Software Solutions Integrated, LLC • 217-774-2105 • http://www.agvance.net
When North Central Farmers Elevator (NCFE) in Ipswich, SD selected Agvance® grain accounting software from Software Solutions Integrated, LLC (SSI) in 2007, it was because of the company’s customer-oriented approach. The coop went live with the software package in 2008.
“We chose Agvance because of the people,” says NCFE Controller Joe Zikmund. “Prior to joining NCFE, I worked as an internal auditor traveling to elevators for grain accounting, and the people at Agvance were so much better than the other software companies with their customer service and the quick response time. They always showed more concern for our situation and their support of their software package was way ahead of anybody else.”
Zikmund notes NCFE uses Agvance for the cooperative’s accounting of its grain, agronomy, petroleum, and farm supply divisions. NCFE has 23 locations in South Dakota and two in North Dakota, serving 2,700 members across those two states.
Perpetual Inventory
Agvance’s perpetual inventory feature allows the coop to look up the amount of feed, fertilizer, or chemicals at each of its 25 locations. “That’s a big benefit that we didn’t have with the other software we used before,” Zikmund notes.
With the live perpetual inventory, we can maintain our risk positions in the various commodities we handle including grain, petroleum, and fertilizer, which gives us our ownership position in these volatile commodities. We have to know where we are every day, and we can consolidate all that information across all our locations and generate risk reports. That’s a huge advancement.”
Online access. Another feature that Zikmund likes about Agvance is MyFarmRecords.net, which offers coop members online access to all their accounts, including invoices, grain activity, and contracts.
He also likes how the company has aggressively updated its technology. “We’re working with them now on a grain app that our customers can download on their mobile devices, so they can look at their accounts conveniently. Agvance listens to us and keeps up with our requests for change. That’s why we’ll continue being customers of theirs.”
Extensive training. When Agvance was chosen by NCFE, coop personnel received training three different ways: By going to SSI’s headquarters in Shelbyville, IL; by having SSI trainers travel to the coop; and by remote training via phone and over the internet. “We took advantage of all three types of training,” Zikmund states.
Using Agvance software for the past eight years has allowed the coop to experience some very profitable years. “Agvance has enabled us to succeed,” concludes Zikmund.
Reprinted from GRAIN JOURNAL January/February 2016 Issue
