Customer Company Size
SME
Region
- America
Country
- United States
Product
- Sage 100 ERP
- DM2’s vertical modules
Tech Stack
- UNIX-based system
- Novell network
Implementation Scale
- Enterprise-wide Deployment
Impact Metrics
- Productivity Improvements
- Cost Savings
Technology Category
- Functional Applications - Enterprise Resource Planning Systems (ERP)
Applicable Industries
- Oil & Gas
Applicable Functions
- Sales & Marketing
- Business Operation
Use Cases
- Supply Chain Visibility
- Inventory Management
Services
- System Integration
About The Customer
Overlake Oil is a family-owned business based in Kirkland, Washington. The company is in its fifty-second year of business and third generation of family ownership. Founded by Harry Wright in 1947, Overlake has been a Shell affiliate since 1961, distributing Shell fuel and lubricants to commercial, industrial, and manufacturing companies. Steve Merrill, vice president, joined Overlake Oil in 1982. Several years later, Steve and his brother-in-law, Jim Jessen, began managing the business on their own. The company has one location and employs 13 people.
The Challenge
Overlake Oil, a family-owned business in its third generation, was seeking to adopt the latest technology to streamline its operations. The company had computerized its business operations in 1982 with a UNIX-based system. However, by 1988, it had outgrown this system and needed to upgrade. The challenge was to find an accounting package that could seamlessly integrate with custom petroleum industry software. The company wanted more people to have access to the system and to be able to interface with Word, Excel, and the Internet. The company also wanted a system that could support its growth without requiring more staff.
The Solution
Overlake Oil chose to implement Sage 100 ERP on a Novell network, customized for the petroleum industry by Steve Murphy at DM2 Software. Murphy had experience with both computer programming and the petroleum industry. He knew that the software programs available at that time could not provide a satisfactory system that accommodated both accounting functions and the special needs of the industry. Instead of starting from scratch to develop his own integrated accounting/petroleum package, Murphy decided to seek an existing accounting package and add his own petroleum component onto it. Murphy discovered that Sage 100 ERP met his criteria for flexibility and ease of use. Sage, the developer of Sage 100 ERP, and his company, DM2 Software, subsequently entered into a vertical market partnership. DM2 Software develops customized modules for the petroleum industry that seamlessly interface with Sage 100 ERP, providing a powerful package that offers petroleum distributors numerous business management advantages.
Operational Impact
Quantitative Benefit
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