000
to project depreciation expenses for future periods and
future years – something particularly difficult
to do in Excel®. Eventually, the Forecast4000 module
will even be used to project depreciation figures for
acquisitions. Later this year, Joe will import a number
of operational leases into Lease4000 where he can keep
track of lease expiration dates, an option not possible
before. This should prove to be a huge benefit to him
and the operations department. “Document4000 allows
us to attach images to each lease in the system –
which is really useful to both myself and the auditors,”
Joe commented.
Joe will also rely on certain reports within the system.
“For our leases, I will be able to track how many
units of a certain item we have on hand and how many are
actually deployed. We have 80,000 individual panels all
grouped into units of 200 or 300 – so it’s
a lot to keep track of,” Joe continued, “These
reports will save me a great deal of time and ultimately
save the auditors time as well – eliminating a lot
of extra work at their end.”
The Series4000 implementation took place at SCS’
corporate office in late September. “I was extremely
impressed with the level of service received and in particular,
was very happy with the expertise provided by our consultant,
Carrie Arends, who was very calm and efficient and ensured
a smooth process throughout,” Joe concluded.
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