Grossman Software Solutions • 630-916-6270 • http://www.gss.ag
Sharon Carlson, Legacy Grain Cooperative’s location manager at Moweaqua, IL, says using Grossman Software Solutions’ (GSS) AgExceed to manage the coop’s operations is like having another employee.
“Grossman’s contribution to our company is invaluable,” says Carlson.
In 2013, when the Moweaqua Farmers Cooperative and the Stonington Grain Cooperative merged to form Legacy Grain, the Moweaqua Farmers Coop was using GSS software, and the Stonington Grain Coop had used software from several companies, recalls Carlson, who started working at the Moweaqua coop 31 years ago.
“When we merged, and the Stonington people saw what GSS software could do, we decided to put the entire company on GSS,” she notes. “The Grossman people, in their magical way, were able to capture all of the financial information from the Stonington operation and create one balance sheet for the new coop, Legacy Grain. It was quite amazing to me. We had to close business for one day. Grossman showed up in the morning and, by 9 p.m., we were a new company.”
All four Legacy Grain locations in Moweaqua, Stonington, Sharpsburg, and Blue Mound are linked with one server, and everyone networks off of that. “It’s like we are next door because of the network,” remarks Carlson.
“We are a grain handling facility only, so we don’t sell any products,” explains Carlson. “We do have several semis that transport grain, and we use AgExceed to track the expenses of each truck based on the efficiency of the drivers, such as the number of loads they haul in a day, the hours they work, and their mileage. We ship a lot of grain from our four locations, and this allows us to know what our costs are and add to our bottom line.”
Saving money with AgExceed doesn’t stop there. “We were very excited this year because Grossman helped us develop remote access to our four locations, so our farmer-members can dump a load, weigh themselves, and receive their scale ticket,” says Carlson. “This also means we don’t have to employ a person at each location, which saves us four employees.”
AgExceed also allows Legacy’s 1,500 farmer-members to log in to their individual accounts. “We are in the process of adding new components to upgrade the software,” notes Carlson. “Grossman asked several of their customers for feedback, so they could improve their products. They are very good about that.
“Their customer service is A-1,” she adds. “I can always get to someone at Grossman in a timely manner. They have shared all of their cell phone numbers with us and are basically available to us 24/7 if we need them.”
Reprinted from GRAIN JOURNAL March/April 2020 Issue
