An aging ERP system that wasn’t open presented a major stumbling block to forward progress.

Thymly Products, Inc., a major dry mix manufacturer on the East Coast, provides specialized food ingredients to the food and pharmaceutical industries, ranging from enzymes to phosphates.

With a rigid, legacy accounting software vendor that continued to lock down the source code of its aging product, Thymly didn’t have the control over its operations it needed to take its business to the next level. In 2007, the company began searching for a more agile ERP solution that would help its business grow.

“As part of our due diligence we spoke with several companies that were running ERPs of all sizes, and the feedback was consistent-the bigger the software house, the more problems with the ERP program,” says Harry Muller-Thym, Sr., founder of Thymly. After looking at both large and small vendors, Thymly chose xTuple because of its open source philosophy and excellent customer support.

“Since September 11, 2001, restrictions and regulations have continued to tighten in the food industry, and xTuple works very closely with us to understand our specific needs and ensure that we are able to meet the changing requirements,” adds Muller-Thym.

Thymly shut down its previous accounting system on March 31, 2009, and went live with Linux-based xTuple the next day. Some of the many benefits the open-source software provides for Thymly include:

• Cost savings in inventory control-Thymly was able to reduce its inventory considerably within three months of implementation.
• Traceability-The new ERP system allows Thymly to tag each product with lot numbers and weights and to track it 100 percent through the supply chain. In the case of an FDA recall, the company is able to respond within minutes, much faster than industry norms.
• Integration-With its open-source technologies, the ERP package allows for integration with other software and production equipment. This allows Thymly to consistently produce the same quality product each and every time.
• Better control over accounts receivable-By automating invoicing and A/R follow-up, Thymly is able to significantly speed up collections.
• Permissions-based access-The software’s support for application permissions assigned by employee roles has helped Thymly with additional regulations set in place after September 11.

“The latest version of xTuple is the best yet,” says Muller-Thym. “It demonstrates xTuple’s commitment to taking feedback from its customers and incorporating those ideas back into the product. For every reason that we decided to purchase the xTuple solution, it has worked out, and it continues to exceed our expectations.”